Late Afternoon Locking

Mr F being on nights at the moment means late starts, so with vehicles to be shuffled after brunch we were pushing it to go the distance in the daylight. The rain came in heavy bursts throughout the afternoon and early evening but did nothing to dampen our spirits. We always enjoy boating whatever the weather and arriving at dusk after a beautiful sunset en route, along with capturing some great autumnal shots of Mervyn gliding through the water, was reward enough for our occasional drenchings.

Topping up with water at the services before setting off

Our departure was watched with interest....

And disinterest....

Fallen leaves litter the canal

Approaching the first swing bridge

The first lock isn't far so I let Mr F carry on while I snapped away

The leaves have started to fall since this time two weeks ago

But it's still looking lovely and autumnal

The colours and reflections work beautifully along this stretch

Smoke chuffing out of the back cabin stove chimney

I think these are some of the best photos I've captured this autumn

Cutting through the water with hardly a wake

Merv being beautifully photogenic again, literally a second after I tool this photo it started hammering down and I had to quickly stuff my camera under my waterproof!

I got so wet walking up to the lock and working us through it that I had to dry my boots in the oven!

( Have since purchased new waterproof boots)

The next few photos were quickly grabbed on my iphone in between the showers

Burscough Mill silhouetted in the distance

Little mushroom line up on the lock beams

In the fading light we passed through the last swingbridge shortly before mooring up for the night

With just enough light to see where we were hammering the pins, our journey was complete for another week and once again we have a different view to wake up to .