We were, until we reached Shifford lock. There were three narrowboats in front of us; gentle enquiries revealed that the first boat was taking it slowly. In fact very slowly at just above tickover; I wondered why the second one did not overtake, but it was travelling with the third one.
We shared the lock with number three who was going to fill the water tank above the lock, so we carried on after the gates opened. The stretch up to Rushey lock will always sort out the men from the boys, as it is a never ending series of bends, sharp bends and hairpin double bends. In other words, it is not straight and produces good arm muscles.
Soon after the start of these twists, is Tenfoot bridge. Yes, you have guessed it; the headroom is 12'2". The name comes from the ancient flash weir (the earliest form of basic lock)at this point, the opening of which was 10' wide. We spent five days tied securely to this bridge in early April 2005 owing to the Thames being in flood. The water level reached the foot of the handrail support just at the right hand edge of the photo, well above the stockade piling.
We caught the first and second boats about two miles before Rushey lock, and followed them as we were tying up above the lock and in no mad rush. We moored where there is just room enough for one boat, so no generators or yappy dogs for us - just peace, perfect peace!
