Lots of noise, then peace at last

Wednesday July 27^th; Polesworth to Hopwas

Last night's wind had dropped, so the motorway was rather loud this morning.  But it was lovely and sunny first thing and not too hot, so I took Meg for a walk in the woods while Dave got on with some sanding.  I hoped I would be able to find the golden pillar sculpture on the top of the hill, so I just followed uphill paths till I found it.  Impressive, and good views from the top (including the M42 which was mostly hidden by trees).

There was an imaginative and poetical interpretation board, which I am not sure I totally agreed with, but the bench nearby is a good place to sit and look about you. 

A classier photo than mine

There are lots of little paths leading off the summit, many with small laminated labels, now rather faded – they show bike runs of varying difficulty (black, red, blue in the manner of ski runs) some of which I might have enjoyed in the bolder days gone by though maybe not now… but great fun if that is your thing.  Back on the boat, Dave had started to apply varnish to the stern doors, which he had been rubbing down.

Meg keeps an eye on things

But he quickly realised the varnish he was using was the wrong colour, so when it was dry he sanded it off again.  We didn't start cruising till late morning, hoping that arriving at Glascote locks at lunchtime might give us a clear run down. 

Meg approves of her mat

Annoyingly, up at the lock there were still two boats floating about going nowhere, so we pulled in and had lunch a hundred yards or so before.  Just as we were thinking about moving again two boats came by – and we all ended up in a queue.  It turned out that the two floating about had been the last of the pre-lunch queue and were only just going down.  In the end, it took us about 2 hours to clear the locks.  It wasn’t helped by a boat moored on the bollards, though they were quite likely to have broken down or had a medical emergency.

It left one boat’s length where the water point is also on the lock landing, and to the right of the photo is the towpath bridge spanning the entrance to the old S J Hudson boatyard in Glascote Basin.  So it wasn't easy queuing for the lock as it was hard to see who was moored and who was waiting.  Once down, we cruised sedately along, over the Tame aqueduct, where we could see a fisherman having a peaceful afternoon down on the river.

Past the junction, where the Birmingham and Fazeley stretched quietly away to Birmingham, and it wasn’t long before we were mooring for a visit to the Ventura business park.  It’s years since we’ve been along this way, but we still - just - remembered how to get to Sainsbury’s (ok, with one wrong turn!).  Annoyingly several aisles were empty and blocked off for refurbishment so some of the selection available was rather lacking.   We got most of what we wanted, then popped into B&Q on the way back for sandpaper, the right colour varnish and a few bits and pieces such as carpet tacks for Meg’s carpet on the back steps.

That shopping trip took us almost as long as the Glascote locks.  We cruised on to get away from the racket of the roads and stopped in Hopwas, by the start of the woods.  First things first – Meg knew there was something good about this mooring and was on the towpath waiting, so no chance for a swift visit to the pub before we went!  So instead we had a lovely walk in the woods before coming home to Sainsbury’s pizza.

Sadly Himalayan Balsam infests the woods

But Meg doesn't care.

2 locks, 7 miles