Sunday 31st July; Hartshill to Ansty
I took a picture of Dave’s progress in the engine hole before we left, after he had replaced the bilge pump, which he had removed yesterday to treat the bottom of the engine hole beneath it. I had to ask him what the white thing behind the engine was, as I hadn’t previously noticed anything white at all – it had been filthy. He still needs to finish the red oxide painting, then add a coat of bilge paint on the floor, and the raised bits on the side still need treating too. Then the engine itself could do with a bit of a clean.
It was drizzling lightly when we left, after what sounded like a reasonable amount of rain overnight. I failed to even notice this well-known landmark on our way northward, but quickly grabbed the camera for the obligatory snap.
I’m not sure if it is actually
leaning, or if that’s my photographic ineptitude. Further on there are some offside moorings run by CRT but only one boat is there now. Last night's rain that was caught by the road drains was pouring forth, but it'll just be a spit in the ocean as far as water levels go.
At Springwood Haven marina we breasted up to a hire boat being prepared for the next crew, and got some fuel, before browsing the chandlery upstairs. The thing we needed, weed hatch tape, was missing, but an engineer went and got the right amount from the workshop.
We moored between the outskirts of
Nuneaton and the start of Bedworth for lunch.
An enormous warehouse is under construction on what looks to be the
start of a large industrial estate. There are some cherry-pickers to give some scale but the contrasts in the bright sun were too great for a decent picture.
We soon moved on, wanting to get a mooring with a TV signal before 5pm as we both wanted to watch England’s Lionesses play Germany in the final of the Women’s European Cup. We decided, on our second pass of Charity Dock, that it is all beginning to look rather tired.
We should have pulled in on the approach to Hawkesbury junction, but decided to carry on as it was clearly going to get rather crowded. Dave executed a perfect 180 degree turn round the junction, all in one go with no reverse or bow thruster, and didn’t nudge any edges either. With no other boaters around his skill went entirely unremarked (except by me of course). The pub seating both in the garden and in front by the canal was completely full on this sunny Sunday afternoon. We were soon through the lock, but the half-way decent moorings by the area where the horses used to graze had all been taken. We pulled in near where we moored last week, but there was no TV signal so on we went. The quiet mooring between the junction and Ansty was taken, but probably wouldn’t have had a signal and we had to go on to Ansty, where there was plenty of space with just one other boat moored. We missed the first 15 minutes of the match but enjoyed the rest of it – and we won! Go Lionesses, show the men how it's done!
The motorway is quite close to the mooring but was not too noisy. But I would hate to live in Ansty where the racket must be more or less constant.
11½ miles, 1 lock
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