Tixall Wide

Well I got it wrong yesterday, the temperature was down to 14°C so I fired up the shove, Diana got the dinner in and cooking and what happened, the sun came out, the doors were open and it was 30°C inside the boat, needless to say, as soon as dinner was cooked the shove was off. When we went to bed we had to have the rear doors open for ¼ hour to cool down.

No rush to get away this morning as we were only going to Great Haywood as that was decision point and time.
Yesterday Nanney’s Bridge on the Middlewich branch was hit by a vehicle, closing the canal. CRT were going to examine it today to see if the canal could be reopened, If it couldn’t we have to reroute via the Shropshire Union canal and the only place we could do that id Gt Haywood so we didn’t set off until 11am.
Just a short way ahead of where we were moored are the famous “Bloody Steps” There use to be a much bigger information board there than there is now. There is also another notice under it saying we are entering a smoke free zone, its the first one of these I have noticed, I guess there must be one at the other side of Rugeley as well.

There were several boats moored just the other side of the Aqueduct, maybe this sign is the reason. Word of warning, don’t get close to the towpath between the aqueduct and the road bridge, is shallow a long way out. Just round the bend the lambs were enjoying life bouncing around on the field.

Taff Wharf have the back end of a working boat hull laying upside down on the bank, not something you often see.

One of the houses a short way before Colwich lock has this carved tree in its garden, I have photographed it before but I think this is the best photo so far.

The village church looks an interesting building, maybe we should stop one day and visit it for a closer look.

The boat ahead was rather slow at Colwich Lock after taking some time to get in he was so busy chatting he forgot all about the top gate paddle. There was a single handed lady waiting to come down and we soon had her through and away, by the time I was in the lock another boat arrived above and below so many hands made light work. Up at Gt Haywood lock the top ground paddle was out so slow, just above the lock the Shrugburgh Estate have laid the Sycamore into a hedge, something I have not seen before.

We had already decided to go to Tixall Wide for the night as we expected Haywood to be packed on a Bank holiday, but it wasn’t but there were a few people about who had already had more cans than were good for them and passes by we spoke to said they were being a pain. As we approached the Wide we saw our first family of Cygnets with mum and dad.

We moored at the very start of the wide and checked the stoppage list. Engineers will be checking the bridge tomorrow so we will continue on to the Staffs and Worc to the Shropshire Union .

Today’s Journey

5 miles with 2 locks in 2½ hours

Rugeley

I must say I did enjoy boating this summer, now its  back to 14°C and 12mm of rain overnight. I now have the stove on and its 26°C in here and 14 out.

When we left at 10am I think we were the first boat away, Diana walked up and opened the swing bridge  the crossed the top of Junction Lock to meet me at double lock. I think they have mover the strong stream warning notice as you now see it as you leave the Coventry and turn UP the T&M, it’s to the left of the sign post .

Anyone coming down the flight may have problems waiting for Junction Lock as there is a row of barriers on over the bollards on the lock moorings.

Middle Lock was just about empty and there was a volockie up on Shadehouse Lock with a boat coming down. As we approached Wood End Lock which was against us I noticed there is earthworks taking place in the field adjacent to the towing path.

We met several boats above the locks and even spotted this pony and trap crossing bridge 56.

At Handsacre I spotted a boat winding ahead of us and we followed them at a distance all the way to Rugeley. It was handy when we got to Armitage Tunnel as I had caught him up a bit and could follow him straight through.

Passing the long term moorings just after the tunnel this clutch of Mallards have found a way to keep their feet dry, but its a case of one on, one off.

At Rugeley Tesco had the magnet switched on stopping us against the bank until they had extracted a some of money from our Credit Card. Whilst Diana went into the store to pay our dues I lite the stove for this evening.
Once the magnet was switched off we continued passed Naomi’s Landing, it’s good to see they are supporting Fund the Waterways.

 

We didn’t go much further before mooring for the mooring for the night a short way before “The Bloody Steps”

 

Today’s Journey

8.5 Miles with  3 locks in 3¾ hours

Fradley Junction

For some reason we even slept late for us and that takes some doing. The smoke alarm in the bedroom had the decency to wait until half nine to tell me its battery needed changing rather than wake us earlier.
Again it was a glorious day, not quite so hot as yesterday but very pleasant. We still managed to get away a few minutes after ten.
After a short while we met a paddle boarder coming towards us on the mirror like canal.

