Lazy day.

There was torrential rain last night, and a little rumble of thunder too but I was soon off to sleep. The morning started very muggy with high cloudy. With the delay for the lock I decided I would touch up some of the rusty spots around the bow. It is always the same, the more you look the more you see meant that by the time I had rubbed down all the little spots it was time for a cup of tea. As soon as I had drunk my tea there was a shower. Far from being a problem it meant that I didn't have to damp the areas before applying 'Fertan' rust converter.

Equipment used; a chisel, a wire brush, wet and dry paper, 'Fertan' and other odds and sods.

I had the converter on and lunch taken and decided that it was time to sit with a book in the sun. There was a slight shower but nothing too much. There were a few boaters walking up and down the tow path and we soon learned that the lock was to opened quite soon. We didn't learn what had been wrong, or what had been fixed, but we decided that we would wait until the morning any way. Pat and Charles on the 'Still Waters' came and we agreed to go up together in the morning. We then decided to walk back into Long Itchington to get some milk about 1700. That was handy as that was when the pubs opened! We walked back down the tow path to the old bridge that carried the Weedon to Leamington Railway. It is now a footpath and cycle route. This is looking back towards Stockton Locks with a Calcutt hire boat passing.

The railway is a nature 'reserve' with boards telling you what to look for. It looked like a nice route but we were only going as far as the bridge in the photo and then down the road into the village.

The church in Long Itchington Holy Trinity used to have a steeple but it was blown down in 1762. Now you can just see the stump. The river flowing in the valley is the Itchen so hence the name.

We stopped at the Green Man for a pint where they had standard beers. I had a pint of Tribute from St. Austell's Brewery. The pub looked fine though.

The village has some nice old buildings but as it looked like rain after getting the shopping at the CO-OP we didn't walk to get photos. This house is just opposite the Harvester Pub and the way to the footpath back to the canal.

A btter picture of the stump of the old steeple. We looked round the church last year and is well worth a poke about if you are interested.

The footpath back to the canal is through a new community woodland which has done well sine we were here last year and makes a nice route to the village from the cut, rather than the roads.

We had no sooner got back to the boat when it bucketed it down so our timing remains impeccable. I hope it last through until tomorrow night.