Into the marina

Friday 13^th June; into the marina

It was lovely packing up the boat in the quiet sunshine, listening to the blackcap and other birds singing in the woods.  Not much boat activity yet as it’s still early.

Teenage gang hanging about

We were ready to move soon after 9 and tootled down this lovely section of the Coventry towards the marina.

Last bridge

When we arrived at the marina, the first two ABC hire boats had already returned to base and were disgorging their crews.  We had dealt with all the domestics yesterday so were able to return to our berth straight away, and had packed the car and left for home before 11.  We had planned our return well regarding finishing the cruise and packing up the boat, but had entirely forgotten that Fridays in summer are not the best for driving to the south-west, so had to put up with heavy traffic all the way – thankfully no major hold-ups.

Less than a mile today.

Trip stats

72½ miles narrow canal, no locks

4 aqueducts; Shenton and Shackerstone, twice

4 tunnels; Snarestone (250 yds) and Heath Crescent (Coventry, 95 yds) twice – 3¼ furlongs underground

It’s been strange having no locks to do, and we look forward to having a ‘normal’ cruise next time.

 

Avoiding changeover day

Thursday 12^th June; Marston Junction – Mancetter winding hole – Hartshill

Another warm and sunny morning, with whatever goes on behind the offside bank of trees starting work at 7.  But we were up, so it didn’t matter.  We were away before 9 and moored at Boot Wharf so Dave could walk to Halfords for a mini socket set.  There is a slightly shorter route from the next bridge but we couldn’t remember what the mooring was like.  (It's fine).  I started defrosting the fridge and got cracking with cleaning inside while he was away.  He returned with socket set, the correct fuse for the bow thruster power supply and some milk from the large Lidl he passed on the way. On we went.

We thought these might be volunteers repairing the towpath near Nuneaton. 

The machine must be for flattening tarmac patches

The stones were for filling holes behind the Armco

 

We wanted to get well out into the country before we stopped for lunch.  The towpath has recently been mown, quite sensitively it would seem – here is one of the three orchids I saw this morning which had been spared the mower’s blade.  Well spotted, contractors - or maybe volunteers did it to keep the contractors off!  It shows what might return if you are less free with your mowing.

And then...

Guess what?**

 

As we cast off after lunch there were a few spots of rain.  We didn’t have too far to go to the wharf at Springwood Haven, but by then it was hammering down.  Ah well, bare legs dry more quickly than trousers.  After a short wait the wharf was free and we shuffled back for a pump-out, new gas bottle, fuel, and to find out where our berth would be for tomorrow.  The rain gradually stopped as we approached the winding hole at Mancetter, and soon it was hot again, apart from the pesky wind.  

Hartshill yard clock tower across the fields

We stopped at the BW Hartshill yard for water. 

Eagle-eyed Jess spotted something in the water between the hull and the wharf.  Our second found ball this trip and none lost!

We stopped for the night in the usual place round the corner from the Anchor pub.  As we passed the gate to the footpath Jess was watching keenly; she has only been there twice but she knew exactly where we were, so off we all went to have a play with the frisbee.

Watching the trains

Then it was back to work – cleaning and the water-tank.  Dave soon managed to loosen the jubilee clips holding the leaking pipe and once that was done he could lift the whole lot out with the well deck fitting.

It all needs a jolly good clean.

How they managed to get the bend in the connecting pipe to cope with the offset between the top of the tank and the well deck fitting we don’t know – maybe they heated it.

It wasn't the flexible water pipe we were expecting, rather it was solid white plastic with a split in it and a bit had also sheared off at some time.

We guess the person deciding where to cut the hole for the well deck fitting hadn’t measured properly.  Unfortunately the chandlery at Springwood Haven didn’t have the right size flexible pipe so the job won’t be completed this trip.

7½ miles

** 

Dippy Dino and glorious glass

Tuesday 10^th June; Coventry Basin to Hawkesbury Junction

The basin is a surprisingly quiet place to be once the traffic dies down (and there was no function in the music venue beside us), though we did have to put the porthole bungs in because of the lights.  When I took Jess out before breakfast I had a closer look at the improved towpaths.

