Foxton to Kilby Bridge

I got back from my visit to Essex on Saturday afternoon and managed to get all the provisions we needed from the Foxton Village shop, which is a really good village store should you be in these parts, thus saving us a trip into Market Harborough.

On Sunday morning we pulled pins and headed off to service the boat and meet up with Lisa and David of Nb. What a Lark at Debdale Marina.  We suffered a brief delay with a malfunctioning swing bridge at Foxton, (gnash, gnash) the only contact telephone number being a 0800 number; why the fault reporting should be by a premium rate number is anybodies guess?    Anyway, we  got through with the assistance of the local farmer and his knowledge of the idiosyncrasies of this bridge and managed to link up with the What a Lark crew at Debdale.
Lisa a David had arrived at their boat on Saturday evening and spotting that we were in the area had suggested that we join forces for the double locks between Foxton and Sawley -  smart thinkers.

 What a Lark awaiting our delayed arrival at Debdale Marina

 

 The entrance to Saddington Tunnel just north of Debdale

 

 Yarwood approaching Saddington Tunnel

 

 Arriving at the other side having 'gone over the top' to find that the towpath had collapsed and a wee diversion was necessary...

 Time for a gas

 David on What a Lark leads off from a lock, Yarwood behind

 

That would be Me then..

 Lisa who tries out my new compact camera and insists that the photo is published

 

Moored together at Kilby Bridge last night

 

 Moorings were at a premium when we arrived a Kilby Bridge yesterday afternoon.  There were a number of anglers on the 14 day moorings and they were NOT going to shift a wee bit for a boat to moor so we rafted up.  The C&RT lengthsman who wandered by later explained that it was first come, first serve, between anglers and moorers but the C&RT web site disagreed and gives boaters priority over anglers but obviously the communication of this policy gets lost somewhere along the way...

On Sunday evening we all piled into The Navigation Inn for a quiz night where we excelled ourselves...

but still lost.