Life in the Hothouse

With temperatures forecast to be in the 30s today we arose at 5:30am in an effort to beat the heat as we had a bit of a catch up to do. Watered and away it wasn't long before we encountered our first lock. In it was a hired widebeam being shown the ropes by a narrowboat coming the other way. They had received no instruction whatsoever from the hire company so consequently left all the top gates open. Rather irritating for us following behind in increasing heat.
The horseflies made their presence felt (we had been warned).
Burbage Wharf crane was an interesting site as Keith had attended the restoration ceremony in the summer of 2010.

 

A feat of endurance ensued all the way to Crofton with a short respite through the cool of Bruce tunnel.

Things were made even worse by shallow pounds and a severe leak in the lock wall that resulted in flooding the bedroom through the side hatch. A quick reverse and much mopping both above and below the floor saw us on our way again.
At 1440 we were able to secure a relatively shady mooring right outside Crofton pumping station. It's a good job that the station wasn't in steam this weekend! Even so it was a fascinating visit.