Off again at 8am.  It’s become a habit.  Same old story of locks against us and just when we thought we had cracked it as a boat came towards us we found the next lock had instructions “please leave this lock empty” so we were out of luck again.  Several of the locks looked in rather poor repair, had large gaps between the gates and significant leakage.

It was a rather dull day but very enjoyable.  There was a fresh smell in the air, the birds were sounding cheerful, there was hardly anybody else around and we could potter along in the middle of the canal.

Much of the towpath was damp, muddy and gritty.  This made our ropes a bit messy and necessitated a complete wash down of Oliver’s roof after we arrived in Newbury.

 

We reached Newbury just after 12:00 considered mooring above the electric powered swing bridge but found some better moorings just below it so settled on the latter.

We attended to our on board duties, had a snack lunch and then a wander around the town which we found quite attractive and full of useful shops.  The canal really does run right through the centre and has parts of the river joining it here and there.

We enjoyed minted lamb steaks on board for dinner tonight.