Much to our surprise there were very few boats moored in Hopwas and none at all outside the two pubs. Despite the comments I have read on line this week all the water levels on the Coventry and T&M to Fradley have been spot on. We did pass a sitting goose who was obviously concerned about flooding when she built her nest.

Coming into Whittington is much better since CRT dredged some of the offside reedbed from the canal.

There were some lovely reflections, this one resulted in me kissing the offside of Whittington Bridge, thankfully its s rectangular concrete one, not a brick arched one.

We passed the first two moored boats on the approach to Fradley junction, one of which was here at New Year and the time before that when we were here (maybe they move the same as we do) before dropping into the first available mooring spot. It turned out to be the only one, with a boat left on one waterpoint and the crew of a Dayboat having lunch on the other

 

Today’s Journey

 

10¾ miles with no locks in 4 hours.

Fazeley Junction

Away around ten this morning,the first hop wasn’t far just to the services for water and dump rubbish. Just beyond the bridge ahead of us are a row of moored boats, the first moored on the approach to the bridge and the last two right across the winding hole. It was so hot by now that the iPad on the slide shut down due to high temperature.
Coming into Polesworth you can see the canal is right on weir which is good, I had read reports of the Coventry canal being low.

Only a few bots moored in Polesworth but we met 3 Napton Narrowboat hire boats who I think were traveling in convoy, the last flying a Norwegian flag. Nice little place up for sale, canal side at on the way

to Tamworth. We did have a 5 minute stop at bridge 66 to stock up on bottles of beer.
The “No Mooring” sign is still on the garden fence just by bridge 73. We never moor there as its adjacent to a scrap yard.

There is now no water point above Glascote top lock, it was removed a couple of months ago.

As we approached the top lock a boat came up behind us and kindly opened and closed the offside gate for us, we in turn started filling the bottom lock for them when we left. A first for us today, I had to wait for a boat to clear the aqueduct over the river before we could proceed. We moored for the night just before Fazeley Junction on the 7 day moorings with rings .

Today’s Journey

(note where it failed to log due to the heat) 
8 miles with 2 locks in 4¼ hours.

Bottom Atherstone flight

 

Last night we ate in The Anchor and I think its probably the best pub meal we have ever had, the beef was so tender that the knife slipped straight through it.

We were moored back by the old railway bridge which was very quiet overnight, but be warned, they open for business in the yard opposite at 6am so I am not sure what time they start work.
Again we set off about 10 am heading for Atherstone to deposit some second hand books and buy more, also a trip to Aldi. On the way we passed the Hartshill yard which looked to being used more.

A little further on by the winding hole CRT were manually breaking up and removing the sunken cruiser that has been there for months, pulling it out a small piece at a time.

Passing the Rother Group moorings another sad sight, the steel work still looks straight even if all the paint was burnt off.

There were a few boats moored at Atherstone and even with the mooring restriction due to the demolition of the hat factory  there was plenty of room for us. Some moorings are out of use,all the rings, the Armco beyond them is fine.
I shot a short video of the nipper carefully removing parts of the upper floor. anything that fell over the canal was caught in the nets on the pontoons

   

We stayed moored in Atherstone to eat lunch before setting off, we were hoping that a boat may have come up in that time, but the last one we saw went down. We moved off at 2 PM, the demolition team were back at work unlike any Volockies on the flight.

 

We had mixed luck, turning the fires two and last four. Having lock 4 turned while we were in 3, that was after he opened the bottom paddles not noticing the top gate was wide open and the crew at lock 5 walked back and closed the top gate as I was dropping down in 4. The rest went well meeting boats in handy places. At one lock there was a large flush of wild garlic on the offside by the bridge.

