Monday 11th
February 2019
We were back moving again today. We were both ready to move, we had
been at Sutton Stop now for over two weeks, and really enjoyed the slow cruise,
on a lovely spring day, into Coventry Basin, a distance of just over 5 miles.
Before moving off we did two washes, the washing, along with
everything else it seems, had also been hanging in limbo lately. Filled with
water, dumped rubbish and moved off. While on the water point another boat came
alongside and she had a 14 weeks old dog peering out of her jacket. A Chihuahua
crossed with a Miniature Pointer, a delightful looking little thing.
The cruise from Sutton Stop to Coventry, to say the least, is interesting
but not very nice. Coventry is one of the few places we have visited that we
have taken a dislike to anyway. From leaving Sutton Stop you soon pass under
the M6 and come to Longford Junction, the old junction between the Coventry and
Oxford Canals. After Longford Junction the rubbish beside and in the canal just
gets progressively worse, with many opportunities to foul the propeller. The
Coventry Canal Society run a workboat from which volunteers do rubbish
clearance from the water and cut back trees. They will be fighting a losing battle.
We came upon the workboat cutting back the vegetation and a group on community
service, litter picking. While the tree cutting needs doing and is valuable,
the litter pick will make virtually no impression at all.
Arriving at Coventry Basin is however, a real delight as well as a relief.
You pass under the basin bridge, very narrow and no towpath, into the basin itself,
the terminus of the canal, with a well-kept range of original wharf buildings,
now converted into shops, although a lot are closed and boarded up, office accommodation
and apartments.
We have come to Coventry to attend to some business and to visit some shops
we can only get in a large town or city, Coventry is the nearest and to start
our exploration of the whole length of the Coventry Canal.
We hung the washing out after which Brenda went off to Sainsbury’s and
I went to B&Qs, my very favouritist shop. I bought wood for a shelf above
the water pump to hold the spare pump, plywood for another porthole bung and
various other bits.
For a change, we sat in the front cratch with Prosecco. We really enjoy
that and don’t seem to have done it for ages. It’s maybe not as restful or
relaxing in the winter, its cold and the spare water container and baskets of
veg sit there, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.
We had a steak dinner and a nice long chat, all the time serenaded by
a group of young lads on band practice in the shop unit adjacent to the boat.
One thing. In the Greyhound at Sutton Stop, there were quite a number of
people and couples, sat at tables playing crib. Brenda’s mother and father used
to get satisfaction from playing a lot of crib. We must learn.
Weather: a really nice Spring day.
Day Total: 0 locks; 5 miles; 0 Tunnels; 0 Swing Bridges; 0 Boat Lift;
engine running hours 8.4
(including
running for hot water etc)
Overall Total: 331 locks; 720 miles; 32 tunnels; 7 Swing Bridges; 2
Boat Lifts; engine running hours 451.2
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