Sutton Cheney

A little after 10 we went and said goodbye to Mike at the ACA shop and donated some more tat. Then I walked back to the boat to set off while Diana opened the bridge/lock gate, its bit of a beast.

This is where I reversed down through yesterday, double moored one side and single moored the other. I am glad I did the reversing yesterday when there was no wind.

It decided to rain before we got as far as the tunnel, big blobs but not too heavy, a brolly took care of it. By the time we exited the South portal it had stopped. We had this a couple of times during the trip.
A Shackerstone we stopped to visit the farm shop at the end of the long term moorings for some savoury muffins and fresh fruit.
I often wonder what this old building use to be, was there a farmstead here at one time. Over the years the ivy has been getting thicker. I know people like to moor close to bridges for easy access but mooring to the piling under the bridge is pushing it to the limit.

We were hoping to see a steam train on our way to Sutton Cherney but the best we managed was a bit of smoke and steam with a few toots thrown in.

There were a couple of slots on the pontoons but we went past the water point to the one day moorings on the wharf, close and handy for tomorrows breakfast.

 

Todays Journey

 

10¾ miles with 1 stop lock in 4 hours

Snarestone New section

Bit of an early call this morning when the CO alarm, right by my head decided it wolf go into alarm. No idea why as the only sauce of CO was Diana and I breathing, still we went back to sleep.
When we got up it was bright sun shine and pleasantly warm out of the breeze.
A little after 10 and we were away, the off side willows are encroaching well into the canal again, it doesn’t seem long since they were cut back hard.

I am not 100% convinced that these anodes  are mounted in the best location to give maximum hull protection.

It looks as if CRT are well ahead of the curve this year, or are they just well behind the times.

The pond beside the mound at Shackerstone is well down thanks to the dry weather . Its making life easier for the Herons and Little Egrets.

The moorings just before the Ashby Canal visitor centre where quite full  with just one space, but we were going to the very end . We winded at the last winding hole and reversed through the stop lock and a rather congested new section of canal all the way down to the end. There is a winding hole at the very end but its to short for us to used.

I then crept forward through the last bridge to pick Diana up again who had been ashore to take the photos.

Then it was back towards the lock/bridge again . I wonder how many other boaters have photographed this mile post.

The old pump house that has been converted into a dwelling is looking splendid, its a pity the one on the Caldon canal doesn't look as good.

This new section of canal offers 48 hour free mooring so we have decided to stay here for the night, we have had one visit to the ACA Shop to part with some cash, tomorrow before departing we will be leaving some items as donations.

Today’s Journey

 

7½ miles with 1 stop lock in 3½ hours

Market Bosworth

As planned we ate at The Lime Kilns last night, a very friendly staffed pub and reasonable prices with good service.
This morning we were a little late getting away, the mooring was much quieter than I expected and it was nice to see the sun was joining us. Luckily I remembered there are some low bridges, the A5 being the first so I dropped the exhaust pipe, the one just before Trinity Marina is also low and I thought the last one out of tow was low, but it actually has a good clearance, I find the flat deck bridges deceptive.

I am not sure if this tree had started to fall on the boat or chopping it was preventive maintenance, but which ever it was all the boughs have been left in the canal.

I think this is rather wishful thinking on the part of the long term moorers, even from a standing start on tick over I will exceed that by the end of the moorings.

I had planned to moor just before bridge 39 but we made better time than I expected and we were passed it before I realised it. All the moorings just before the water point were taken at Market Bosworth so we have moored immediately after the end of their on line long term moorings, lots of people don’t realise there is a length of CRT 2 Day moorings at the north end..

Highlight of the day, we had a Water Vole swim across the canal right in front of us, unfortunately no time to get the camera out.

 

Today’s Journey

10 miles with no locks in 3¾ hours

Lime Kilns, Ashby canal

Again two very nice meals last night at the Greyhound, they had a specials board on with Faggots top of the list so I didn’t look any further.
We had a little rain overnight but it was gone by the time we finished breakfast, although it wasn’t that warm until the sun popped out after lunch. Just after we set off we passed a boat read to set off himself, it was the same one who passed me yesterday as I was setting off, so rolls reversed. It wasn’t long before we passed the site of the fallen trees that blocked the canal the week before last.

Then we were on to Charity Dock with eclectic gathering of boats.

We met the electric charity trip boat “Hargreaves” fair and square on the Charity Dock bend, thankfully he sounded his horn on approach and I replied, but I still managed to get into the mud so couldn’t get round the turn without reversing up.Our view as we left.

As we nosed through the bridge just before Marston Junction we met another boat which rather spoilt my planned turn in to the Ashby canal, however plan B went perfectly and there was no one watching. One of the Mobile Homes on the offside has built a decking area on quite long supports and has attached a long printed sheet along the front.

