And Back..

Lechlade turned out to be a very friendly little place. While Sheena was topping up our supplies, half of the village must have come out and made a big fuss of him. Including the bloke delivering 3 pig carcasses to the supermarket. Sumo liked him, A LOT.

Then we started our journey back downstream, by pulling off a manouever that the old working boatmen would surely have been proud of. Tied the stern up to a cow scratching post, and let the wind carry the bow around gracefully. Didn't need to use the engine at all. Well chuffed. Especially as I'd seen other narrowboats run aground on the shallows of the far side the previous day. A mile or so further on down the river, and...

Passed Old Father Thames at St. Johns Lock. Unfortunately, he is not so impressive as our imaginations (and picture postcards) had led us to believe. He's rather weaterbeaten and also chained off. So getting a decent photograph of him is virtually impossible. (thanks to Jim Shead for this one).

Took it slowly, and did not ram the 13th century road bridge.

It was much easier going, without the wind constantly in our faces. We got rained on a couple of times, but nothing too unpleasant. We breezed through 4 locks, and have covered around 9 miles today. Currently moored up for the night at Buckland Marsh again. A lovely spot to stay. And best of all, it's free.