Couldnt do much else than to forgive him.

 Okay, so I have forgiven him. We all make mistakes and the previous two can losses (crikey it was actually three) was down to me. Check out my brush with a tunnel in 2017 HERE & 2018 HERE and in 2015 at a bridge 'ole HERE

So now to continue with the journey to Snarestone Wharf. 

Toward the end of navigation is a lovely wooded area, not somewhere to moor during storm Francis though! Along this stretch a Kingfisher was seen. The flash of blue as it sped past, a shout to Ian to take the tiller and I rushed to the bow in the hope of seeing it again.

 

Unfortunately no other sighting but, as the Blue Peter team used to say, here's one I prepared photographed earlier.

Then bridge 59 came into view and you all know what happened there!

The only tunnel on the Ashby (Snarestone) is at the top end. I was pretty sure it was one way traffic but didn't want to be proved wrong by entering without reading the sign first. I was right and with Ian at the bow he could see it was unoccupied so in I went. Got a kink in this one, bit like Braunston Tunnel but that was two-way and much, much longer. If anything raised my stress levels, Braunston was that tunnel.  No such worries about this one and one more bridge to go through and Snarestone Wharf came into view.

Made a right cock-up of winding FS. Put the nose to far over to the right which meant I wouldn't have had enough space get round.  Lots (and I mean lots) of forward and reverse and eventually got round. Fred and Lisa came out to greet us. What they thought of my attempts I can only guess. We go way back as their boat was built on the Erewash by John and Mick (now no longer boat builders) at Kingfisher Trent Lock, and we got to know them through the blogs. Then I had to reverse FS back through the swing bridge to the mooring. This thankfully was completed without further embarrassment.

Moored opposite Fred and Lisa's boat.

After a bit of a catch up I then took myself off for a walk to see what further progress had been made. Gosh the difference from when we were last here in 2013 was massive.

This back in 2013

 

And this is today.

New bridge before the winding hole

Nothing larger than a 50ft boat could wind here and this one had a few problems. He had to pole the bow around.

Looking back from the end of navigation.

 And this from Google Earth

Tea time and the sound of a combine passing behind the hedge. Was he trying to get the corn in before storm Francis arrived? Oh, dear all that dust! Windows and vents quickly shut, after all only two days ago FS had a good clean inside and out. Didn't fancy doing it all over again.

8 pm, and we had a social distance gathering in the shop and office. Just the 5 of us, Fred, Lisa, Mike, Ian and me. Wine and beer a plenty, a kindred spirit in Mike as both of us enjoy photography and wildlife. Gosh, I was envious when he whipped out his phone and showed foxes feeding beside his boat. Anyway it was nearly 11am before we departed for bed and fully expecting that combine to still be harvesting, most surprised that all was quiet.

And wildlife,