Change of plans.

0 Locks, 5.72 Miles. Now moored at Calcutt Top Lock.

By the time we set off from Braunston this morning our bird feeders had been well and truly decimated and only a handful of peanuts and some seed remained. The fat ball had virtually been torn from it’s string bag so that was left wedged in the fork of a branch for the birds to finish off.

Our planned route to Birmingham was via the North Stratford Canal. However an emergency stoppage at locks 19 and 20 has caused us to reconsider this route. It will be reopened by the end of February which was no great hassle, it would just mean hanging around Kingswood Junction for a couple of weeks. Due to the inclement weather BW seem to be running about 3 weeks late with their stoppage plans so this may also be delayed.

Derek and Carrie on Nb Uccello are also going to Brum but taking the direct route via the Grand Union as they have to be in Brum earlier than us. As this is double lock territory which is easier to work with 2 boats in the locks rather than one we decided that we would travel with Uccello to Brum and then head down the Birmingham and Worcester Canal to Kings Norton Junction with the North Stratford Canal and perhaps navigate this section North to South rather than vice versa as originally planned.

It was freezing on the back of the boat today and we were both all dolled up in our winter woolies. We were pleased we weren’t travelling too far and stopped above the Calcutt Locks just before the rain arrived.

2037 locks, 4063.26 miles, 76 tunnels, 130 swing bridges and 54 lift bridges since Nov 2006