Contrasts . . .

After yesterday's quiet day, which was a real scorcher, the weather forecast for today is that it will continue to be very hot. So, in order to minimise the amount of time that I would have to be out in it, I made an early and cool start at about 5.10am.

The first contrast was that of moving away from a centre of population with its attendant traffic noise, both road and rail, and into the countryside where you can hear a whole variety of birds strutting their stuff in the early morning music

show.

The second contrast has to do with the water I am travelling on.

After Kilby Lock the canal teams up with the river for various sections, separating and rejoining at a number of locks and weirs, some of which are quite spectacular and, as in this case, totally unprotected. Boats definitely have to keep clear. In the river sections the water is almost totally clear to the bottom - in the canalised sections, especially through Leicester - well, murky would be kind!

The third contrast is a revisit of yesterday's. I met up with another hire boat, this time from "Rose Narrowboats", crewed by three folk from Denmark who come to the UK almost every year for a holiday on part of the canal system. We locked down together into Leicester where they were planning to stop for "the shopping"!

It was getting really hot by lunchtime so I decided to moor up at Syston by the Hope & Anchor bridge and stay there for the night.