A nice warm bright day for a change. Free range eggsa from the lockside, bacon and eggs for breakfast. Quite a lot of locks today but they are well spaced out
and no real problem. We were lucky to get through the Bratch locks as the lock keeper said
that one of the paddles was damaged affecting a side pound. I said that there had been a boat
through late last night which had come past us. I bet that’s Wotan said the lockeper. I didn’t
discover the significance. But suspect it was unlicencensed and going under cover of darkness to
avert detection. At Awbridge lock some nice hedge laying was being done by 4 men. Something
you don’t often see these days. Nice run through the delightful Smestow valley to one of our favourite
moorings at Whittington bridge.
Went to Whittington Public House for evening meal and nice pint of Banks ale. Always an interesting place to visit as parts of it lay claim to date from 1310, Whats more this was the manor house of the Whittington Family whose famous son "Dick" Whittington is connected. (Gloucester also fits in this story somewhere as well!) As well as being a pantomine character Dick Whittington did travel to London make his fortune and was Mayor of London 4 times at the end of the 14th Century. Legend has it that Dick had a cat which made him hisz fortune as it was good at catching vermin. No one knows if this part of the story is true but apparently London;s Newgate Gaol, which was partly sponsored by Dick Whittington had a cat sculptured above the door. True or not it was good to be having a pint in a 1310 manor house.
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