A VERY hot weekend!

I’m glad we didn’t cruise this weekend, it was just too hot to be out in the sun for any length of time.

Being in the marina and having wheels as well we were out on Saturday catching up with the shopping. Meg stayed on board though, There was no way we were leaving her for only a short time in a black car with black upholstery.
She’s been struggling with the heat, but we’re doing the longer walks early in the morning and later in the evening. Me too. On Saturday I aborted a 6 mile run, only doing 4½ because I didn’t set off till 8 o’clock and it was just too hot. Today I beat the heat though, I was back on board after my run at 07:15!

Inside and outside temperatures at 10:30 yesterday -


We had some unusual boats come into the marina on Saturday afternoon…


You don’t see too many of those on the cut!

Nor these…

He was looking after the aircraft carrier. But shouldn’t he be wearing a naval cap?

Yesterday we went across country to meet the family at Dad’s. A good afternoon with good company. We don’t very often get the chance to all get together.

So, on to today. The car was due back soon after lunch, so after breakfast and Meg’s constitutional I went up to Morrison’s and got a load of shopping in. Opportunities are thin on the ground for bulk shopping on the Ashby, so we’re set up now for a week or so, apart from the perishables of course.

Yes, we’re staying on here for a while, taking our time up to the terminus and back. After filling up the water tank and disposing of rubbish we were ready to go.

Looking back across Trinity Marina


Duck’s siesta in the shade


We didn’t go so far, although a bit cloudier than of late it was still hot, too much for me. And we didn’t have to charge batteries after all. Just out of town and we pulled in on a grass bank near Bridge 19.

Might well stay here tomorrow, too….

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Heading back to Hinckley

Today we did the trip that took three on the way up, and it still only took us 2¼ hours!

We had intended to head back yesterday, breaking the trip half way, but we got a phone call on Wednesday evening asking if we were stopping at Sutton Cheney, if so we’d have visitors… my sister Sue and her husband Trev are over from New Zealand and we’re having a family get together anyway on Sunday. But they decided they’d like to see us a little earlier.

So yesterday morning we moved from the 24 hour mooring next to the water point and tied up on the plastic pontoon. It was from here that we spotted a water rat on the bank, there’s a small colony next to the pontoon. But Mags was disappointed this time, the bank is so overgrown now that you could hide a small herd of water buffalo in there let alone a small water rat!


Sue and Trev arrived about 2, and brother Andy was with them too so we had a good afternoon.

Feeding the ducks with rice krispies.


This morning dawned clear and bright, in fact the sun as hot when I took Meg out at 8 o’clock. But cloud rolled in and it’s stayed mainly overcast but still warm.

Leaving Sutton Cheney Wharf


We had a steady cruise back to Hinckley, you can’t do much else really, the canal is very shallow in places. Meg needed a comfort break so we hopped off at Bridge 29 and walked to Bridge 28.

Not a good idea, teaching the kids to play chicken with a narrowboat!
Even if you’re actually a swan…

Bad hair down day


Basin Bridge.


We spent our first winter on here, and the enduring memory is of the mud. Mud everywhere. Meg had just snagged a dew-claw and it was a nightmare trying to keep the wound clean and dry. The towpaths seem to be a lot better now.

One improvement that has been made in several places is repairs to the canal edge. The contractors are using a fabric barrier supported on stakes and backfilled with coir rolls and dredged silt.
 

As the vegetation takes over the method gives a friendly soft edge, better than harsh steel piling, but I’m not convinced it’ll be as long lasting.

We arrived at Trinity Marina at around midday, booked in and moored up on a pontoon in the marina. After lunch I walked around to Enterprise and picked up a car for the weekend. So we’re all set now.

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A bit more good weather.

The wind has dropped, the clouds have blown away and it’s been a beautiful, sunny day.

We didn’t have far to go, just up to Sutton Wharf for water, so didn’t need to dash off. Do we ever?




