Eyeballs in the Sky!!

Tuesday 3rd July, 2012 at Great Bedwyn.
We set the crayfish trap last night and had caught three overnight. M said that watching R peering at them in the bucket reminded her of the "Eyeballs in the Sky" with Boot the dog in the Perishers cartoon in the Daily Mirror each August.  However, the crayfish were quite small so we put them back into the canal.

Eyeballs in the Sky!

After a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, we set off to take advantage of a brief pause in the rain. Today was not so cold but the rain persisted all day. Simon and Irene crewed very competently with Simon steering for much of the way.

At Great Bedwyn, we were lucky enough to take the last mooring spot. We were surprised how many boats were moored along the canal leading to Bedwyn and on the visitors' moorings. Nb "Dragonfly" was moored behind us (again!).  Richard and Lizzie mentioned that they might think of selling her next year, so Simon and Irene went and had a quick tour round their boat as there's a chance they may buy a boat themselves in the future.
We took advantage of another break in the rain to walk around Great Bedwyn; a quaint little village that was delightful even in such dull weather. Again, the plan was to eat out tonight and we favoured the "Three Tuns" pub, but when we went in there was a man sanding the floors who said the pub was closed for renovation. That is the third highly recommended pub closed for renovation! It seems there is a "Refurb Rash" spreading down the canalside! However the other pub in town, the "Cross Keys" was open, welcoming and happily took our booking.
Dinner there in the evening was excellent. The open fire was very welcome and warming, and we all chose hearty winter fare (it is England in July after all!). The only difficulty was choosing from a menu where every dish was tempting - we wanted to try them all!
Today: 3 miles, 5 locks and 4.0 hours.
Trip:  131 miles, 87 locks and 99.2 hours (244.0 total).