A Pre-Dawn Cruise and a Milestone Day.

Monday 12th October, 2015 in Rubgy.
Today should have been R's falconry day with Jan, it was arranged some time ago as his birthday gift from M. However, we already knew that it would have to be postponed until the spring, which was a great shame as the weather forecast was for a perfect day today.
So, we decided to do something crazy instead!
Given the lovely weather forecast, we decided to do a pre-dawn cruise, something we have always wanted to do.
Sunrise was due at 7:30, so we set off at 7:15 through the gathering mist just as it was getting light.

The course of the old Great Central Railway runs parallel to the canal and a forlorn signal gantry still loyally stands guard over the non-existent track, waiting for the early morning "Master Cutler" from Sheffield to Marylebone. It always makes us think of the glories of times past.

The cows were up and grazing as the sun came over the horizon.

The combination of the morning sun and the rising mist made for magical light effects.

The mist persisted in patches as the sun rose higher in the clear blue sky.

After two hours, we approached the top of the three "double" locks at Hillmorton where there are two narrow locks side by side.

We had promised ourselves breakfast once we had gone down through the three Hillmorton locks and so we moored up at the bottom and enjoyed a delicious breakfast. Our well-earned reward! Lovely!

By late morning, we were in Rugby and moored up at our favourite mooring by the small park where we moored on our way down to Braunston ten days ago.

We had the afternoon ahead of us and decided to go to the nearby cinema to see the film "Suffragette". It was excellent and very thought provoking. The recreation of society in 1912 was particularly effective.
But first, we went to the O2 shop because M's little Nokia mobile phone had died and turned out to be beyond repair. Today was a milestone day. M has finally gone over to the "Dark Side" - she has yielded to technology and acquired an i-phone! Actually, it is very pretty and she is very pleased with it. As R's i-phone is black and is called "The Dark Side", M's, which is gold with a white cover, is called "The Bright Side".
Today: 8 miles, 3 locks and 5.7 hours.
Trip: 450 miles, 323 locks and 340.8 hours.