Tuesday 26th
February 2019
We were up at 6:30 and, after a substantial breakfast, were on
the move by 8am. We went as far as the service point, watered, emptied the loo,
dumped rubbish and then started on the locks after familiarising ourselves with
which end of a windlass to use.
The morning had been cold to start with frost on the grass but
as we progressed, more and more layers came off. The first three locks were
against us but a lockkeeper had set the fourth lock and we met boats coming
towards us so the remaining eight locks were with us, there being eleven in
all, and we made good time. Not that we were in any rush whatsoever, we were
thoroughly enjoying the day.
We saw lots of birds, it’s a good time to see them with plenty
of buds to feed on but no foliage to hide. Blue, Great, Coal and Long-Tailed
Tits, Chaffinches and Goldfinches, numerous birds of a prey, reed buntings and,
long after we heard him, a Green Woodpecker.
Atherstone Top Lock
Atherstone Locks
A glorious day, February?
Really?
It was a glorious day, and the further down the locks we got,
the more the countryside emerged. We feel as though we haven’t been in proper
countryside for so long. The land hereabouts is quite flat so the views were
amazing. The River Anker came alongside the canal at the bottom lock. This
river was first crossed on the Ashby Canal near Burton Hastings. The river
rises near Wolvey, just east of Burton, and flows into the River Tame in the
centre of Tamworth.
We passed Grendon ½ mile east of the canal. Grendon is said to
be no more than a church set in parkland, it looked quite splendid in the
sunshine. There was also a multi-spanned stone bridge we could see that carried
a minor road over the Anker.
Again, just outside Polesworth, the Anker comes close alongside
the canal on one side and the main west coast railway line on the other. Just
before passing under the railway was a farm with lots of Alpacas but it was a
tatty place.
And so we came to Polesworth where we intended to moor for a few
days. However, it didn’t look a bit inviting. Fortuantely, there were no
moorings to be had and so we passed to the other side of the village where it
turned out there are much nicer moorings. Polesworth seems to be very much a town
of two halves.
Brenda prepared the dinner while I did a few jobs on the boat
outside, cut the ends off the ratchet straps and fitted them to the gangplank
holders and ground off a few padlocks that had seized.
It was a hot afternoon so, with little prompting, we went the
pub and sat outside in T-shirts watching the traffic thundering by.
Weather: a cold, frosty morning became a hot day, supposedly the
hottest day of the warmest February on record.
Either we are going to get a late winter, or no summer at all.
After all, this is England.
Day Total: 11 locks; 5 miles; 0 Tunnels; 0 Swing Bridges; 0 Boat Lift;
engine running hours 6.1
(including running for hot water etc)
Overall Total: 342 locks; 739 miles; 32 tunnels; 7 Swing Bridges; 2
Boat Lifts; engine running hours 468.5
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