Trinity lock was open and ready for us to motor in when we checked at 7:30 this morning so off we went.

With the vast majority of the festival boats having left the Avon looked very different and far more peaceful.

There was also a big difference between the narrow Stratford Canal with its very narrow locks and the river with its comparatively massive structures.

The first one for us The Colin P Witter Lock had nice easy to lift paddles, although 36 turns explains why, but the downstream gates were extremely heavy and the help of a kindly fisherman was very welcome.

The guides seem determined to put boaters off with repeated warnings of danger.  The water was definitely low for our passage and the biggest danger was probably one of sunburn.  Nevertheless the weirs were certainly something to avoid.

At Luddington we joined up with Nick on “Down The Hatch” and continued with him until he stopped for lunch after Barton Lock.  We met up again at Offenham Lock in the late afternoon.  The first oncoming boat did not appear until 9:55, nearly two and a half hours after we first cast off.

It seemed slightly strange to be using one of the arches closest to the bank at Bidford-on-Avon but the sign is not to be ignored.

At Harvington Lock we met Jan and Steve on Tiree, friends of Jane and Richard, whom we had met last year when we were coming up from.Bristol.  They very kindly helped us with the lock which was much appreciated especially as the gates were pretty heavy.

It was a really pleasant voyage down the Avon mostly quite a wide river but sometimes narrowing unexpectedly and quite twisty in parts.  There were lots of damsel flies, dragon flies and butterflies  to be seen en route but only one heron standing distantly on a weir.