This bit of the canal is very shallow at the edges, so care has to be taken when meeting other boats. Unfortunately we met one who wasn’t, opposite a moored boat. He could have given way to us, or even got closer to the stationary boat, but he did neither, forcing us up on the shallows as he muscled his way through, then robbing us of water so we finished canted over at a considerable angle.
Too much of an angle for a glass and a dish of raw casserole steak on the worktop. The glass finished up in pieces on the deck, the meat in the cutlery drawer which had slid open just far enough to catch it.
Mags did a brief cleanup as we continued, I did a more thorough job once we’d tied up.

That looks like a familiar colour scheme on the back panel…

It’s the same as ours! In fact the whole scheme is similar, the only difference being the dark grey handrails.

We were lucky to arrive at the wharf and find the one 24 hour mooring available. There was space on the plastic pontoon too, but we needed water and here we’re a hose length from the tap without moving.
We waited for the rush to die down a bit for filling our tank.

The café here has been very busy this afternoon, a lot of people about enjoying the sunshine. I guess it’ll be heaving at the weekend.

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After a cloudy day…

…a beautiful evening.


The hedgerow is awash with dog roses…


…soaking up the evening sunshine.




There’s been quite a few boats about today, and we’ll be joining them tomorrow. Not too far though, just up to Sutton Wharf for water. We may stop there, or turn around and come back a little way.

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Just a little one

I was a bit concerned this morning when I took Meg for a walk. The moorhen nest across the canal was completely empty, not a sign of mother and the chicks.

The busy nest yesterday…


I was relieved a little later to see them mooching about in the undergrowth on the bank, before heading back across the short strip of water to the nest.




The horses in the field opposite are very friendly, too.

I picked up a few more bits and pieces at the farm shop before we left this morning.
There were a few caravans and the odd camper on the field over the weekend, but they’ve all gone now.

It was dull and grey as we set off, and it hasn’t improved much. Just the occasional glimpse of the sun through the heavy cloud.

Passing the Ashby Boat Company yard and hire base.
A lot of years ago Mag’s brother Walter and his wife expressed a wish to join us on one of our biennial hire boat trips, but Walt made it clear that it was a holiday, none of those locks! So we hired a boat from here, with 20 miles of the Ashby to go at, and another 16½ on the Coventry. Only the one stop lock to deal with at Hawkesbury.

Looking back at Stoke Golding

To the right is Crown Hill, where Henry VI is supposed to have accepted the royal crown after defeating King Richard III. The actual site of the Battle of Bosworth is now in dispute, recent evidence suggests it was nearer the village of Dadlington, rather than on the side of Ambion Hill.

We didn’t go much further, pulling in before Bridge 28.
The low hedge on the left is high enough to deflect the wind but low enough to allow the evening sun into the cabin. That’s if we get any…
The canal is too shallow to get the stern right in, so the “plank method” of mooring has been employed.

We’ll probably stay here tomorrow, then move up to Sutton Cheney for water before turning back to head to Hinckley for the weekend.

Thanks for the comments, Carol and Lisa. The pictures are considerably improved with the new camera.
Hi Caroline, thanks for the shout. Hope you had a good trip back to base. We'll look out for you on the water in the future.

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A fuel top-up before moving up to the Farm Shop

Rain overnight had cleared by this morning, but we still had a brisk breeze to contend with as we moved off this morning. Ten minutes later we were stopped again, this time on the dock outside Trinity Marina.

Sixty-odd litres of diesel, a gas bottle and a bag of smokeless (you never know…) later, we set off again, leaving Hinckley behind. We’ll be back next Friday, we’ve a weekend berth booked in the marina.

Passing the Triumph motorcycle factory on the outskirts of the town.

Mum’s got her flippers full with this little lot…

High hedges and overhanging trees make this section remorselessly green…

…with just a splash of colour from flag iris.

A nice and secure, if somewhat precarious, nest for a moorhen family

We pulled in just short of Bridge 23.

The farm shop here is small but has a fair selection of fresh veg and meats. They’ve also branched out into camping and caravanning, too. I got a bit of veg, a cake and some ice-cream for pudding.

We’ll be staying here tomorrow, moving on a bit on Monday.

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Up the cut to Hinckley

Yesterday was a good day to stay put, wet and windy for the most part. But the wind dropped later and the sky started to clear after sunset.

