March 18th – I popped up to a wind-blasted Chasewater, which is still a mud-bath. I noted that the wakeboard lines are reopening for the season, and the canal valve is still open – but by no means fully; the spillway is now dry and the balancing culvert valve has been closed.

The canal filling could well be to do with works ongoing around the Midlands network right now; on recent rides I noticed a lot of drained locks and other works ready for the new season.

Either way, the level seems to have been roughly stable now for a month or so. I presume the earlier dam works have now finished.

It’ll be interesting to see how low the water gets over the coming summer.