Monday 25^th February 2019

We decided to go off exploring Atherstone and its surroundings after breakfast. We walked down the first five locks of the flight. The first five are quite close together with short pounds in between, after this they become well-spaced out. The locks used to have functioning side pounds, a method of conserving water, however, while they are still present, they are no longer used. One of the locks we passed have a very unusual round weir.  All the lock flight is very well maintained and is a real credit to the volunteers who keep it that way.

We then came off the canal and headed off to see if we could view Merevale Hall, the seat of the Dugdale Baronets. No chance. The hall is not open to the public and is guarded by a high wall around much of its perimeter. That we saw, all the entrances are locked and gated and even the lodge houses look forbidding. Not to be put off, we walked up the road for a ½ mile or so to visit Merevale Church and the ruins of the Abbey. On the way you did get views of the hall through the trees, sitting atop a hill. Although the original hall dated from before 1540, the present building is from 1840 and built in a monumental style.

        

                                                                           Merevale Hall, from a distance                                                 

                                                                                 Merevale Hall Lodge Houses

Arriving at the site of the Church and Abbey there is a large, arched gateway incorporating two lodge houses with a smaller doorway off to one side. We passed through this doorway, expecting to get chased at any time. There were a number of old estate houses gathered around the Church. The Church and gateway are all that remains of Merevale Abbey. The Abbey was built in 1148 and accommodated around 10 monks. The abbey was dissolved in 1538 during the reign of Henry VIII, and fell into ruin.

                                                                      Merevale Church                                                                

                                                                             Gateway to Merevale Church

Unfortunately, the church was locked and we couldn’t gain access. This always bloody annoys me, it should be our right to enter a church at any time. It is supposed to contain some fine stained glass windows, monuments and brasses. Having said how much it annoys me not being able to enter a church, we did notice, when leaving, that some dickhead had engraved their names into new stonework on the gatehouse. The minority, once again, spoiling things for the majority.

We then dropped back down the hill to Atherstone, enjoying stunning views over the Warwickshire and Leicestershire countryside on a glorious morning. We walked along the canal, coming off onto the old A5 at the western end of the town where we visited the railway station. It is a lovely, Victorian Gothic style building built in 1847, under threat of demolition in the 1980’s, listed in 1997 and, since 2008, used as a Veterinary Practice.

Atherstone Railway Station

We saw this year’s Atherstone Football displayed in the undertakers’ window who donates the ball. Every year for over 800 years, on Shrove Tuesday, a ballgame is played up and down the main street. The game is a free-for-all with shop windows boarded up, traffic diverted and the sale of alcohol limited. There is one rule, players are not allowed to kill one another.  The game starts at 3pm when the ball is thrown from the window of Barclays Bank and continues until 5pm. Whoever holds onto the ball at this time is deemed to win the game and keeps the ball.  

         

                                

                                                                                 Atherstone Ball 2019                                                        

                                                                        Boundary Marker, Atherstone-Grendon

Outside this undertakers’ was a slate slab set into the pavement, this marks the boundary between Atherstone and the neighbouring village of Grendon.

We had a good walk around the town visiting the Church, Market Square, the High Street and numerous streets branching off.  

          

                              

                                                                            Atherstone High Street                                                         

                                                                             St Marys Church from the Market Square

The Red Lion Inn was interesting as it is one of the oldest coaching inns in the town dating back to the 1500’s. There is a milestone outside the pub stating London 100 miles, Lutterworth 17 miles and Lichfield 15 miles, and on a wall opposite, signs with arrows showing the direction of Holyhead, Daventry and London, this of course being the A5, the old main London-Holyhead road. 

 

We got talking to a very interesting, local guy, who gave us a talk around the town. He was telling us the location of all the different hat making factories for which Atherstone was justly well known, also quite a few shoemaking factories. There used to be a livestock market on the sight of what is now a carpark and numerous buildings on the Market Square, now all demolished, much to the regret of the townspeople.

In Elizabethan times, Atherstone was the principle town of the district before becoming overshadowed by Coventry and Birmingham. It became a centre for leatherworking, cloth making, metalworking and brewing before the felt hat making industry took prevalence in the 17^th century. At its height this industry employed over 3,000 people. The population of Atherstone in 2011 was only 8,670. There used to be over 30 factories in the town but, by the 1970’s this had reduced to just three, the last, Wilson and Stafford, closing in 1999.

Interestingly, Mr. Lloyd of Lloyd’s Pharmacy, is an Atherstone born man, who has never forgotten his roots and does a lot for the town. Mancetter Manor is actually one of his residences. He has sold the pharmacy business and now owns a building business and has renovated numerous properties in Atherstone and tried to buy, and get planning permission, to renovate numerous others but is largely blocked by the council.

One of Mr. Lloyd’s renovation projects I did find interesting, is that of the Atherstone “Yards”. These would be the same early Victorian answer to urban overcrowding as the notorious Liverpool “court” housing that I did so much research into when doing Family History. While there is only one surviving example of the Liverpool” courts”, and that owned by Liverpool School of Medicine and not open to the public, there are numerous Atherstone “yards” surviving, but only if you know what to look for and they are pointed out.

Whatever the guy’s name was, I am indebted to you for your knowledge.

Today, Atherstone’s economy has expanded since the 1980’s with several companies setting up their head offices and distribution centres in the town, TNT, Aldi and 3M amongst them. Logistics continues to be the major employer.

After all our exploring, we called into the White Horse pub, a lovely place, had some nice beer and a warm steak baguette. We returned to the boat via the Co-op as tomorrow, we plan to move on. While waiting outside the Co-op, I witnessed yet more cars parking on double yellow lines. I don’t think I have ever seen so much disregard for ignoring parking restrictions as in Atherstone.

I refitted the new gangplank holder to the roof. The last one, for some reason, had sheared and the replacement had been on board for some time. Unfortunately, the holes did not line up and so new ones had to be drilled and tapped.

Weather: after a cold start, with heavy frost on the grass in the morning, the day turned really warm. Apparently, one of the warmest February’s on record.