George
Greek Piggy Banks
We didn’t sleep well, bounded on three sides by the West Coast Main Line, the A5 and Holly lane which carries scores of trucks in and out of the ALDI distribution centre, our mooring provided us with enough intermittent noise to disturb us all night. We got up at 6.30, had a cup of tea and got underway by seven o’clock, entering lock six a few minutes later as the chamber was full and in our favour. It has been long written that the Atherstone locks are like piggy banks, slow to fill and fast to empty but the gates and some of the paddles are leaking so badly that we encountered three full locks (German Piggy Banks) and three empty with bone dry walls (Greek Piggy Banks).
We were clear of the bottom lock by 8.20 and took turns at having breakfast on the way towards Tamworth. After Goldilocks Sue had finished her porridge she went in for her shower and no sooner had she done so than the excitement started. A strange and regular tinkling sound started emanating from under the deck as we approached Polesworth so I slowed and pulled into the side to investigate. No sooner had I pulled over than a lady with purple hair and sleeve tattoos ran up and advised me not to moor in that spot because there was a wasp’s nest somewhere in the bank. I thanked her and explained that it was just just a short stop while I looked at the engine. The noise had stopped by this time and as suspected I found that one of the drive belts had shredded itself, fortunately the one that drives the Travelpower unit so just a minor inconvenience; well for Sue at least! Moving away again, I was unable to avoid nudging the boat tied in front slightly thanks to the oncoming narrowboat deciding at the last minute to move back into the middle of the canal. It wasn’t much but I did apologise to the owner as I passed by. As soon as the action was over, Sue appeared wondering what the various noises had been.
We plodded on in the morning sunshine to Alvecote where we stopped to see if the boatyard had a replacement belt but unfortunately they didn’t have the right size so we untied and motored on again. A bit of traffic at Glascote helped us negotiate the two locks there, the first boat up was a bit of a scruffy affair, crewed single handed by a well spoken young man who told me that he was taking it to London where he was going to refit it and refurbish it; no doubt someone else thinking that this will give him cheap accommodation in the capital.
Peel wharf at Fazeley was occupied so we didn’t bother stopping for the services and instead carried on through Hopwas to Whittington where we have moored for the evening. The weather has been excellent again, if a little windy, although we suffered a short sharp shower for five minutes in the last half hour of our cruise. We later took a walk up into the village and checked out the Bell Inn and the Co-op, the former was a nice clean village pub with decently priced drinks and advertising a Sunday carvery for £6.95. The latter was, well just another Co-op really.
We returned to the boat where Sue prepared dinner and I tried desperately to get an internet connection, finally using my laptop outside connected to a BT wifi somewhere.
16 miles and 8 locks today.
Off to a flying start
It was a bright and chilly start to the day, at last we could begin our annual boating holiday. We had some last minutes things to attend to including me having to go to work for a few hours. It was just after one o’clock when we were able to untie Caxton’s lines and start our journey. Our exit became blocked as a boat out on the cut passed the marina entrance and pulled on to the service point looking for a pump out, this was unfortunate since we had been going there to fill with water and diesel. No big problem sitting just inside the marina entrance until they finished except that out of nowhere on an otherwise calm and sunny day came a sustained gust of wind which lasted over a minute, blowing us at an angle into the throat of the entrance. Fellow moorer Lee laughed and said, “Where did that come from?”. Who knows, just some superior force playing games I guess. Anyway we got Caxton on to the inner side of the service wharf and filled the water tank, finishing at the same time as nb Nineveh finished their pumpout.
It was two o’clock when we eventually got on our way, heading in the direction of Marston junction with the intention of making the most of the beautiful weather and getting a few miles under our belts. We passed an old aquaintance, Steve (or Seasick Steve as I call him) on nb The Serendipity moored near Burton Hastings. He tried to throw us a bag with some crayfish that he had caught but his misjudged movement only succeeded in releasing the creatures back into the wild.
We didn’t see many boats on either the Ashby or the Coventry canals and by the time we had cleared Nuneaton, we had decided to eat dinner on the go and then tackle half of the Atherstone flight. We managed to eat in shifts and get the dishwasher on before we reached the top lock at around seven o’clock. The first chamber was full and we hoped that the rest would be the same but it was not to be; even though we crossed with another boat below lock two, the next two locks were draining quickly through leaking gates.
