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It was nice to arrive at Braunston, where the Admiral Nelson is thriving.

It's been amazing to be in heart of England, surrounded by these huge urban conurbations and motorways in the Midlands, but you can't see them - it's like they're not there.

The countryside this time of year is wonderful. All the crops seem way ahead of themselves.

We passed through a field of livestock and saw three hares - I've not seen that many hares in quite a long time. It's good to see they're still thriving in this part of world.

From the top of Beacon Hill we think we could see the Malverns when we looked back, and somewhere in the distance was Hay on Wye, where we started almost three weeks ago.

Yesterday, we walked on the .

What's so wonderful with this canal walking is the way that within a very short distance, when you come away from a village like Braunston, it's just so quiet.

You can't hear the town or the sound of people at all, it's just the sounds of the countryside. Braunston was a great night - probably one of the highlights, because the weather was so good. We literally arrived at the pub and played a show right by the canal.

It was idyllic; just as it should be. We played till the sun went down.

Great crowd: some people who came in specially for the gig because they'd seen it in the papers, and others coming over off the boats just out of curiosity, but it was a really lovely atmosphere.

Today we've come through village of Newton, north-east of Rugby, and just crossed the A5. We're about to walk under the M6, and despite the traffic noise it's a glorious walking day.

There's a cooling breeze, but it's still warm. We had a fantastic night at Rugby. Thanks to Richard and everyone at Rugby Roots, not just for putting on a superb gig in a great venue, but if you if live in the Rugby area and read this, check out the Merchants Inn.

It's one of those pubs you give up hope sometimes of ever finding. Staff are great, the beer is wonderful, and the manager somehow mixes live sport and live music in really lovely relaxed manner.

The room we played in was superb, and the gig was sold out. Thanks to everyone who came and also to everyone who has supported us in practical ways, not just coming to gigs but helping to transport our bags, giving us lifts and so on.

At the moment I think three or four different vehicles are picking up our gear from different places and are now going to converge on Leicester and the . We're going to have a big reunion there and join with a lot of the people we've met on the way, but also the rest of the band.

We're now down to three, as Dil our drummer has had to pull out. His toe split (again) and he has a lot of intense drumming to do this weekend, so we all thought it was for the best. So it's down to me, Chopper and Al Scott.

I can't believe this is the last day - it's been an incredible journey.

JJ