Autumn Cruise: Day 5

It was a beautiful morning, sunny and still but quite chilly, especially in the shade.  We set off at about 8.15 and we soon passing the old Hartshill yard.

It was a little over an hour to the top of Atherstone Locks, and as we came through the bridge a volunteer lock keeper jumped up and open the gate of the top lock for us.  He then worked the bottom paddles while I went and topped up the second lock.  The blackboard at the top of the flight said there had been one boat up so far, and we were the first one going down.  There was another lock keeper at lock 3, so the same thing happened there.

Then at Lock 5 we started meeting boats coming up, so that each lock was ready for us.  At lock 8, the boat coming up was Percy, with Nev and Rachel heading for the Ashby, so it was nice to have a quick catch up with them.

The lock below was one of the few that didn’t have a boat coming up.  Then at the bottom lock, a motor boat, Victoria, was coming up — and because they had a butty with them they immediately turned the lock for that.  The steerer was under instruction, so it all took rather a long time.  I felt sorry for the boats following them up the flight.

Even with that slight delay, we did all eleven locks in an hour and forty minutes, which is exceptionally good going.  We stopped at the water point at Bradley Green to top up the tank, get a load of washing on, and have a cup of tea.  We carried on through Polesworth, and then just before Alvecote we saw James and Debbie on Ernest (formerly Lois Jane) as they tied up.  We stopped just beyond the next bridge, before Alvecote Marina, at about 1.30.  We walked up through the nature reserve to the Golden Tower of Leaves at the top of a former spoil heap.  It’s been there since 2011, but this is the first time we’ve been up to it.

We walked back along the towpath, hoping James and Debbie would still be there — but they weren’t.  Back at the boat, we washed and dried one side of the boat at which point it tried to rain, although not very successfully.  This evening, we are seeing Helen and Andy Tidy

10 miles, 11 locks.  (78 miles, 37 locks)

Northern Exposure: Day 4

As predicted, yesterday afternoon’s rain continued all evening, but it was dry when we woke up.  We set off a little before 8, straight into the stop lock with its tiny fall.  Then Adrian did a textbook all in one 180 degree turn through the bridge onto the Coventry Canal, although for some reason he only awarded himself 28 points out of 30.  Then it was through the narrow by the engine house, and onto the water point, where we started the washing machine and filled the tank.  A combination of a slow tap and a tank that hadn’t been filled since before we set off meant we were there for the best part of an hour.

The weather cheered up a bit as we did the stretch through Bedworth, last Charity Dock, which seemed to have more boats these days, and Marston Junction.  In Nuneaton, there are new houses going up behind Boot Wharf; I wonder how long it will be before there’s tension between householders and the residential moorers at the bottom of their gardens.  We also passed one of the least appetisingly named Chinese takeaways I’ve ever seen.

After Hartshill there’s a tree down across the canal, with just enough cleared to let a boat through.  When we got to the top of Atherstone Locks, a boat was jus mooring up so we had high hopes they had just come up.  Sure enough, as we approached the top lock the volunteer lock keepers opened the gate for us, then sent me on to set the next one while they worked Adrian through.  That was the extent of the help though — they don’t stray from the top lock.  Most of the first few locks were in our favour, and this part of the flight is rather pretty.

Further down, the towpath was a quagmire, and most of the locks were empty.  At least by the time they get out into the countryside they’re in pairs, so you can go down and fill the second one in each pair while the top one is filling.  These locks take about 4 minutes to fill, and 2 minutes to empty.  We completed the flight of 11 locks in around a hour and three-quarters.  The wind had been getting stronger all the way down, and at the bottom it was particularly bad.  There’s a field on one side which is so flooded it’s a job to see where the canal ends and the field begins; the wind was so strong, the new lake had waves on it.

Just before Polesworth it began to rain.  Having not seen a moving boat for three hours, we met two through Polesworth, but fortunately not at any of the awkward bridges.  After a couple of downpours the rain eased off, and the wind dropped too.  We’ve moored at Alvecote and will go the highly recommended Samuel Barlow pub for dinner.  Helen and Andy Tidy are due to join us in there later for a drink.

18 miles, 12 locks.  (68 miles, 35 locks)