We found a mooring below lock five just after eight and tied Caxton up using the rings there. The combination of good weather, first day enthusiasm and the fact that we have travelled this section of canal many times before had given us a flying start to the trip.
15 miles and 5 locks isn’t bad for the day before the holiday starts properly.
Once in a blue moon.
It’s the eve of our big holiday and Caxton is ready to go. We took some bits and pieces and stowed them on board today ready for tomorrow’s escape. At 23 days this will be our biggest trip ever and Caxton’s longest cruise in more than a year since we bought the boat. It’s also the first time since 1983 that I have had more than two weeks off work and that seems fitting since tomorrow’s full moon is a “Blue Moon”, being the second one this month.
As soon as I finish work tomorrow, we’ll move the last few bits from the fridge at home to the one afloat, get the strings off, top up the diesel and water tanks and then chug off into into the sunset. Below are some pictures of Caxton sitting quietly waiting for tomorrow to come and the almost full moon sitting in the first clear sky for days.
Good to Go
Caxton left of centre
Peacefully waiting
Almost a Blue Moon
Forgive me reader for I have sinned…
it has been three months since my last blog posting.
It’s hard to believe that I haven’t written anything since early April but we’ve been busy with other matters. That’s not to say that we’ve done no boating, we have been up and down the Ashby a number of times, often with visitors and we’ve even been to Nuneaton!
With the exception of the trip to Nuneaton where we rose out of the water (a little) as we passed over a submerged wheelie bin and later got stuck in the Wash Lane winding hole (many thanks to the Hargreaves Trust narrowboat for rescuing us), the trips were happily uneventful.
We do have an excuse for our lack of boating trips and subsequent posts as we have been in the process of downsizing and moving house. I’ll write another post on this at a later date.
As for this weekend, we left Market Bosworth on Friday afternoon and made our way to Shackerstone where we moored for the night. An electrical storm had been forecast and we weren’t disappointed; at 2am we awoke to the sound of torrential rain beating down on Caxton’s roof. Loud claps of thunder followed and the interior was illuminated by the sheet lightening that accompanied the booming noise.
Saturday morning showed few signs of the overnight storm so after a late start, we made our way north and moored at Snarestone or more precisely, at the end of the current navigation. It was windy but sunny so we just sat on the front deck and relaxed for the afternoon.
Lazy Saturday
We had a lazy start today, it was raining and the wind was blowing hard so there seemed little point in getting up early. We switched the heating on and drank a couple of cups of coffee before we dragged ourselves out of bed. We showered, pottered about and had lunch before we ventured out and walked to Shackerstone railway station. We had a bit of a wander around and took a few photos before taking tea in the station buffet. The train arrived and after a few more pics we left and walked to the Rising Sun pub where we had a drink and watched the Grand National. As soon as the race was run we returned to Caxton, fired up the engine, untied and made our way back to Market Bosworth marina. It was still quite windy when we drove in and we were unable to reverse on to our berth but after a bit of manoeuvring we got ourselves tied on to the pontoon and settled down for the night.
Off we jolly well go again!
After three days of travelling for work, I was glad when we moved back aboard Caxton yesterday evening. After a decent night’s sleep, something of a rarity for me lately, I got up and went to work in Coventry for the day. Sue visited the barber had a hair appointment in Market Bosworth but was back on board by the time I returned in the afternoon. I had picked up my new car today so we went for a drive around the nearby villages before parking up again at the marina. At 7am there hadn’t been any wind and the water surface had been like a sheet of glass but nine hours later and it was a different scene with the wind whipping across the basin. We untied and made our escape, heading north and almost following the same route as we had just completed by road but at about a tenth of the speed. We turned at Shackerstone and moored opposite the canalside farm. We were soon joined by a pair of swans and were later treated to a beautiful sunset over the village.