We went further than usual because she will be home alone for most of the morning.  It rained a bit over breakfast but after that it was mostly warm and sunny.  Our plan was to spend the morning in the Herbert art gallery which we’d thoroughly enjoyed on our last visit, maybe have coffee and cake in the café, lunch out near the boat and visit the cathedral in the afternoon.  First we had an unplanned stroll round the city centre, after I’d sent us the wrong way, and finally found the art gallery.  It was plastered with announcements that Dippy was in residence!  I do like fossils.

Dippy the Diplodocus is a cast of the original fossil found in the USA.  It would have been around 24-26 metres long in life and weigh about 15 tons.  They ate the tough leaves of conifers and gingko trees, and their 40+ teeth were replaced about every 35 days.  I wonder how that was worked out from a fossil? 

Long whippy tail

Dippy ‘lived’ in the Natural History Museum in London (we saw it with the children in the late 1980s) and is currently on loan here in Coventry until next year.  There were a few more fossils, including an ichthyosaur skull found at the Harbury Cement Quarry in Warwickshire – you can see the chimney of the cement works as you go up Stockton Locks on the Grand Union.

There were some nice bronze sculptures, including a couple by Jacob Epstein and a Barbara Hepworth.

Epstein’s Yehudi Menuhin

One small gallery was devoted to Coventry during and after the war, and was very affecting with photos and eye-witness accounts of the day after the bombing raid that destroyed the original cathedral.  The rest of the place was frankly disappointing.  Only one other gallery was covered in the entry price, and was about Lady Godiva, with the story being played (loudly) on a loop.  It seemed to be aimed at families with children.  The remaining four galleries had been given over to an exhibition of dinosaurs built with Lego, apparently built with precision in consultation with experts, and placed in appropriate dioramas.  We would have had a look except that you had to pay £4 for the privilege, and weren’t even tempted by the chance to dig in a sandpit to find a fossil.  It was still only midday, so we waved goodbye to Dippy and pondered our next move.  I was hungry but it wasn’t lunchtime, so we went past the cathedral and round the corner to Sainsburys. 

Lady Godiva

We could fit what we needed into our rucksacks and a single bag, so we sat in the sun and fortified ourselves with a snack before going into the cathedral.

The Archangel Michael defeats Lucifer, who is ejected from Heaven

I knew there was an event taking place for clergy and other people of faith, but it was quiet when we went in.  I wanted to sit and look at the wonderful baptistry window designed by John Piper.  It’s wonderful when the sun isn’t shining, and stunning when it is.

Piper is reported to have said there was no symbolism to the window – just a ‘burst of glory’.  Precisely.  At the very bottom of the picture is the font, made from a boulder brought from a hillside near Bethlehem.

After a peaceful ten minutes, the cathedral started to fill with chatter as people finished their morning discussions and came out for lunch – a buffet laid out on a long row of tables.  No reverential hush for this lot, and our quiet appreciation was totally disrupted.  We have been here before, so we went round paying most attention to the rest of the windows and the carvings of bible verses on the walls.

More glory

It was crowded and noisy now, there must have been several hundred people swarming around or sitting in groups and chattering nineteen to the dozen as they munched their lunch, so we went back to the boat.  We had lunch outside the Playwright’s Café.  Dave enjoyed his mini-breakfast but I wished I had chosen something other than a burger.  Chips were ok though.

It was too hot now to leave the dog in the boat.  There was nothing else we wanted to see, so at 3 we cast off and went on our merry way back to Hawkesbury Junction.

Bye Mr Brindley

The return journey was just as tedious.  At least as we had already done our shopping there was no need to moor up and trek round to Tesco’s. 

The interesting bit of a mural dedicated to the weavers of Coventry.  I didn’t think much of the rest.

Along the way we passed more of the Rothen’s dredging equipment which must have recently been brought down from the Ashby and left here till needed next.

It was nearly five when we arrived at the junction, and the moorings were crowded so we ended up on the 14-day stretch.  By the time Jess had had a walk it was too late to get an inside table at the Greyhound and too cold to eat outside, so after a drink we had a bacon sandwich back on the boat.  Next time we’ll book a table and leave the dog behind.

Less than 6 miles

New bin compound at Hawkesbury Junction!

