The morning involved just a couple of locks as we cruised past Warwick, crossing the River Avon at one point which was very evidently swollen with the rain - more in a moment.
We moored near the centre of Leamington and set off with rucksacks to track down some good supplies. Soon we could see the main bridge in the distance, lined with crowds. When we reached the bridge (over the Avon) it was obvious what was the attraction: the FLOODS. By the bridge is the old Pump Room where we expected to find the Tourist Information Centre. Alas it, and the library, were closed because of a threat of flooding! The adjacent park which normally borders the river and is a pleasant spot in summer was under water. A nearby street was closed as it was impassable.
We completed the specialist shopping - butcher, baker and greengrocer - and by then we were carrying so much that we returned to the boat before going to a supermarket.
By the time we reached the town centre for the second time, the flood level was evidently much higher and a second park was now flooded and a footbridge closed as its safety was threatened by the water.
When we returned again to the boat - after visiting Tesco and Wetherspoons - we found that it had been broken into. A small window had been removed and few items stolen: an IPAQ (useless without the connecting cables) and an old digital camera which we had brought as a spare but not the better mobile phone or CD players. We reported the incident to the police but they were so tied up with monitoring the floods that they could only record the report and expect to ring us perhaps on Monday - or later!
After another four locks, spread out over a couple of miles, we decided to moor so that we could reach a sensible meeting point with the Oxford Crew tomorrow.
