A Rare Spindle Tree and White Lilies.

Friday 5th July 2019 at South Wigston.
Sunrise over the delapidated buildings of Kilby Wharf. Nice reflections.

Guy decided to "take the rays"; it was such a lovely morning. Again, we decided to start early to avoid the heat of midday. We are moving only a short distance each day because there is no point in arriving in Leicester before Sunday (long story). The early morning starts seem to suit us well.

Walking on the towpath between locks, M saw a spindle tree, only the fourth one that she has ever seen in her life!

The fruits are still green now, but in the autumn they will be spectacular - as illustrated by this picture.

M nearly succumbed to the temptation to follow this inviting footpath through the barley field, leading she knew not where.

Meadowsweet at its loveliest - and it smells as sweet as its name.

Before midday, we moored up at South Wigston. We meet and talk to many passing dogs and their owners. Many of the dogs try to jump up to greet you and we always say to their worried owners that we are fine with them jumping up, after all, we're generally in scruffy narrowboating togs! This dog, however, had tried to see if it could walk across the lilypads beside the canal. As a result, it got wet and muddy, a state of affairs that it gleefully transferred to M's skirt! Ah well, it's only dirt!

Wigston once had its own branch line and railway station. All that is left is a memory and a line of poplar trees along the side of the park where we walked to Tesco for M to buy a "few bits".

R was quite relieved to get back to MM, what with the heat and the weight of those "few bits". At least he did get a good latte in the Tesco café.

For miles now, we have been seeing beautiful white water lilies all along the edge of the canal. The closer we get to Leicester, the clearer the water has become. Pleasing but slightly ironic, given that both canal and the River Soar used to be notorious for their black and filthy water contaminated with the effluent from dozens of dyeing factories.

Sunset at our overnight mooring just above the lock, which will be our first lock in the morning.

Today: 2 miles, 3 locks and 2.6 hours.
Trip: 148 miles, 67 locks and 83.4 hours.