Monday 5th May; Marston Junction to (nearly) Springwood Haven
As we hadn’t far to go today there was no urgency to get going. Before we left I took Jess for a walk up the Ashby for a couple of bridges, so I could at least say I’d visited it too. The early morning chill was wearing off and the sun was yet again shining brightly.
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| I think this was a water vole – they are known to live around here. I was so excited to see it I nearly forgot to take a photo. |
It was after 10 before we left. We needed milk, so we tootled along to moor opposite Boot Wharf at bridge 20. I had written the directions in Nicholsons, but the shop I had found last time was nowhere to be found – I had clearly taken a wrong turn, though I did at least find another shop. We moved on as soon as I got back.
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| Bedworth prefers to be associated with Nuneaton rather than Coventry |
By late morning we had found a pretty south-facing spot a little way before bridge 27 and the marina. The weather was not so hot we needed to find shade, so there would be plenty of solar for the leisure batteries. After lunch I took Jess with me to the marina office, to check where our berth would be, then we went for a walk towards the railway bridge intending to continue the circular walk which would bring us back to the towpath near the Anchor at Hartshill.
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| The girth of this tree does not show well in this photo – it was huge |
There are just two properties accessible by car this side of the railway. In the garden of the bigger one was a large chicken run, or so I thought – but no, a beautiful exotic pheasant was stalking about behind the shrubs which blocked a full view. It looked to be a very sturdy run, very wise considering the size of the beautiful dog fox that slipped into the hedge as we approached! Under the railway we went, past the place with horses, and turned left towards Caldecote Manor. The track crosses the river Anker, where Jess found her way down for a drink.
The footpath which leads from the track to the bridge over the railway has been closed for some time because a major new pipeline is being laid from Nuneaton. It’s normally very easy to follow the well-trodden path through whatever crop is growing – however, the sign indicating the start must have been removed when they laid the pipeline, and clearly no-one had yet come that way to indicate the route. So rather than trample the growing wheat in the wrong place we turned round and went back again. Not at all annoying.
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| Caldecote Manor |
The spoil heap from decades of quarrying, known as Mount Judd, is clearly visible from this direction.
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| Mount Judd |
Dave had been investigating the bow thruster battery system, as the new batteries are failing to charge. The fuses are ok and there are no loose connections, and research suggests it might be the split charge relay which determines whether the engine power goes to the starter battery or the bow thruster batteries.
We will be getting up early tomorrow – the car shuffle day.
4 miles
If there's a footpath Debbie, you can bowl right though. Naughty farmers plough them up, where we are if you plough up a footpath you are taken out and shot.
ReplyDeleteIn Leicestershire they have a fabulous policy of putting tall posts by each stile and painting the post bright yellow, so simple and so easy.
Lisa
I would have, if I could remember where it was! There is a little wood obscuring the railway bridge and I couldn't remember which side of the wood the path goes. If I'd gone the other way round I would have made a stab at it. Years ago the chap who farmed near us where a popular dog walk goes used to plough it up then run his tractor over to show where the path went. The chap who farms it now doesn't bother so he ends up with a wide muddy path where people have made their best guess, all different!
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