We met several boats as we made our way along the canal and moving over soon has you in the soft silt even though the canal is well on level with water going to waste.

We decided we would try the Lime Kilns for a meal tonight, I don’t think we have ever visited by boat, so we have moored on the first visitor mooring before the waterpoint and although the A5 is quite close its surprisingly quiet. Since we have been here I have done an engine oil and filter change, I do it every 250 hours and the hour meter is reading 7001.6 so that was quite close to perfect.

Today’s Journey

 

8 miles with 0 locks in 2¾ hours

Coventry Canal Hawkesbury Junction

I think we had light rain most of the night and it was raining when we got up, so no rush to leave. it started to ease just after 11am and I had another fiddle round with the magnet for our lost stake without any luck. I cant quite work out how it ended up in the canal but the mooring line was still on the ground.
Very soon after we left the rain stopped completely and we set off just after another boat had passed and followed them all the way to Ansty where we stopped for water knowing its a reasonable tap.
Just before the Coventry Cruising Club we passed the Rothen Group work boat that we saw on a lorry last week, it looks as if they are carrying out tow path repairs.

A little further on last time we passed there was a cruiser sitting on the towpath, its now found its way back into the canal, it looks to be the same boat∟∟

 

that was sitting in the ditch at All Oaks Wood a year ago, It has been freshly painted blue. See Harnser's Travels: All Oaks Wood. We were hoping to moor just before Hawkesbury Junction but no space, some of the boats have been here a bit longer than 7 days. so it was into the lock, while Diana worked the lock I photo'd the level at the lock weir and it looks to be right on the crest, once through the lock, a 180° turn and we moored in the first available spot passed the water points. Since we have been moored up I have booked a table for tonight in the Greyhound.

Today’s Journey

8 Miles with 1 lock in 3¾ hours

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All Oaks Wood

As I said last night we were moored just above the Hillmorton Locks, at 8-30 this morning a boat came by and moored ahead of us. We were on deck chatting about quarter to ten when a boat comes by and goes straight onto  the lock mooring. When the lock keeper arrived  the single hander at the front was away, I walked along to open and close the off side gate and didn’t even get a thank you. The other boat asked if we wanted to go ahead of them but 10 minutes wasn’t going to make much difference, plus one of their crew walked down to the middle lock and helped him on his way. We were away about quarter past ten, we had to wait for a boat coming up the middle lock and the Volockie at the bottom opened up for Diana to sail in. A lot more boats moored through Rugby this time and we met one right in the road bridge at the end, He warned us of a very low tree branch across the cut further along. Now reported to CRT.

The duck weed has got thicker in the past week with a nice green basket ahead of us, behind we cut a grove  through it.

I dropped Diana at bridge 51 to nip to the Co-op and I picked her up at the Barley Mow a few minuets later. Just before All Oaks we passed this chap, I hope this chap was happier than he looked.

There was no room to moor on the piling so we are on pins at the far end. Once settled I set to giving the part of the rook I treated for rust last week a quick coat of top coat, very rough and ready but hopefully will hold it until next spring. Around half five there was a tap on the cabin, a chap with a Beagle was there to tell us our rear pin was out, he pulled the stern in but the pin was gone. After thanking him and making a fuss of the dog I got the magnet out, I couldn’t find our pin but I did find two others.

Today’s Journey 8 miles with 3 locks in 3½ hours

Hillmorton Top Lock

You may recall that last trip ended slightly prematurely last week due to a burnt out 24 volt isolator, so the first job when we got onboard was to fit the new switch. I chopped the old one open and one pin had been hot melting the plastic housing so that it could move back and break contact.

Needless to say the new switch, a 400 amp one is a bit deeper than the one I removed so I had to make up a spacer for the box. That sorted we moved off round to the pump out point, from Satnav its a   quarter of a mile round the marina from our mooring . After that we were off, routes are still limited with boat Watford and Napton closed so its back up the North Oxford and moored at the top of the locks ready for them to open at 10 am. in the morning. Once we had moored up I wandered across the locks to check the level gauge. As you can see the Braunston pound is almost on level.

I would just like to recommend the café at Crick, we stopped for a coffee but also had a bite to eat, the salmon quiche and the Mediterranean Tart .were first class served with chips and salad. I must say I did regret having eaten any lunch while crawling round the back of the engine to fit the new switch

Today’s Journey

 

2½ miles with no locks on 1½ hours

Home Moorings

Well bit of a disaster and a change of plans. Yesterday evening I was sitting watching TV and Diana was just completing cooking dinner when the screen went blank and the induction hob fan fell silent. First thought the invertor shut down on overload, but it didn’t fire up again, I looked at the volt meter and instead of reading 26 ish volts it was counting down like a space launch. The reason, after a few check, the 24 volt DC isolator had thrown its hand in. With the aid of a set of jump leads 24 volt power was restored so dinner could be eaten. I then rooted through the odds and ends of cable shelf and found a nice length of reasonable cable with a lug on each end, but it was 2” too short, so a longer piece of 6mm had a yellow crimp fitted each and was used to connect the battery to the main fuse. The inverter now functioned so the fridge was running again but no way would that thin piece of wire give us full power. It also meant that the alternator was also connected to the 24 volt batteries. We then planed our trip home. Even this changed during the day.

