Everest Anniversary!

Wednesday 29th May, 2013 at Laughton Hills.
Sixty years ago today, Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tensing conquered Everest, the first ever successful attempt on the summit and the cause of great celebration when the news reached England on the day of the Queen's Coronation on 2nd June, 1953. We have both been fascinated by the history of various Everest expeditions, both successful and tragic, and have a number of books on the subject.
Most appropriately, the weather today donned a degree of Himalayan chill. Despite being only three weeks away from the shortest day, you could see your breath in the air! M remarked, rather sourly, that she was wearing more clothes than she needed to go mountain walking in February! We are both quite fed up with being cold and even R wore gloves today - unheard of!
Nevertheless, we enjoyed the morning's cruise on this peaceful rural waterway. The short arm down to Welford looked inviting, but we decided to do it on the way back.

The decision to stop for lunch (and to warm up) proved to be well-founded as it started to rain the moment we stopped.
The river Avon rises here and passes under the canal on its way to Stratford; at this stage it is still in its infancy, being little more than a brook. It also serves as the boundary between Northamptonshire and Leicestershire.
Despite the rain and the cold, we decided to push on a little further as the noise from the nearby road across the canal was intrusive. It was a relief to go through the Husbands Bosworth tunnel (1,170 yards) to shelter from the rain!
The countryside beyond the tunnel is truly beautiful, and we found a lovely spot to moor with the Laughton Hills sloping right down to the water's edge. No sounds other than birdsong here.

Suddenly we heard a knocking at the window - but quickly realised that it was on the canal side not the towpath side. We peered over the side and found that it was a swan banging on the galley window and demanding supper for him and his lady!

Today: 12 miles, 0 Locks and 6.5 hours.
Trip: 66 miles, 45 Locks and 48.5 hours.