A very nearly full moon peaks from behind the clouds last night

Across from where we’d moored there were two families of moorhens, with very small chicks. The adults paddled across the canal looking hopeful, so we fed them Rice Krispies. They’ve got to be better for them than bread.

The youngsters weren’t old enough to feed themselves…



I like this one best!

One Rice Krispie makes a mouthful when you’re that small…

Today started sunny and bright, but the breeze kept bringing over black clouds, some of which chose to dump on us as they passed. We waited for one to move away before we set off.



The canal when built was 30 miles long from Marston Junction to the terminus at Moira and was opened in 1804. Properly named The Ashby de la Zouch Canal it didn’t actually make it to AdlZ, the final connection being made by tramway. It was built as a broad canal, and was intended to be extended another 5 miles to the north-west, to meet the Trent at Burton Upon Trent. It’s primary source of income was coal from the pits around Ashby, but this was also the cause of it’s demise, with the northern eight miles of the navigation succumbing to subsidence. There is a restoration movement endeavoring to reconnect an isolated 1½ miles at Moira to the remaining section, but progress is slow. The burgeoning railway system is often blamed for the collapse of the canals as a viable transport system, and ironically one section of the proposed new route follows an abandoned railway line…

The canal is mainly rural and very pleasant, in fact the only town it passes through is Hinckley, our destination for today.  
 


We pulled in briefly near Burton Hastings for Meg to have a comfort break, good timing as the heavens opened as soon as she had got back on board. So we waited it out.
Staying dry had it’s downside, though. We were passed by three other boats while we were against the bank.
 

The moorings just above Nutt’s were empty so we pulled on there.

We’re here for tonight, but then we’ll head back out into the country for the weekend.

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Bright and breezy as we head onto the Ashby

We moved down to the wharf to pick up our Tesco delivery this morning. Despite the signs stating “Short Stay, Loading Only” we had to breast up against a small working boat to gain access to land. The other space was taken up by a private boat, locked up and left.

It was Tescogirl this morning, arriving at around 10:15. With everything on board we turned around at the junction – well, the wind turned us around – and headed back up the canal stopping on the water point to top up the tank.

Down to the wharf…


…and back again.


Topping up his tank was Ray on NB Stronghold. A friend of several other bloggers, but we’d never met before. We corrected that…


Topped up and on his way


We followed after about 30 minutes, it was only a splash and dash for us. While the tank was topping off I got the fridge cleaned out after defrosting it earlier, and then restocked.

Passing the overgrown entrance to the Newdigate Arm near Bridge 13

Sir Roger Newdigate’s colliery was linked to the Coventry Canal by this short arm. It was his father, Richard, who started the network of canals and tramways I spoke about yesterday. As early as 1700 he started widening and deepening existing streams on the Arbury Estate, then linked them by artificial canals or “boatways”. Their primary function was to move timber around the estate, from woodlands where it was cut to the Griff and Collycroft collieries where it was used for pit props.

By Bridge 14 the old Navigation Inn was converted into a private dwelling some years ago…

…but the pub sign is preserved, attached to the bridge.


Always something to wonder at at Charity Dock
  
Looks like we’re into Glam Rock at the moment…

The little gaggle of boats approaching Bridge 15 is awkwardly on a blind bend.
It’s here that a hire boat had a “coming together” with that derelict yesterday. In fact, that’s probably how it got sunk in the first place!

Marston Junction, turning onto the Ashby Canal.
There used to be a stop-lock just through the bridge, hence the junction bridge isn’t Bridge 1 on the Ashby, it’s a no-name still on the Coventry.

Gate recess for the stop-lock under the bridge.

In contrast to the utilitarian red-brick bridges of the Coventry Canal, the Ashby’s are of mellow local stone.  
There’s a length of piling we often use just shy of Bridge 3, but there were some boats already there. I tried to get on the end but the top was too near the bottom, a common problem on the Ashby Canal. We did get slotted in a little further on, though, after getting stuck in the mud on the offside. Not to worry, this’ll do us till Friday, when the next bout of poor weather should have passed.


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