A bit of a scrape

Day 5, Hallam Fields lock to Langley Mill

It all felt much harder work without Doug's assistance! An extra pair of hands really comes into its own when the locks are wide and other boats few and far between.

Still, we plodded on today (well, Jim and Ricky plodded while I boated) and we arrived at Langley Mill at about quarter past one. By the time we had winded and tied up next to Trout it was nearly quarter to three and the really rather cold morning had given way to blazing sunshine - so much so that we had to erect Ricky's sunshade (a Wilko's child's beach sun shelter fashioned around the folding picnic table) and drape him in wet cloths.

Of course I was prepared for the low bridges of the Erewash. Of course I was. I had the titch pipe on and had taken all the cans, flowers etc off the cabin top. The trouble was that at bridge 19 (Potters Lock) I was so concerned about getting the headlight through the middle of the arch that the cabin slewed a bit to the side by which time I was crouching down and not steering very effectively, and impressively scraped the paint kettle chimney cover, and more upsettingly, bent the tiller pin and, just grazing the corner of the cabin, snapped one of the old hooks that holds the doors open. Boo.

The legendary Indian restaurant here at Langley Mill is under new management since we were last here (OK, that was five years ago) and sadly they no longer offer the curries with strawberries etc in that Jim really likes. We had a takeaway from there and it was fine (not as good as Walkley's Rajput) if on the dear side. We ordered online, which was very simple and convenient. I've tried that a couple of times before but this was definitely the simplest and clearest.