Bugbrooke to Stoke Bruerne, to Cosgrove, Grand Union Canal

Yesterday, Tues 10 July, we were very, very fortunate not to get a drenching by the rain. Our morning started with a walk into the village of Bugbrooke - much prettier than the name suggests - using the village walk leaflet, we tramped round muddy corn fields, no surprise the crops are rotting, through the Churchyard and found 2 good shops, discreetly  set in a typical English village with thatches and nail scissored grasses!

A leisurely cruise further south and we saw a herb garden butty boat - see pic - and renovated work boats - see pic

Raincoats on for Blisworth Tunnel - very, very wet pretty all the way through. A fellow boater said in 20 years of frequent travel through the tunnel, he he had never experienced such a deluge.Makes you start to think about landslides and slips after all this rain! We were lucky to find a very good mooring at Stoke Bruerne, between the Fudge Boat and the Welsh cheese boat! Usual gongoozlers around despite the drizzle - another trim and tidy village expecting lots of people for their Village at War event in September.

Today we did get wet, but went down the 7 double locks below Stoke Bruerne, before the rain, where gallons of water was pouring over all the gates, which made opening some of them quite difficult.

We are now moored at Cosgrove a village, in Buckinghamshire, that we recall because it has a very narrow tunnel under the canal known as the Horse Tunnel- it is perfectly shaped for horses to walk through. We also walked a short way down the Old Stratford arm - another dreary canal arm with overhanging trees and mossy green craft and lots of diy rubbish, all this looking for the village shop and PO which we found had closed down ages ago!. Fortunately there is a very well stocked shop within the Cosgrove Caravan Park, adjacent to the canal.