What a day!!  This trip has all been about doing the Caen Hill flight, and it didn’t let us down.

Lunch, goodies, and extra squash were all prepared and ready in the stern. We set off sharp at 8am with Chris, Tim and Harvey the dog on their narrowboat ‘The Stoker’ which had a lovely pup…pup..pup sound from the Gardner engine.  What a coalition, they knew what they were doing, and Tim was a powerhouse on the paddles.

The first locks were against us as they’re left empty overnight, so these took a bit more time.

We had some fun with two boats going up, and they didn’t really know what they were doing.  There isn’t much space, so you have to swap, it’s a bit odd seeing two boats in a lock, one facing down, and one facing up.

We nailed the 26 locks in 3hrs and 45 mins – what a result.  As we’d made such good progress, we decided to carry on for a bit, and get ahead of the hireboats.

Fatigue set in, and the swing bridges and six remaining locks were a bit of a struggle, but you know me, a stubborn old mule!

Finally moored up at Semington, which sets us up nicely for tomorrow, and Bradford Upon Avon, which we’re told is a bit of a boaters’ tourist hotspot.

Toby cleaned one side of the boat below the gunnels using the squeegy mop (having seen a fat boat doing the same a couple of days ago).

I’d been waiting for a special day to have my choc cake slice that mum so kindly made., well it was today, and I had the biggest bit in the box, and enjoyed every crumb.

Today has been the bees knees, what a day