Lovely Oundle.

4 locks, 6 miles, Now moored at Ashton Lock on the River Nene

We awoke this morning surrounded in mist which soon cleared once we got some wind. Around 8.30am we made a start with a short trip to the water point in the pub grounds. We had to breast up to some character who thought it was OK to moor permanently on a water point because as Derek and Christina on Kalimera pulled alongside a young guy emerged from the boat complaining he was late for work. Some people!

After a great day at Wadenhoe we were looking forward to another interesting day. The trip down river produced quite a few swans and geese nesting, some in most precarious places. We had planned on pulling into Oundle marina for Diesel but when we found the place we changed our minds as the entrance was so narrow and facing the opposite way to our direction of travel. To get into the marina we would have virtually had to turn round to be able to negotiate the narrow entrance. We managed to stay ahead of the threatened rain, which we could see out on the horizon, until we pulled into our moorings for the night. We are actually in an off shoot of the main river leading to a control weir adjacent to the lock.

Once settled in for the afternoon we saw that Oundle wasn't too far away and we needed a few bits and pieces so away we went. About 500 yards down stream we found a footbridge leading from Ashton to Oundle. We did ask a friendly local for directions but we really had it worked out as we could see the town's church tower and we just aimed for that. After passing through a new industrial park and a new housing estate we came into the really old town of Oundle. This is another quaint town with no modern shops or malls, just traditional High St shopping. We found a Tesco Express in just an ordinary looking shop on High St as well as a COOP which was just on the edge of town in a newish building but hidden away so as not to detract from the town's ambience.

We arrived back at the boat just before the rain started but as the evening has worn on the rain has become very heavy so we are glad to be comfortably tucked up in front of the TV for the night.

1117 locks, 1440 miles, 41 Tunnels, 41 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006