And we're off

We travelled up the the boat yesterday, our three weeks temporary mooring at Great Haywood  marina was nearly up and we were hoping that C&RT had completed the work on the lock allowing us to continue our journey to Tamworth.  We drove to the village and I skedaddled along to check the lock.... It was operational!
As soon as we were had loaded the boat with assorted paraphernalia we secured the car and headed out.

Great Haywood lock

Our second lock of the day , Colwich.

It rained heavily but intermittently but we were kitted out in full wet weather apparel including new warm sealskin gloves.  Frequent flourishes of reverse gear were required to clear the autumn leaf fall from the prop but we made steady progress and moored as the light failed at Brindley bank just north of Rugeley.