Visitors and a Cycle Ride

We moved Starcross up to Weston Lock first thing. Not an easy task, even with two of us as Aston Lock is a swine of a lock to operate, with heavy gates that swing open - and which required two of us to close - whilst Weston Lock is not much better and is nearly 11ft deep, making climbing up off the boat a bit more unnerving than most. 
At the top of the lock we stopped on the lock landing, but only because that's where someone with little or no boating experience has decreed that the water point be sited! We did cause minor difficulties to one or two boats, but no one complained and, after all, our presence there was entirely legitimate 9even though we were also waiting for our guests for the day to arrive!
Fortunately, Ian and Suzanne turned up before we had filled the tank, after which we set off for the short trip to Swarkestone - during which it began to rain.

Ian and Suzanne: Our Guests for the Day

Ian and Suzanne had brought their bikes and we had two folders on board, so after lunch we set off for a cycle ride to Melbourne Hall - a trip enlivened by my bike suffering a puncture on the way back. My pump appeared to be broken and no-one else had one that fitted my valve leaving me to walk back to the boat over Swarkestone Bridge, a narrow and ancient causeway that nevertheless carries a busy A road but doesn't boast a footway!