A misty start today, retracing yesterday’s quiet trip when no boats were seen moving. Coming out of a bridgehole, we could not believe our eyes; there were two young black rabbits standing on the field headland 40 yards away watching us. The last time that we had seen black rabbits was some 30 years ago on a family holiday near Tighnabruaich opposite the island of Bute, it was nice to see that they still exist. The thorn bushes that we were passing were covered in blossom, a lot more than they had the day before and we saw bluebells near Drakeholes tunnel. The mist was clearing slightly, the reason soon became apparent- it started to rain. It rained for the two locks at Gringley and Shaw, but had stopped by Misterton so we had the last two lock in the dry. We saw no boats moving today, in fact the only boat on the move since we arrived on the Chesterfield canal was after we had moored up on Monday evening. Moving on to the water point just outside the basin at Stockwith, we had decided to moor there and have lunch while refilling the tank, the chances of anyone wanting to fill up being remote. Speaking to the Dave the lockie, he said to moor anywhere we wanted in the basin so we chose an ‘end on’ to the piling to enjoy the view from the front of the boat.
The 2008 journey thus far: Locks - 71 Miles – 149
