Monday 26th
August 2019
We visited June and Percy this morning on their boat moored in Exhall
Basin. They are a wonderfully fascinating couple that we met a few times over
the winter. June made lace eyebrows for our front cratch and also painted and
decorated our stove chimney lid. We spent a lovely couple of hours with them
being regaled with their tales, all of which should be written down or
forgotten forever. Percy was born on a boat near Hawkesbury Junction and both
have lived, worked on and been associated with the canals all their lives. We
feel very lucky to have been accepted by June and Percy and be invited onto
their boat. Most older canal people tend to be private people.
We watered up, passed through the stop lock and left Sutton Stop
behind us once more. The day was largely uneventful, passing over old ground.
There were few boats moored in Bedworth and none at all in Nuneaton, speaks
volumes.
We came upon the old BW Hartshill Yard, heading for the same mooring
we had in the winter at Mancetter, but just suddenly felt done for the day. Brenda
suggested mooring and I couldn’t not agree. It had been a very hot day and we
had covered quite a distance.
We sat on the bank with Brenda reading and myself doing ropework. We
had a visit from Arthur, off a boat we had seen several times over the winter
and latterly on the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. Always nice to be
recognised and remembered.
It was a gorgeous, clear and still evening that was disturbed only by
the passing of trains on the nearby railway. We both felt hot and tired after
what had seemed like a long day.
Weather: hot, hot, hot, again.
Day Total: 1 lock; 9 miles; 0 Tunnels; 0 Swing Bridges; 0 Lift Bridges;
0 Boat Lift; Day’s running hours 3.4
Overall Total: 709 locks; 1259 miles; 50 tunnels; 58 Swing Bridges; 11
Lift Bridges; 2 Boat Lifts; total engine running hours 787.5hrs
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