This morning we were away at quarter to 9 on a lovely calm sunny morning heading for Hillmorton Locks. Again very few boats moored in Rugby. The water level against the weir there looked very good and the battery was charging nicely, I went below to check and the connections and cable were nice and cool.
We had just passed Clifton Cruisers when we caught up with a very slow hire boat but it was still before 10 o’clock so the lock still shut, When we arrived at the locks we were Number 4 in the queue so it was about 11 before we went up the first lock. Thankfully the abandon boat on the lock moorings below the middle lock has been moved out of the way. We must have met 10 or a dozen hire boats this morning.
Back at the marina we slipped into our berth and had lunch, even boiling the kettle for a cup of tea, our first since yesterday afternoon. That gone I disconnected the batteries and removed the master switches, both 12 and 24 volt as they are in a stainless steel box and brought them home to replace the faulty one.

Today’s Journey 6½ with 3 locks in 3¾ hours

Newbold

I checked the water level at the Sutton Stop lock bywash yesterday and it looked to be down by about

80mm. so far today we have had 50mm of rain added to it, so looking quite good.
Last night we ate at The Greyhound, we had planned to eat there Wednesday but couldn’t get a table so booked for last night, Just as well as it was full again.
This morning we set off in light rain and after a time it actually stopped, I thought we had set off too early again, but then it started to throw it down and as been on and off all morning.
Coming through Ansty the ground drilling is complete and the road open again, This is where they were boring beside the bridge on the off side with a stub of pipe sticking up .

The moorings at All Oaks Wood were completely packed with boats and a couple of chaps were burning the fly tipping that was there a few days ago. Someone has erected a little bird house along there.Bit of a sad site further on with a burnt out boat, I would imaging the inside is totally wrecked with smoke damage as the windows are all black, but the steel work looks sound. This was laying on the bank at the stern of the boat so I guess it was the cause or the fire.

As we passed Lime Farm Marina the canal was covered in Duckweed, but it was only in this area we saw it in and don’t remember it when we came the other way, a few days ago.

It then started chucking it down so it was quite nice to get into Newbold Tunnel for a short time, once clear of the tunnel and under the first bridge we were pleased to see an empty mooring by the piling complete with mooring rings, so that was it for the day.

 

Today’s Journey

 

11 miles with no locks in 4 hours

Hawkesbury Junction N Oxford canal

This was our mooring for last night, once tied up

Diana visited Gorety Portuguese shop for cakes and some lovely rice pudding and then Rudens Latvians store for pickled fish.
We were a bit hesitant about going out to eat due to the weather and it turned out to be right. We found an Indian Restaurant, Namaste Kerala quite close to the basin, but when we got there it was really a Takeaway with a couple of tables between the window and the counter, so we bought a takeaway and headed back to the boat. Value for money you will be hard to beat it and the taste, for £22 there was more than enough for two of us. Eating on board and the thunder, lightning and rain started again.
This morning it had to be Playwrights for breakfast,

a bit surprising that half the tables were reserved from 10 o’clock onwards but at least they were free to use before the booked time then into town just to get a couple of items. By the time we left at about 11 two of the other boats had already gone. The company on the other side of the basin have created quite a nice garden right beside the bridge .

There was a very tall tree beside the towpath in someone’s garden, I have photographed it several times, over the years they have slowly been reducing it hight.

The nice mural under the bridge of swans has sadly been defaced by spray paint yobs

Several bridges on the system have cast iron angles and some even have rollers to protect the bridge brickwork from the rub of the boat towing lines when boats were pulled by horses, this bridge has a strategically placed cast iron post to do the job. You can see the groves worn in it.

As you can see from this photo the water levels have improved dramatically since 3 weeks ago.

We stopped at the services at Hawkesbury Junction to unload a shopping trolley that I had rescued from the canal, there was no pound in it and then proceeded through Sutton Stop where there was a volockiy on duty much to my surprise. Clear of the lock we slipped into the water point and had plenty of time to eat lunch (last nights leftovers) before the tank was full, they a couple of hundred yards to moor on the towpath side for the night. At this point we hadn’t got wet, but Diana decided to go for a walk and inspect the fallen trees on the Coventry Canal and we had another thunderstorm. She was more than damp when she got back to the boat.

Today’s Journey

 

5¾ miles with one lock in 2¾ hours.