South Kilworth to Yelvertoft

Tuesday 29th May

John dropped the car half way at bridge 28 and walked back with Dex. We set off late morning.

 Although this stretch of canal is quite pretty there is nothing really remarkable about it.

 We did however pass numerous boats as they returned from the Crick boat show so this kept us amused. We had never seen so much traffic on the canal!

 These beautiful old barges were a lovely sight to behold.

 The recent storm had blown most of the blossom off the trees so it was good to see some which had managed to keep their colour.

 I was also pleased that my first flower had opened on my watering can!

 

 This bull looked worn out. Not surprising seeing all the cows and calves around!

 The boats kept on coming...

 We liked the novel back fender arrangement on this boat!

We found a good mooring spot at Yelvertoft.

 Yelvertoft village is really nice with lots of beautiful buildings. It has a lovely country feel about it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yelvertoft

 Dex and I walked back to bridge 28 to collect the car. As the canal was so bendy it would have taken a long time to walk back along the towpath so we decided to check out a footpath across some fields. There were sheep so Dex had to go on a lead for part of it.

 Oh dear, Dex found a bog! He would have to have a bucket bath later!

 Dex trying to get clean in the long grass (and avoid a bath)

 My direct route had paid off despite the bog incident as we came out exactly opposite the car!

Foxton to South Kilworth

Monday 28th May

It started out overcast but soon brightened up again. John drove the car to Honey Pot Farm about 4 miles away and walked back with Dex. We set off around 12pm.

I started steering. No locks on this stretch so we could take turns at the tiller.

 We saw these cute lambs down by the edge of the water

 We passed Mike's boat along the way. His sons have now returned to Canada so he will be making the rest of his voyage with his dog. No doubt our paths will cross again.

 This boat has been decorated as the couple on board are on honeymoon. I wonder if it will lead on to them buying their own boat like we did!

 Dex was in chill out mode today..

 Our first heron of the day but definately not our last!

 This pair of herons entertained us with their flying displays for quite some time. We also spotted a kingfisher along this stretch.

 

 We passed quite a lot of boats coming the other way as they returned from the boat show in Crick.

 Coming up was Husband Bosworth's tunnel. This one is 1166 yards long.

 As we entered I could see a light at the end which I thought was a boat but John said it was just the tunnel exit at the other end. However it turnd out it was a boat coming the other way. I hate passing boats in the tunnel, it's hard enough to see anyway and there is literally only a couple of inches room to pass by. As they got nearer we could hear singing. Great I thought, a load of drunk daytrippers, this is all I need! But it turned out to be a big family on board and the kids were singing. We passed each other without any scrapes so all was well - phew!

  I was really glad to get out the other end!

 We approached the Welford arm where the canal splits. This time we were taking the right fork and staying on the main part of the canal.

 Last year this had been a building site but clearly progress has been made on this huge new marina at North Kilworth.

 We were being followed by a cruiser so John let him past as they can go so much faster than us.

 We found a lovely place to moor at South Kilworth, all you could hear was birdsong - bliss!

Dex and I walked back to Honeypot farm to collect the car. It was quite a trek, about 4.5 miles and the towpath was very uneven. The path across the top of the tunnel was lovely though and we even saw a pig in a field!