Today was supposed to be a lock free day, but the fine weather meant we could push on ahead and bank some miles for a rainy day. Some fine reflections in the water.

So after 5 hours cruising, going thru a tunnel and topping up with water, we arrived at Foxton. This is a double set of 5 staircase locks. Another fine bit of engineering. The girls were gently reminded by the lock keeper “red before white and you’ll be alright” so that the water is correctly diverted to the side pounds after filling the next lock.

View of 1 set of staircase locks, double this and you will get a sense of the scale. Originally it was an inclined plane, where 2 cassions moved in opposite directions sideways up and down the hill. However it proved a very unreliable system and only the tracks remain, and the staircase locks that replaced them