Fifteen lock miles

About 9.20 this morning we pulled pins and headed west towards Birmingham.  The Birmingham and Fazeley canal  (B&F) is new territory for Caxton and I must say that were rather impressed with the level of maintenance in the four miles and eleven locks of today's journey.  There seems to be ample moorings to be had and very few long term moorers to slow you down.  Of the eleven locks only one was in my favour but all the paddle gear was well greased and easy to operate, the towpath was in good condition and the vegetation cut back.  I spotted a BW chap on his ride-on mower and a little later saw him again at his canalside cottage - could this me a lengthsman and could this explain the excellent condition of  all things canal related hereabouts?
We stopped at Dunton Wharf to fill the water tank and here rather oddly the mooring rings are on the far side of the towpath meaning that mooring lines are stretched across the path. Fortunately we didn't encounter any cyclists or joggers while we watered or they might have had to practice a bit of limbo dancing to get under our lines.
We have now moored up just after the Curdworth tunnel and walked into the village for a paper and bread before trying the White Horse where we had lunch in front of a roaring log fire - rather pleasant too...