Polesworth then Fazeley.

On Friday we moved on down to the moorings on the south side of Polesworth, to spend the weekend there. Just a gentle half-hour, and I didn’t even take any photos!

We had a pleasant surprise on Saturday lunchtime, friends Peter and Jennifer pulled in behind us and came aboard for a brew and a chat before carrying on towards Atherstone.

Peter and Jennifer, NB Mactra’s Filia

We may see them later in the year further north after they’ve been down to Braunston then back up the Leicester line.

We moved off this morning, passing the motor boat Snipe that we’d been moored behind. 
The powered half of the hotel pair Snipe and Taurus, she’s currently internally stripped, though I’m not sure whether for a refit or conversion. No sign of the butty Taurus. Anyone know if they’re still in business?

It’s been a very warm day today after a cool night, with almost unbroken blue skies. It’s difficult to believe now, but the canal down to Amington ran through the workings of Pooley Hall Colliery, with the shafts on the left and the spoil heaps on the right.

Now-removed bridges spanned the canal at regular intervals, carrying tramways that moved the spoil from the shafts.


The coal wharf is now used for moorings…

…and the large spoil heap near the motorway bridge has greened over and now supports a monument to those who once toiled underground here.
You can just catch a glimpse of it through the gap in the trees… I went up there in 2014, I wasn’t sure then what the pillar represented, but Julie posted a comment on that blog post -

Gold Leaf – Buried Sunlight
Artists Mathew and Louise Scullion

The Golden Tower of Leaves, Pooley Country Park, Polesworth Warwickshire
The 40ft tower was erected in 2011. It is a stack of aluminium strips formed in the shape of a birch leaf. The outer surface is covered in gold leaf.
The colonisation of the mound of colliery waste by birch trees provides a symbol of regeneration, represented by the motif of the birch leaf. The coal was formed over millions of years from fossilised trees (although not birch).
The gold finish is a reference to the wealth that was created by and for those who exploited the coal. The gold tower, which forms the focal point of the park, is a marriage of sculptural form and rich symbolism.
It was paid for through a Government programme designed to 'breathe new life into coalfield communities' at a cool £100,000
In the daytime it looks quite plain but in the eveniing it is really beautiful and gives off a rich golden glow which can be seen from many points around the village.
One of my favourite things is driving towards Polesworth along the M42, glancing over you can see the golden tower above the trees. Looks beautiful and I know in 5 minutes I will be home.
Such a shame no-one gets to see the top but the link below is a birds eye view of the monument, well worth a look and probably the only way any of us will see what it actually is.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DrKLFgym-I

Thanks again, Julie.

Another Red Admiral enjoying a lift in the sunshine

The Samual Barlow pub and Alvecote Marina

We pulled in above Glascote Locks for lunch and a shopping trip to the adjacent Co-op, then moved down to the locks. I helped a single-hander up the top lock, then we dropped down ourselves.
 

We pulled in a mile below the locks, on the embankment leading to the aqueduct over the River Tame.

We could have gone around the corner onto the official moorings, but it’s quieter here.

Locks 2, miles 5½ 

An excellent boat for sale.

Our good friends, Pam and Terry, are selling their much-loved boat The Rooster’s Rest.
Well looked after and beautifully fitted-out, it’s down on the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal at the moment, and so is advertised with a local agent – click here. Well worth a look.
If you want more info, Terry is happy for you to call him direct on  07445362848. Probably better than talking to the agent...

And on the same subject, I see that Doug and James have sold Chance, another lovely boat that is a credit to them and I’m sure will be much enjoyed by the new owners.

Where did all the water go?

Although we’ve had rain, it hasn’t helped the lower half of the Atherstone locks. The pounds were low yesterday on the upper five, but two pounds on the lower six were maybe 18” down this morning, making them impassable.

We’d set off just after half-ten, optimistically expecting to be mooring up near Polesworth by 1 o’clock. But it was not to be. As we approached Lock 6 a boat was waiting in the lock and the crew told us what the problem was.
Below Lock 7 three boats were grounded, one in the lock and two on the pound below. Of course, the rumour was that a hire boat had left a paddle up… The poor old hirers always get blamed for incidents like this. Often unfairly.

Still waiting above Lock 7, the boat below has managed to get up the pound from Lock 8, but has run aground just below Lock 7.   
CRT had been informed, several times it seems, and they were running water down the flight, so we were able to gradually bring the water levels up.
We finally got moving at around midday, dropping down Lock 7 and picking our way carefully along the still low pound below.

But we were moving, and steadily too, as boats started to come up.

