Back on the Coventry Canal….

We decided to stay in Trinity Marina for another night, so went into Hinckley by bus on Friday morning to do a bit of shopping – not a bad little town, but a bit run down, and certainly hit hard by the recession as there were a lot of empty shops. However, we got everything that we went for, so that was ok.

We left Trinity on Saturday morning and stopped just before the end of the Ashby in the same spot that we had found on our way up. We debated staying there for Sunday as well but decided that we needed to be back on the Coventry as we had plans to meet friends somewhere between Marston Junction and Tamworth, sometime over the next few days, so we set off on Sunday morning. We were quite sad at leaving the Ashby as we enjoyed it very much, but were beginning to feel we were going soft, not having done any locks for over a fortnight!

Marston Junction – a sad farewell to the Ashby

We had a gentle cruise on Sunday, through Nuneaton and the ‘pyramids’ (spoil tips from the quarries) passing nb Gosty Hill, the coal and diesel boat on the way

Mount Jud

and past this isolated remnant of a bygone era – a sole telegraph pole, complete with cross-arms and insulators which is all that remains of a busy network which lined the canal. We moored just past Hartshill Yard, an old, and now disused BW maintenance yard, with it’s impressive clock tower.

Atherstone’s 11 locks awaited us on Monday morning, not too bad a slog, but a long one as there were queues. We met fellow bloggers Graham and Brenda on nb Jannock – Brenda informed me that she had knickers on today! I obviously missed the mention of no knickers on their blog earlier in August! Will have to go back and re-read it!

On our way down Atherstone we had a call from our friends Richard and Chrissy on nb Kinver, the ‘Ownerships’ boat that we used to own a share in. We had made arrangements to meet at Polesworth on Monday afternoon, but unfortunately they had to turn around and head back to base at Great Hayward as they had job that had come in for Thursday, and had to be back on Wednesday evening. It was very disappointing, as we had been looking forward to seeing them for the first time in about 2 years, but of course we understood – one can’t afford to turn down work in the current economic climate. Hope it was worth cutting your holiday short for – hopefully we can meet up some other time.

We carried on through Polesworth (not very salubrious, perhaps it’s a good job Richard and Chrissy had to turn back!) and moored just short of Alvecote for the night, beside a wood – it was very pleasant, and of course Cassie loved it!

We were very interested to take a look at Alvecote Marina when we passed this morning – to see whether it had changed much since we moored (and sold) our old boat ‘Teasel’ there about 10 years ago, not long after the Marina first opened. It still looked ok, and a lot more established.

We have a craving for fish and chips so have moored in Amington for the night, not far from the chippy. I have also managed to make an appointment to get my hair cut this afternoon – thank goodness, it’s been driving me crazy for a couple of weeks now. Heading for Fazeley and Hopwas tomorrow.