Thursday 24th January 2019



We had planned to move yesterday but there was ice on the canal. These moorings are safe enough despite being so close to housing. They would be ideal for exploring Rugby and it has been good being so close to shops, but we haven’t really felt comfortable here, a main road is quite close and there is traffic noise 24 hours per day. Today feels milder, the ice has all but disappeared although the towpath is still frozen.

Brenda went for another visit to Homebase for more dehumidifiers, there are now six on board, the condensation drives Brenda mad and she is forever wiping up. Very disappointing this when you consider we paid out for double glazing throughout the boat to stop this.

Once she was back we set off and had a slow cruise to Newbold-on-Avon where we took on water while washing the bedding and dumped rubbish. When we last visited the pub here about ten years ago on our shared-ownership boat it had a very good reputation for food. However, when we visited it had just had a change of management and we had the worst meal and overall eating experience we have ever had before or since and we finished up sending all the food back and just making the chippy down the road before they shut.

We passed through Newbold Tunnel but then started to come across ice. Slushy at first but becoming thicker so we moored up at All Oaks Wood beside Brinklow. We had wanted to stop here, but so far, never had and yet this is the fifth time of passing in recent months.

Before the afternoon was out, the ice had all thawed and the canal was clear. Although we had kind of planned to reach Hawkesbury Junction, it is nice to be out in the countryside with peace and quiet.



Day Total: 0 locks; 5 miles; 1 Tunnel; 0 Swing Bridges; 0 Boat Lift; engine running hours 2.5                                   

Overall Total: 330 locks; 701 miles; 32 tunnels; 6 Swing Bridges; 2 Boat Lifts; engine running hours 436.0


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
Thursday 6 th September 2018 We started off just before 10am in not too bad weather. The whole of the surface of the canal was covered in a kind of white dust. It turned out it was some kind of seed probably from trees, but it was a weird sight. We quickly came across the first lock of the day beside the Gallows Inn pub. We were going to stop here last night but we were both glad we hadn’t. The pub didn’t look very welcoming and the area didn’t seem the best. We had been warned that the locks on the Erewash Canal were heavy. And they are. Brenda was really struggling with many of them which is very unusual. Not just the weight of the gates but also the difficulty in operating the paddle gear. It is not a good idea to leave the boat unattended in a double lock when it is the only boat in there, but there were a few locks were we had to do just that and even I struggled mightily with the locks. Yesterday we saw just four boats on the move all day, and they were all go...
Read more
Image
Thursday 8 th August 2019 We had spoken with our neighbours yesterday, Ken and Mary, both in their mid-70’s who have lived on their boat, continuously cruising for 11 years. We had agreed to move up the river, doing the locks, together. After a couple of trips to Tesco’s, again taking the trolley right to the boat and buying a new cordless vacuum cleaner, we set off. It felt fantastic to be out on the Thames. At Caversham Lock, there seemed to be plenty of colour and lots of people watching the boats. We were held for a while at the lock with a queue of cabin cruisers ahead of us. It is necessary to hold an Environmental Agency licence for navigating on the Thames. We had been told at Blake’s Lock that we would be able to obtain one at Caversham, but the lock was being manned by a volunteer who did not have authority to issue licences. Beyond the lock was no doubt Reading’s better face and it looked lovely from the river. Reading Bridge was a particularly attractive brid...
Read more
Image
Friday 22 nd February 2019 The fog first thing this morning was so thick you could see no more than 50 yards. A harbinger of a nice day it turned out. We were on the move by 8am for the mile run-in to Atherstone and we moored just before the top lock near a road bridge that is very convenient for the town. We are opposite the derelict factory of Wilson and Stafford. This was a felt hat making enterprise that made hats that were exported all over the world until closure about 35 years ago. Apparently, slaves on the West Indies sugar plantations all wore hats made in Atherstone. The factory is a blight on the town. It has been sold several times for housing development and would make desirable apartments. The frontage of the building is listed but the problem lies inside. There are many chemicals absorbed into the fabric of the building including mercury, a heavy metal used in the making of hats and asbestos. It would cost a fortune to demolish or develop, including clos...
Read more