We had to hover above L9 as a boat was coming up and the pound was still too low to risk going in to the side, but we were entertained by the swallows skimming the water taking insects. Mags pointed out three taking a break, but they’d flown off by the time I got the camera aimed. So I waited, and was rewarded…


…twice!


We finally left the bottom lock at half-one, stopping at the services at Bradley Green Bridge then toddling out across the pleasant Warwickshire countryside.


We were all feeling hungry, so decided to pull over a little early, on a very nice bit of piling just past Bridge 50.


The weather has threatened rain a couple of times, but has held off apart from a flurry of heavy drops further up the flight. Warm and breezy, too.

Locks 6, miles 2½

Back to Atherstone after avoiding the rain.

Well, we were all ready to go on Monday morning, donk running, everything put away, just the tiller to attach and we could go. Then the rain started… so we didn’t!
It actually wasn’t too bad but we’re in no hurry so why get wet when you don’t need to…

Yesterday was always going to be a write-off, with rain predicted all day we’d already decided that we wouldn’t be going anywhere. So wasn’t until this morning that we finally slipped the ropes through the mooring rings and left Hartshill.

A fine morning after yesterday’s rain


The sharp bend just south of Bridge 35 caught out the steerer of the hire boat ahead. he took it too wide, forcing an oncoming boat into the reeds alongside the old quarry wharf.

We held off till they sorted themselves out. The steerer coming this way said that, on seeing a boat approaching, the other guy panicked and just let go of everything! He’s going to have to get out of that habit…

Alpacas near Harvey’s Boatbuilders…


…and a hitch-hiking Red Admiral enjoying the sun

We arrived at the top of Athersone Locks at around 10:45, waited for the panicky hirer and crew to start down, then followed them.
Atherstone Lock 1, our first for nearly 6 weeks.

With volunteers on the first five locks they had instruction and help to get them on their way.

This was the only lock we had to refill; all the others till below Lock 5 had boats coming up and at least one other waiting below.

Just over an hour later saw us pull in below Lock 5, handy for the town centre. I think a lot of other people saw the same forecast as us, there were an awful lot of boats around today.

Tomorrow we’ll drop down the last six and head for Polesworth.

Locks 5, miles

Change of county, change of canal.

So, where were we? Ah yes, just outside Hinckley on Wednesday afternoon. Despite the forecast of thundery showers on Thursday it stayed fine, so we toddled on a bit, stopping about half a mile short of Marston Junction.

Having a play with the macro setting on the camera…


The bee moved it’s head in the second shot. Not very co-operative…

Across the canal from where we’d moored is open fields of wheat, but in the 15th century this was a small settlement, Stretton Baskerville.
Listed in the Doomsday Book as plain Stratone, it was held under the protection of a Saxon leader, Eadric the Wild, but following the Norman invasion it became part of the holdings of Ralph de Mortemer, and by the 12th century it had acquired it’s suffix as it became a part of the estate of the Baskerville family.
I imagine life for the smallholders working the land went on much as it always had for the next couple of hundred years as the manor passed through several hands, but it was when the Twyford family took possession that everything changed. In the late 15th century the roughly 800 acres were “enclosed”, fenced to allow the grazing of livestock, and the 100 or so residents of the village were evicted. What became of them isn’t recorded…
Ironically, the land that was enclosed for grazing has now pretty much been opened up again for arable farming.
There’s little left now to indicate the site of the village, a raised mound where the church once stood and tree-fringed damp depressions that indicate the sites of fish-ponds.

The rain never materialised but it stayed cloudy although still very warm.

One way to cool the dogs off…

Meg prefers a fan…

We’re back to the stone bridges again now.

Through the narrow rock cutting near Bulkington Road Bridge.

We pulled in just past Bridge 3, and were immediately accosted by the locals, begging for treats.

Yesterday we stayed put. I had a few little jobs to do, my legs were a little weary from a good run first thing, and anyway it was bloody hot in the afternoon! Still no rain…

So on to today, having left Leicestershire for Warwickshire on Thursday, today we left the Ashby Canal for the Coventry Canal.

Leaving the very pleasant mooring near Bridge 3

Some people moor in the most extraordinary places!
There were two boats on the bend, but the one coming towards us has just set off. It’s very shallow on the inside of the corner.

That’s it then, just the narrow approach to the junction bridge, where the stop-lock used to sit, then the turn out onto the Coventry.

We’d debated what to do while we were moored up, and the decision was made to go north. We’ll head back up onto the Trent and Mersey, up to Stoke and maybe have an excursion on the Caldon Canal. Then through Harecastle and onto the Macclesfield Canal.
It makes sense; if the old body stays together this summer I‘m planning on an autumn half marathon up Manchester way, so we’ll be in the right neck of the woods.

