Day 18 and 19 - Braunston to Rugby

Hillmorton has three locks and a rather quirky cafe filled with old photos and models of working boats, with outside two working boats and a vintage car owned by the proprietors.    A picturesque spot for sitting at one of the tables and watching boats go through the locks.

We had a quiet night moored below the water point and set off the following morning - Sunday - for Rugby where Denis was catching the train back to London.

Just after the water point after bridge 58 is a good place to moor in Rugby - there are rings and it's literally next door to a huge retail park with shops including Tesco, Homebase, Maplin, M&S, TKMaxx.  It's also only a 20 minute walk to Rugby railway station, via the towpath to bridge 59 then south by road.

Very heavy rain again, so after saying goodbye to Denis at the station, Jan stayed put - anyway, having to wait for the poste restante at Newbold on Avon a little further on.  On Monday, hoping to moor before the 250 yard Newbold Tunnel with a short walk to the village and post office, but there were no spaces so I went through the tunnel and found an excellent spot opposite the boatyard by Fall's Bridge.  This meant walking back through the tunnel to the village - the towpath is wide enough and there's a handrail, but I was glad it's fairly short!  Apparently, it used to be illuminated with multicoloured lights, but the last bulb expired some years ago.

This time, the poste restante worked a treat and the ballot paper had arrived.  For variety, I walked back to the boat by the road, only about half a mile.