Easter Jaunt – Bank Holiday Sunshine
It was misty and chilly when we set off from the Lime Kilns this morning. Visibility wasn’t great either as we navigated our way around the outskirts of Hinckley but as and when we met other boats, it was always on nice straight stretches. When we reached the Barge moorings near bridge 21, we had to stop to let a boat sort itself out after getting grounded and then wrapping something around its prop. The sun was doing a good job of burning the mist off and by the time we passed Dadlington, the skies were blue and the temperature was rising. The Ashby canal is shallow in many places between Sutton Cheney and Market Bosworth and we foundered a couple of times as we passed the steady stream of boats heading south. We didn’t lose any time and we were soon pulling into the marina where we reversed Caxton on to its home pontoon. After lunch it was simply a case of carrying out the usual chores before loading a couple of bags into the car and heading for home. The first bank holiday monday of the year has been a cracker, lets hope it’s a sign of things to come.
Easter Sunday
Happy Easter everyone!
We got up at half past seven, had some coffee, emptied a couple of cassettes, untied and left Coventry basin. Facing blue skies and moderate temperatures, we enjoyed some reasonable conditions as we threaded our way out of the city and into the countryside. It was an uneventful trip, we only saw three boats on the move and they were all in convoy. A few pedestrians and dog walkers passed the time of day otherwise it just the two of us travelling in the April sunshine.
Two hours after setting off saw us passing through Sutton’s Stop and another hour brought us to Marston Junction where we turned right on to our beloved Ashby Canal. The sun came out again and accompanied us as we picked our way around the bends of the Ashby until we reached the Lime Kilns where we tied up on the garden mooring before going in and having our Easter Sunday lunch. After that we retired to the boat and flopped in our chairs, listened to the radio and let our dinner go down.
Easter Jaunt – Easter Saturday
It was cold and dull when we poked our heads out of Caxton on Easter Saturday. Across the way, the old dog that we had become acquainted with in the Greyhound the evening before had barked at every passing boat but was quite happy to watch us untie before we started our trip into Coventry.
We were away for nine o’clock on the two hour journey into Coventry’s canal basin. The route continues to be improved but we saw only a handful of people on the towpath and met no oncoming boats as we made our way into the City centre. Nevertheless, we arrived in the basin two hours later, turned around and reversed onto a mooring where we tied up for the day. After we had showered and changed, we had some soup and then headed off through the City in search of the local Hobbycraft store which we found half an hour later.
After Sue had raided the “Fat Quarter” shelf, we wandered back into town and visited “The Flying Standard “, one of the local Wetherspoons pubs. We called in Sainsburys on our way back to the basin and then we sat on the back deck in the late afternoon sunshine. We engaged in conversation with a group of Asian ladies who expressed an interest in our boat and Sue then showed two of them around the interior of Caxton. No sooner had they disappeared inside than I was approached by an Indian couple who asked if they could have a look inside our boat. Needless to say, we obliged and Susie the tour guide continued with her work! Soon enough we were left on our own and we retreated indoors for the evening and had ourselves a roast beef dinner before settling down.
Easter Jaunt – Good Friday
As expected, it was damp and drizzly when we awoke on the morning of Good Friday but we had no intention of hanging around for the day so we got up and were underway by nine o’clock. We passed a few boats heading towards Snarestone for the Easter weekend event as we made our way to Hinckley. Sue nipped home for some cough medicine for me while I bought some diesel and coal at Trinity marina. We had a brief chat with old friend Jim who has had a winter mooring there before setting off again. We were photographed by the crew of a tug heading north who told us that the pic was one for the first owners, we presume that she meant Lesley and Joe so maybe our mugshots will appear on another blog somewhere. The drizzle persisted for a while but it wasn’t like travelling in the rain and eventually we reached Marston Junction at the end of the Ashby where we turned hard left.
Sue rustled us up some soup to keep us going until we reached our stopping place for the day, the seven day moorings on the approach to Hawkesbury junction. Along the way we had our photo taken again and later appeared on this guy’s Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/CanalSideArt?ref=ts&fref=ts
No sooner had we gone through all of the normal mooring procedures than the heavens opened, we had been lucky again with our timings but would there be a window of opportunity to nip to the Greyhound for a pint?
Of course there was, we toddled off down there during a dry spell and not only did we have a drink but we had haddock & chips too! Suitably appropriate fare for Good Friday.