Friday 6^th June; Bridge 13 to Coventry basin

The first thing that happened was the gas bottle ran out before the kettle had boiled for our second cup of tea at breakfast, so clearly Dave had to change the bottle before we could think about moving off.  Thank goodness it was dry today!  All was quiet as we arrived at Marston Junction and turned onto the Coventry canal.

Bye Ashby

Charity Dock seems to have fewer boats moored now, and the gardens just look tired, even though some of the mannequins had got new costumes.

Stig, you need to put your overalls in the wash

As we came through Bulkington Bridge, this amazing creature landed on Dave’s arm.  It was 5 or 6 millimetres long, big for a ladybird.  I’m fairly sure of the identification but put it onto I-record where someone will probably confirm it.  They are not uncommon, but I’ve never seen one before.  They live in woodland, spend the summers feeding on mildew up in the canopy, and hibernate in the leaf litter over winter.  What a lovely creature.

Halyzia sedecimguttata, the Orange ladybird (probably)

We pulled in at the first water point before Hawkesbury Junction, and while Dave looked after the water situation I took some rubbish down to the facilities block to see if the situation had improved since we were last here, when there was no recycling, just a skip behind a locked door in the building.  Now there is a sparkling new compound with proper recycling and food waste bins.  Hurray!  All I had to do was go back to the boat and collect ours, not forgetting our litter-picker with which to lift a Tesco bag of ordinary rubbish out of the food waste bin and put it in the right one.  Why do people do that sort of thing?  We stopped beyond the decorated footbridge for lunch.

It is remarkably difficult to take a picture of this footbridge when there is any sun.  This is a detail from the Coventry side.

When we started again, I walked with Jess for a mile or so.  This bench was an example of the sculpture trail from the basin. 

We had heard that the stretch to Coventry was much improved, and it was – the last time we were here it was scruffy and rubbish-strewn, and you were advised not to moor outside the basin.  We saw a coot on her nest, which was more or less entirely made from pieces of litter.  The first time we were here was probably with the children in about 1990, when we had a hire boat from a company based along the stretch to Coventry – it had high fences and barbed wire around the boatyard, and we were given strict instructions not to stop or get off the boat ANYWHERE until we were past the junction.  All I really remember is a lot of pipes crossing the canal, and complicated looking industries either side, possibly chemical in nature.  Not now – wild flowers on some stretches of the towpath and almost no litter.

Even a family of swans

It was a very long 2 hours’ cruise to the basin.  There are few mooring spots, lots of bland new housing and concrete edges all the way. 

Cash’s One Hundred weavers’ houses were a point of interest.  I still use our old Cash's name labels occasionally if something needs naming.

We winded in the basin and reversed back into one of the arms, mooring on the side with the cafés.  A couple of boats were already here for the floating market at the weekend - there was a 'reserved' label on our front mooring ring, but it isn't in force yet.  We didn’t do much – there was a bit of rain, then Dave took Jess for a walk up the towpath and I started catching up with the blog.  The building we moored next to seems to be a community space – there was band practice at 6.  The instrumentalists seemed to be quite good, and though we didn’t recognise most of the songs, indie/pop rock I would guess, it wasn’t unpleasant in the background.  But the singer of ‘Teenage Dirtbag’, which I rather like, was murdering it.  We thought they were there for the evening, but then their dads turned up to collect them – they were only about 14!  Good for them.  It was quiet after that, apart from the occasional siren on the road.  We plan to stay for a couple of nights. 

12½ miles

A windy day through Hinckley

Sunday 8^th June; Sutton Cheney to past Hinckley, bridges 14 - 13

Well, it didn’t rain today but although there was sunshine now and again the strong wind made it cold, and very tricky sometimes to manoeuvre – except when we were cruising straight into it, when you could feel the boat having to push against it.  We didn’t start till about 10, with our woolly hats on and collars up.  Soon we saw a llittle egret in a field.

We haven’t seen a little egret on a canal before, only on rivers.  The photo is much cropped and enlarged, so it’s rather fuzzy.

Shortly afterwards the local swan family swam by, with two little ones hitching a ride.

