Definitely Autumn as we cruise to All Oaks Wood

Tuesday 19^th September; Hillmorton to All Oaks Wood

The morning dawned grey and windy, with a wet forecast.  But we had to replenish the galley so we had to at least get as far as Rugby.  It was pointless to leave early, as we wanted the overnight moorers to have cleared off first!    So Dave walked Meg, and picked up a book from the book swap at the bottom lock.  We were on our way before 10.

Knee-deep - don't get too close to the offside!

We had no problem mooring at Rugby and getting the shopping done.  We had lunch before we left, disposed of the rubbish in the bin and then carried on, keen to find a mooring away from trees!  It was quite alarming cruising between tree-lined banks, with the wind roaring above our heads and whipping the branches about.  The little Lime Farm marina still has the out-of-date advertisement we saw last time we passed.  I wonder if it does more than provide moorings now?

Opening offers for 2018 - 20% off blacking

The wind had loosened some early leaves and Dave had to take the engine out of gear a few times to drop them off the prop.

Early leaf soup

Along the way we passed a field where a broad belt of wild flowers and other seed-bearers, such as sunflowers, had been sown between the canal and the field with the growing crop.  Is the farmer an enlightened person who wishes to benefit wildlife and provide a corridor for it to travel along?  Is it because they get paid to do so?  Or are they hoping to encourage partridge so they can shoot them?  I hope it’s the former.

But at least if the partridges are for shooting there are benefits to other wildlife too. We came through the last bridge and saw several boats spaced out along the stretch before All Oaks Wood, annoyingly with git gaps between them.  We pulled in on the last bit with a straight edge and banged in our pins, crossed fore and aft and with the centre rope acting as a spring as the ground is very uneven at the bow and it was hard to find a suitable spot for the pins.  But with the wood acting as a shelter from the wind we weren’t being buffeted by the wind, had lovely neighbours and the canal was pretty quiet by now.

Nice neighbours

6 miles