Day 92 and we start to head back towards the canal network (though we won’t be there for a couple of weeks or so). We left the marina late as we had to hand back the keys and completed our journey to Bedford, we had decided not to go to the limit of navigation at Kempston and winded at county bridge in Bedford, after a brief stop we went back through the lock at Bedford and retraced our steps, the river was much less busy (Monday rather than Sunday we guess, although we thought the school holidays had started).  Passed through Castle Mill lock which, in addition to being very deep, is quite odd in that the paddles let the water in and out from half way along the length of the lock rather than the more normal each end. In the way up we were pushed from one side to another. Fortunately the return was more gentle. Really hot so grateful to stop fairly early at Great Barford. Quite a few people using the river to cool down (swimming, jumping in, canoeing etc) including us as we went for a short paddle on the slipway just behind our boat; it really did help to cool us down, we were also able to sit in the shade of a tree close to the boat where we were adopted by the dogs from a cruiser which moored just in front of us. A very popular mooring

Day 93 saw us leave the mooring at 0725, those who know J will know that it must be something exceptional for her to get up early enough to do this, but it really is too hot. A steady cruise and most of the locks set for us. Went through a couple of locks with a 50ft narrowboat (D didn’t manage to find out single hander’s name despite talking to him all the time J went shopping, dog’s name is Billy). Managed to get past the roadworks, where we had to stop on the way upstream, without incident and moored soon after. Good moorings with local shade, actually managed to wash one side of the boat for the first time in weeks, J got told off by passer-by that she shouldn’t be doing housework.

Day 94 was another short day in anticipation of a longer stretch the next day and because we wanted to do some sight seeing. Again really hot so set of quite early but had only got about half a mile when we were told by a boat coming the other way that the next lock was broken. We turned around and returned to the mooring, then phoned the environment agency (responsible for the river). J spoke to guy responsible for this stretch and found no one had told him the lock wasn’t working. He phoned back about half an hour later saying the lock was indeed not working but he could override the fault and let us through so we set off again. When we got there he was just letting Billy’s dad through the lock. He promised to wait for us at the next one. Went through this one with him but then went on alone as he was stopping for provisions. We later went through a lock with a cruiser which had a sad story; the owner was taking the boat to be sold because he had been made redundant. Moored soon after at Hemingford Grey. Decided to visit Houghton mill. Didn’t check the opening time so it wasn’t open when we arrived so had some lunch before taking a look. A really hot walk to and from but decided to go past the mooring and visit the pub in Hemingford Grey. Not very interesting from the front and we were only there for a drink but is was in the good pub and good food guide.  Quiet afternoon on the mooring. J got licked by a cow when she locked up the back of the boat and later one of the herd tripped over our mooring line and rocked the boat.

Day 95 another day and another early start (it is still hot and we have a longer day planned) J opened the curtains to see a cormorant catching an eel. Today was definitely a fish eating bird day as saw another cormorant catching an eel at about 1100 and also the grebes have reappeared in numbers; normal number of herons and also some egrets. Water levels seem really low, particularly on the tidal stretch around Earith. We went back onto the Old West River; on our way upstream there was quite a lot of duck weed but now, two weeks later, there is huge amounts of duck weed both in depth (hiding other objects/plants) and in extent. The lock keeper at Hermitage lock told us that many of the cruisers were having problems; they use raw water cooling rather than the “skin tank” (basically a big radiator) that most narrow boats use. So windy we nearly lost the herb pots off the roof. So hot and river so quiet J did something she doesn’t think she has done since her teens and rolled up T-shirt, now you might want to wipe that image from your mind ;-).Reached our mooring at late lunchtime. Later something fell out of the sky for a few minutes – I think it is called rain……

Brown hawker dragonfly flew into front cabin and alighted for a very short time