Beginning to get a bit too big for this now

There was quite a lot of boat traffic coming towards us, including dayboats as it’s the weekend.  Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.  We pulled in at bridge 17 in Hinckley where there is a garage, and Dave held the boat on the centre line while I went to see if I could get the paper, but the garage only has a tiny little Spar selling snacks and biscuits.  I may have felt it necessary to buy some choc chip cookies.  Once through Hinckley we found a quiet spot to stop for lunch, and although the hedge sheltered us from the worst of the wind it still made mooring hard work.  After lunch we calculated that we had plenty of time to get down to Coventry tomorrow without too much effort so we stayed where we were.  Jess and I went off for a decent walk while Dave spent time doing stuff down the engine hole.

This is how far we went.

The signal was ok tonight, so we could check our emails at last and I spent some time catching up with the blog.  There were still a few boats on the move, and three of them joined us for the night.

6 miles.  I shall be pleased to get back to locks, which won’t be till our next trip.

Hares

Saturday 7^th June; Snarestone to past Sutton Wharf bridge 34

The overnight rain had pretty much stopped by the time we were up and about.  The forecast indicated that the best of the weather (as in, the least of the rain) would be in the morning, so we were on our way by 8.30.  I did the first dog walk shift almost to Shackerstone in light rain, although I was mostly dry under the trees.

Dave has always admired the lake by the long permanent mooring at Shackerstone and would love to have one like it!

Also near the mooring is the remains of a Motte and Bailey, indicated in Nicholson’s by gothic script which is why I know what it is.

The rain came and went, enough to need a waterproof, but never very much of it and it didn’t bother us at all.  A long stretch of canal at this end of the Ashby is an SSSI.  I don’t know how far it extends beyond the canal itself, as some of the fields have several metres back from the canal sown with flowery meadow rather than being cultivated, but others haven’t.  One farm has planted up some trees or hedging along the edge too.  The first time we came up here we had an excellent close view of a hare – this time I saw two, though not very close, and they had lolloped away behind a hedge before Dave could look, being rather busy at the time negotiating a bridge on a bend.

No picture of hares, but brandy-bottle waterlilies don’t run away

Now it was Dave’s turn to walk the dog.  We find our knees get very stiff when we are just standing on the back when there are no locks to get you moving, so it’s good to get off and walk. 

 As you see he had chosen to leave his waterproof on the boat.  Luckily for him there was a good dry spell.  He was back on board after a few bridges so I had a chance to take some more photos – I have a tendency to get an attack of the zig-zags if I use the camera while steering.

There have been a few reed buntings chattering away in the hedgerows.  We didn’t see any on our last trip.

‘Me ears are alight’

This boat name has always made me smile, ever since I found out what a mondegreen is.  If you're not familiar with the quotation, see also The Israelites.

We were soon moored up at Market Bosworth.  It was only 11 o’clock so we had a coffee and a sit-down before I walked up the long hill into the town for some fresh veg and the paper.  There hasn’t been a bus service for years, although the stops are still in place, but with unfriendly notices on them now.

Bosworth Fire Station

I didn’t take my waterproof, and got a bit wet but not soaked.  The market square would be attractive it wasn’t for all the cars and some very pink shops.  I didn’t bother with a photo. 

Market Bosworth is very proud of Richard III

 There is a tiny thin greengrocer and a very narrow Co-op which between them had everything I needed.  It would have been nice to have had chip butties for lunch but the chips would have been cold before I got back to the boat.

This is a super name.  We bought chips here once, and sat on a wall to eat them.

As I left the canal earlier I had heard a train whistle, so knew that the Battlefield Line was in steam today.  On the way back I was walking over the railway bridge as the train returned to Bosworth station.

Not much smoke today

Over lunch we discussed whether to stay put.  We could have a steam-train ride, and Mikron have a performance this evening, tempting, but that is in a church hall a mile-and-a-half away uphill.  And then afterwards, a mile-and-a-half back downhill, which is not good news for arthritic knees.  We also felt we should be a little closer to Marston Junction by tonight, so in the end we moved on for another few miles, to between Sutton Wharf bridge and no 33, and were moored up by mid-afternoon.  The rain started not long after we arrived and continued on and off for most of the evening.  It’s a nice quiet spot, once again with no passers-by on the towpath.

9½ miles, 2 aqueducts