Tuesday 11th
December 2018
We walked up to the Bosworth Water Park Christmas Shop to buy
Christmas decorations. Came back with all manner of things but decided against
a tree and have gone for wreaths instead for the front cratch and tiller. The
inside of the boat, we have decided, is too small for a tree and we have to
think of the hot stove.
After talking to the guy off a boat selling e-liquids, we left the
mooring about midday. While pulling away from the bank there was a dead Moorhen
between the boat and the bank which had not been dead long. Whether he was trapped
between the boat and bank is hard to say but a shame none the less.
On Friday towards the end of the run to Market Bosworth, the boat seemed
very sluggish through the water and the engine seemed to be labouring. I had put
this down to the canal being shallow. At one point, meeting another boat on a bend,
we had run aground. However, once moored I checked the propeller only to find
rope and plastic bags wrapped around it. It does not take much fouling to completely
alter the characteristics of the propeller and cause the boat to labour. The
boat handled much better today. Luckily, this is only the second time I have
had to go down the weed hatch.
The canal is, nowadays at least, very rural and tranquil. We passed
the village of Congerstone and then reached Shackerstone, the northern terminus
of the Battlefield Line, home to a Norman Motte and Bailey and a place we want
to visit on our return journey.
Beyond Shackerstone the canal remains rural belying its past. At
bridge 58 are the remains of Gopsall Wharf, from where the last cargo of coal
was carried from the Ashby Canal bound for London. Very hard to believe today.
There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever of any collieries and very little
evidence of canal wharves. There are very few villages along the canal and the
few are very small so it is difficult even, to picture where all the people
lived.
Gopsall Wharf, Now and Then
After crossing under the now disused and abandoned Battlefield Line,
we reached Snarestone, the last village before the terminus. One end of Snarestone
actually sits above the canal which passes below via a tunnel. The tunnel is a
mean little bugger. Only 250 yards long but very crooked and the roof drops
significantly towards the northern portal.
Rounding the bend just after the tunnel, we could see a great plume of
water vapour in the distance. Apparently this is from the power station at Radcliffe-on-Trent
at the mouth of the River Soar. We passed here on 23rd September and,
with the route we have taken, are less than 30 miles away. 47 minutes by car
according to Google Earth.
From the tunnel it is less than ½ mile to the terminus. We
winded just before and then reversed to the waterpoint. The canal continues for
a further ¼
mile but only boats of less than 52 feet can then turn although there are a few
48 hour moorings just beyond the little swing bridge. When we were last here in
2005 the canal ended at the windinghole so the Ashby Canal Association have
made great inroads into their proposed restoration of the canal to Moira.
Speaking to them, they reckon the canal will reach Measham some 3 miles further
on, within 3-5 years.
Ashby Canal Terminus at Snarestone
There was a pumping station beside the terminus. This used to pump water
from a mine to supply Hinckley with drinking water. A shaft had been sunk to
find the end of the Moira coal seam which filled with water. Hinckley at this
time was suffering from a cholera epidemic and was sourcing a supply of fresh
water. Hinckley’s water is still supplied from this source although it is now pumped
using electric pumps. The pumping station is now in private hands and has been converted
into a dwelling. During conversion the pumps, boilers and beam engines were removed.
The Canal Association managed to procure the beams which they display beside the
canal. Although the remainder of the plant, criminally, was scrapped, the
flywheels, at 42 tons each, could not economically, be removed and remain within
the house.
We cruised back through the tunnel and moored just beyond it. We had done
a wash while on the waterpoint and the pump was continuously cutting in and
out. The tank had emptied while doing the wash and the system was air locked.
Running water through all the taps sorted it although for a while, until we
realised what had happened, it was a worry.
Also the batteries have not charged while the engine was running
today. This is a worry and will have to be investigated tomorrow. Thoroughly
fed up, we went the pub.
Weather: a lovely day.
Day Total: 0 locks; 8 miles; 2 Tunnels; 0 Swing Bridges; 0 Boat Lift;
engine running hours 5.2
Overall Total: 323 locks; 627 miles; 28 tunnels; 5 Swing Bridges; 2
Boat Lifts; engine running hours 382.6
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