So Mags kept an eye out for oncoming traffic, and I made the right turn to head back up towards Nuneaton.

An outstanding tree…

The wheat (or corn??) is turning golden now as it ripens with this fine weather.

There’s not a lot to report about the rest of the trip. We passed a few boats going the other way, and were passed by another who was obviously on a mission to get somewhere. We wended our way through the built-up area of Nuneaton, then past the old quarries on Tuttle Hill before fetching up at Hartshill.

Boot Wharf in Nuneaton


An unusual wedge shaped roofline allows greater headroom for getting in and out of the cabin, but doesn’t look very attractive.

I much prefer a sliding hatch.

Springwood Haven looks a pleasant spot.

I nearly pulled in for diesel and an ice-cream, but decided to press on instead. We don’t really need either…

Surprisingly, especially for the weekend, the moorings alongside the Anchor were empty.


Probably a few boats there now, I would think.

Novice canoeists from the centre next to Bridge 31 were a hazard to be negotiated as we pulled onto the wharf at Hartshill Yard, but we got there in the end. The fore-end of a narrowboat is quite daunting when you’re sat with your bum below water level…

Hartshill Yard.
 

And that was about it. Through Bridge 32 and we moored up on the 48 hour moorings.

We’ll be staying here tomorrow, moving on towards Atherstone on Monday.

Locks 0, miles 10½

A bit more like it, but it’s getting busy.

As we get into summer and the weather improves we’re seeing more and more traffic out on the cut. The age demographic seems to be that of older couples, probably getting a cruise in before the school holidays start. The hire boats will be out in earnest by the middle of the month…

We left Sutton Cheney yesterday morning, vacating our bit of the plastic pontoon to allow an “early start - early finish” boat to take it over.

Why did the canal surveyors insist on putting bridges on blind bends?

Dadlington Wharf Bridge

There’s no wharf here now, just a short stub occupied by a single boat.

Bat box in Bridge 29

Judging by the trails of guano (bat poo), it’s in use. Though why they bothered to emboss a picture of a bat on the cover is beyond me. Their eyesight is notoriously poor…

We were getting pretty short on supplies, having not done a good shop since we left Hinckley. So thought a Tesco delivery would be a good idea. There aren’t many places where the road and canal run beside each other, with parking for a largish vehicle, but three sprung to mind. Sutton Wharf would be OK, so long as you could get on the 24 hour or 1 hour moorings, but we’d left there already. Ahead of us was the bend below Stoke Golding, then Basin Bridge, both with offside moorings, both with laybys alongside.

There was room on the Stoke Golding moorings, so we pulled on there.
Not as far as we intended, but handy for the delivery.

We got a slot for first thing this morning, hoping that there’d be space to park when the time came. The layby is busy, folk coming down and parking for a while to feed the ducks, and the boaters moored on the long term moorings around the corner also park here overnight. But it worked well, loads of room when Tescoman arrived 10 minutes late, blaming Nuneaton traffic.

It took an hour to get everything packed away, and we were on our way again before half-ten.

With a regular source of food there’s lots of ducks around here, so tame they can be hand-fed.

Stoke Golding village up on the hill above the canal

Cassiopeia, a composite-construction Small Woolwich moors opposite the Farm Shop next to Bridge 23.

Composite hulls were built with iron sides and elm bottoms, easier to replace when they became worn out. Cassiopeia was built by the Harland and Wolff yard in Woolwich in 1935. Unlike a lot of her stablemates, she’s still full length.

The other option for a delivery, at Basin Bridge, was completely empty.
It might have been a better option as it turned out, but the offside moorings are popular so you can’t be sure to find space. The towpath moorings were very quiet too.

We toddled on, into and through Hinckley.

Trinity Marina


Hinckley Wharf Arm

Pickfords, now more associated with house-moving but 19th century canal carriers, used the wharf at the end of the arm. The wharf managers house and office still stands alongside Coventry Road, and is now an Indian restaurant.

We filled up with water at Limekiln Bridge, then carried on. We had a rough plan to stop at Burton Hastings, but the shade offered by high hedges before Bridge 13 was inviting, so we pulled in there instead.

Meg immediately dived into the cool of the hedge bottom, covering herself in goose-grass seeds!

Not sure what we’re doing tomorrow; if the forecasted thundery showers materialise we’ll probably stay here.

Thanks all for the comments on the last couple of posts. I’m glad to see I’m not the only one feeling a little let down with seeing a diesel instead of a steam loco! And thanks also for the info on the flax/linseed crop. I’m not sure I’ve seen it before, but I‘ll know next time!

Locks 0, miles 7