The levels in the flight were quite good, only between 7 and 8 was a bit low but was full of moored boats who were all afloat OK.
Once we cleared the bottom lock we pulled in and moored for the night   

Today’s Journey 5

 

   5  miles with 11 locks in 3½ hours

Anchor bridge

Well after the cold miserable morning yesterday, this morning it was well into double figures before we set off and hit a high of 21° this afternoon. 
We hadn’t gone a ¼ of a mile before I was in the mud. we met another boat by the long term moorings so I pulled over towards the row of moored boats and was about 8’ from them when we started to lean. I guess the ones along there never leave their mooring.
At bridge 24 a CRT chappie was hard at work covering the graffiti with what looked like black bitumastic paint.

A little further on some months back there was a minor landslide and CRT attempted to close the towing path but some people had other ideas.

The slip is actually very old and a few years back the towing path was raised with cement bags, but that has now succumbed to the water, but it suits the Heron as a fishing platform. You can see where people have walked around it. 
We met a couple of boat just before Suttons Stop so the lock was just about in our favour and with no one coming the other way it was out, round and up the Coventry canal in one. The sunk boat that was just beyond the narrows has now been removed.
There was a lot less traffic on the Coventry and a chap painting his boat warned us of a floating tree trunk opposite Boot Wharf which was useful. The Electric charity trip boat, Hargraves was out, so that was something else to watch for. We met them just before Springwood Haven.
CRT have now closed the offside long term moorings at Tuttle Hill and removed the signs.

Of course you cant come this way without a photo of the Telegraph Pole.

It looks as if someone has recently attached a surveying reflector to it, not sure if that is a good or bad sign.

We carried on and moored for the night at Anchor Bridge with a view to eating in the Anchor Pub tonight.

Today’s Journey

 

14 miles with 1 lock in 5 hours.

Coombes Field Farm, Brinklow

Well it was still raining when we went to bed and we had over ¼” in total.
This morning was over cast and cold, only 8°C when we set off just after 10am. The boat we saw yesterday towing a wreck backwards is moored almost in the Bridge hole by the Barley Mow making the bridge/bend blind. As we passed the water point a boat was getting ready to leave and followed us until we moored up. We met lots of boats and a fisherman in All Oaks described it as the M25. Someone has erected a bird house by the All Oak moorings and several boats are moored to the new piling, despite it still being fenced off.

Work is finally underway to repair the road bridge just before Easenhall Cutting which has been in bit of a state for some years.

The grass is taking hold at t e site of the two landslides in the cutting, but the towing path surface still needs attention, especially the northern on with deep mud.

Due to passing the moored boats at Stretton Wharfe and meeting a boat coming the other way the boat following caught us up, so Diana was able to leave the boat yard swing bridge open for them, as it turned out a hire boat came the other way so he was tasked with closing it. We didn’t go much further, only to just beyond Grimes Bridge 26 where we moored for the night.
A little after 3PM the sun came out and the weather turned much better.

 

Today’s Journey 7 miles with no locks in 2½ hours

Brownsover

We set off from home about 10 am in bright sun shine that continued all the way to the mooring with the temperature hitting 22°C.

 

We stopped for lunch in Crick at the Wheatsheaf, we decide to have the oldies lunch, but what a lunch it was, I can only imagine whet the evening meals must be like.

 

Once at the boat it was good to see loads of parking spots near the access to our pontoon to unload the car. By the time we were ready to leave the the sky was full of black clouds and the breeze picked up a bit.
For several months an abandon boat was moored offside under bridge 77A the M45 motorway bridge, last time we were out it was moored outside Barby Marina, today we met it about  half a mile north of the marina being attempted to tow it backwards with a smaller narrowboat with no windows.
Just passed the Waterside Pub we saw the first of two clutches of ducklings.

No one around at Hillmorton top lock but the nearside was almost full and we spotted an ex-working boat coming up in the middle lock so the bottom locks should have been full, but one was half empty and the other fully empty. It made me smile that the CRT had to get a map of their system from IWA.

We planned to moor a short way passed Kent Road Bridge but all the spots we had on mind on were taken and I didn’t want tree sap dripping on us. By now the weather had cleared nicely so we carried on past Clifton Cruisers and the aqueduct before mooring for the night. Half an hour latter there were spots of rain. this was followed by thunder and lightning, as I post this its still raining.

Today’s Journey

5 miles with 3 locks in 2¼ hours