Very Scenic.

2 Locks, 7 Miles. Now moored above Stanthorne Lock.

It seemed that everybody had the same idea of an early start because 3 boats had arrived at the lock before we got started this morning. Still we couldn't start too early as we wanted to get diesel from Venetian marina and they didn't open until 9am. The gentleman that served us gave us a letter from the company about the forthcoming changes to the price of red diesel. After reading it I asked him why it only made a 60/40 split of propulsion/heating, what about power generation for live aboards? To this he couldn't give me an answer but he did say that unless a boater was silly enough to claim 100% for heating and power only, no propulsion, HM Customs don't have the resources to be able to police it. BW rules forbid the practice of  running your engine in gear whilst moored along the towpath so therefore to comply with BW you should cruise just to charge your batteries so what are we doing , cruising or charging the batteries? To this I say "Prove It".  Basically the whole thing could turn out to be a huge white elephant that nobody wants. If the French can ignore EU directives that they don't like why can't Britain? I personally have done some homework and I am thinking 10/90 split in our case, time will tell.

The rural scene along this canal is brilliant with well trimmed hedges and tidy farm yards, something that you don't see very often. With the canal following the land contours there are several places where you look out over hills and valleys making it a very peaceful outlook indeed.

1461 locks, 3050 miles, 51 Tunnels, 42 swing bridges and 39 lift bridges since Nov 2006