A bucket and some hooks

Monday 25^th July; Hartshill to Atherstone flight between locks 7 and 8

We weren’t in a rush to hurry off this morning so I took Meg for a walk to the field footpath, but the cattle were grazing on what grass there was where the trees gave way to the open field, so we didn’t go further.  Dave meanwhile had done some rubbing down on the cratch board where there is hardly any varnish left.

Desperately dry grass

It wasn’t particularly hot as we cruised along to the water-point at Hartshill BW yard, but after we had filled the water-tank it got warmer.  Last time we came this way there was no trace of Mancetter marina, not even a sign.  It looks as though it is just private moorings, like at Barby.  We couldn't tell whether they would be offering facilities to passing boats.

Rather bleak and characterless at the moment

We stopped for lunch above Atherstone locks, where a ‘no mooring’ sign from the previous weekend’s Floating Market was still in place (so we removed it), before deciding to move down to below lock 5 before we went shopping.  First stop was the hardware shop, where we bought a bucket and some hooks, found that the baker was already closed (we knew the butcher would be by this time of day), noted that the Farmers’ Market is on Saturday (we hope to be back in Atherstone for that) and stocked up with essentials at the Co-op.  Then we carried on down the flight.  There had been a queue at lock 6 – two youth group holiday boats were on their way up and the place was heaving with young teenagers, but as the pound is short between 6 and 7,  has a bridge in the middle, and the youth boats were both long, the boat going down had opted to let them both come up while he waited.

Once we got going we had no such trouble.

Passing below lock 6

The side ponds on these locks have sadly fallen into disuse, but with this dry summer and the relentless progress of climate change I wonder whether they will be restored and brought back into service?  At the moment they are good spots for water plants –

Flowering rush Butomus umbellatus

 

The beautiful flowering rush is native to the UK and we have seen it growing in glorious profusion along the Lapworth flight on the South Stratford.   Sadly, Wikipedia says it has 'become a serious invasive weed in the Great Lakes area and in parts of the Pacific Northwest'. 

Water-saving and supply is going to get more important – as I write (5^th August) hosepipe bans are in place in the south, the source of the Thames has dried up and I’m losing count of the lock flights that are closed or on restricted hours.  We had anticipated going to Oxford on our next trip, but we are going to choose something else without restrictions – if that is still possible at the end of August.

We moored for the rest of the day below lock 7, where there is a long pound before the next pair of locks.  The Atherstone bypass (the A5) was still very busy but now several fields away, so not too noisy.

3½ miles, 7 locks