Brinklow

After an hour this morning we reached Whilton locks. The bottom gates were weiring and as Pat attempted to lift the bottom paddles the lengthsman appeared saying that there was too much water at the bottom of the flight and would we mind waiting while he let some down. This took half an hour. After that we made good progress synchronising with opposite direction traffic after the first 4 locks. Lunch on the go then Braunston tunnel. We passed about 4 boats in the tunnel one of which stopped for is to pass. Not a good idea as it is easy to lose control as indeed his stern did swing out. After Braunston we joined the N Oxford Canal with the intention of stopping at Rugby for food shopping forgetting it wad Sunday and the supermarket would be closed by then. Hillmorton was passed easily all three locks ready for us with gates open. However we has a surprise encounter with one of my ex. Colleagues transiting in the opposite direction. Not stopping at Rugby in the event we followed the GPS direction indicator to the Sutton Coldfield freeview transmitter and stopped near Brinklow past the wood, seemingly popular moorings.