Hillmorton to Rugby (North Oxford Canal)

Coming into Hillmorton Top Lock

We are moving on today just a couple of miles to Rugby and we have three locks to do, so we set off for Hilmorton Top lock.  These locks are paired locks which means that although they are narrow locks which only take one boat at a time, there are two of these locks side by side which makes passage through a lot quicker. 

In Hillmorton Middle Lock

Hillmorton Paired Locks

 We had to wait for a boat to come up, then it was our turn.  These locks are not very deep so doesn’t take too long to go through.  These three locks are close together so I walked down to the next one and Kev brought the boat.  Through the second one and then onto the last lock.  We were soon through there and stopped at the water point just past the locks to fill up, then set off along the canal.  There were a few boats around this morning, one in front of us and one behind so we were in a bit of a convoy.

Approaching a bridge near Rugby

Under a couple of bridges and then we were at Rugby.  We moored on the non towpath side by the small park.  There was a small boat in front of us which then turned on its engine and it was really smoky and smelly so we moved down to the end of the moorings away from them as the fumes coming from their engine were horrible.

We chilled out for a bit, then we walked up to the Tesco which is not far from the canal.  When we came back from there, we went for a walk the other way to Brownsover where there are a few shops, a Spar, a Chinese, a Polish Supermarket, a Tesco Express and a couple of other stores.

We are staying here now until Tuesday as the forecast for tomorrow is not good and we don’t want to break with tradition and chug in the rain, that will never do!!

Moored at Rugby