Shackerstone to Hawkesbury Junction

Sun 4^th October

Shackerstone to Sutton Wharf

We had bright sunshine this morning, but rain was forecast later.  We therefore didn’t stay for the harvest service which was at 4pm, but set off for Sutton Wharf.

  

Moored at Shackerstone

Shackerstone reflections

Shackerstone aqueduct

Being Sunday, we found a fishing competition to negotiate.  With their long carp rods, they fish on the opposite side of the canal, so we have to go slowly, straight down the middle.  There are three types of fishermen; first and most common, are the raisers, who lift their rods high above our heads as we pass. Next are the swingers, who keep their rods almost horizontal, but swing them round parallel to the towpath. Finally come the dismantlers, who pull their rods back, taking them apart as they do so. This last type come to grief if there are walkers or cyclists on the path at the same time as we pass on the canal.

We passed a moored boat that we had seen passing earlier, towing a tiny boat behind, that was used as a hencoop

A floating hencoop

  Shenton Aqueduct

Once again there were no boats on the Battlefield Moorings, because they were so overgrown and abandoned. The signs have also gone, so perhaps they have been de-commissioned.

Overgrown visitor moorings

We moored just before Sutton Wharf, on a pontoon. This was a bit silted up, so our bows were out a bit, but it was convenient.

Mooring at Sutton Wharf

Hugo spent a lot of time sitting on the pontoon, peering down at the water. We realised that there were a lot of holes in bank at this point, and he was probably listening to water voles. We didn’t want either a dead water vole or a wet cat, so when a space became available ahead by the café, we moved along.  Just as we did so, a coal boat appeared, and he moored almost where we had been, except that he tied alongside another boat.

We had lots of rain later.

0 locks, 7 miles

Mon 5^th October

Sutton Wharf to Stoke Golding

It was damp and cloudy this morning, and we decided to have breakfast at the café. It was surprisingly full considering the weather.  It was very pleasant, but a little expensive.

  

Sutton Wharf Cafe

We used the facilities before we left, and checked the propeller, as we had had difficulty manoeuvring. There was nothing on it – the problem was just a shallow silted up canal.

We then had a rain shower, which was forecast, so we waited for it to pass.

A boat called Alfie reversed past us from the pontoon mooring, with some difficulty, and turned round in the winding hole, before disappearing under the bridge.

When the shower had passed, we set off on a slow cruise, as we decided to keep our hood up due to the possibility of further rain, and there was not much clearance at the bridges. 

There were also a number of moored boats, some on their permanent moorings, others waiting for better weather before moving.  We noticed a symbol on one or two which is to do with witchcraft.  The photo is of a boat called Charmed.

Wicca symbol

We moored near Stoke Golding, planning to stay for two nights, with a pub meal tomorrow.  The edge was the iron girder type of piling, which is ideal for a chain, so we tried out the one we had bought at Trinity Marina. It has one ring larger then the other, so you can post one through the other. It was very successful. We've been boating for 18 years, and, until now, we have not had one of these!

New chain

0 locks, 2 miles

Tue 6^th October

Stoke Golding to Hinckley

We have noticed that C&RT are making great efforts to monitor boat movements and discourage overstaying on moorings. We have seen several people either on bikes or walking, who have hand held computers, where they enter boat registrations and locations.  It would be interesting to see what the program can do. If all the data is centralised, can they plot the route of a boat such as ours over the summer?

 Enforcement officer

We passed the farm shop without acquiring any more items this time.

Farm shop

At Trinity Marina we called in to buy some milk, and a second chain. We also bought some Fuel Set as we are running low. We always add some each time we take on diesel. It keeps the diesel bug at bay.

We moored up just beyond the marina, and caught a bus into Hinckley, taking our umbrellas with us. Perhaps it was due to the wet weather, but the town looked very run down.  We had lunch in a café near the station, and bought some things in Iceland before catching a bus back.

0 locks, 3 miles

Wed 7^th October

Hinckley to The Limekilns

We found an anxious Hugo this morning, with a bramble attached to the fur on his tail, so our first job was to disentangle it.

Our second job was to deal with a drifting cruiser.  It appeared to have just one mooring pin attached to the bow rope, which was fairly long. How it had been moored we are not sure, but we left it with a short rope from the bows tied to the mooring pin, which we double tied into the piling. At the stern, we used the stern rope through the piling and back again. Hopefully it was fairly secure.

Shira re-moored

We didn’t go very far – less than a mile – before mooring opposite the Limekilns pub, near the A5 Bridge. This was so that we could walk to this evening’s folk venue.

Moored opposite the Limekilns pub

Thankfully the weather was clear and dry for our walk along the A5 to an industrial estate, where there is this unusual establishment called the Hinckley Act. This is in a building mainly occupied by a company called Advanced Carbide Tooling. There is a stage area, with lighting and PA, and seating for about 50. There is also a bar.

We sang Dirty Old Town, a Long Way Down, and Waterloo Road. It was a bit of a challenge to have rapport with the audience, as the lights were so blinding that we couldn’t see anyone except the front row. It was good fun all the same, and the quality of the other performers was very high.

We walked back to the boat and missed the Northern Lights, which were apparently visible, as we found out the following day.  On the A5 the street lighting probably prevented us seeing them.

Soon after we returned to the boat there was the sound of a catfight, and Hugo rushed in and hid in the bedroom.  He was very traumatised.

0 locks, 1 mile

Thu 8^th Oct

The Limekilns to Hawkesbury

This was not a peaceful place to moor.  There were lorries all night on the A5, heading to or from one of several distribution centres in the area. Then, at a time that we can only guess at, when it was still dark, a cock started crowing enthusiastically from a small cage on the other side of the canal.  Perhaps the two or three hens in the cage were delighted, but the same state of mind did not apply to us tired human beings.

When we finally realised that there was no more night time to be had, we got up, and James went to look for evidence of the catfight.  He found grey cat fur on the towpath, and Hugo’s collar, which had somehow come off during the fracas. There was no other colour of fur, so either Hugo came off worst, or both cats were the same colour.

Cat fur on the path

It was 10am before we set off, and by then the sun was shining in a clear blue sky. We saw a green woodpecker in a field, and a buzzard being mobbed by rooks.  The red rosehips and berries were shining in the sun on this beautiful day.

We noticed that the bridges were counting down as we approached the Coventry Canal. We had bridge 5, 4, 3, 2 & 1, all clearly numbered, and then another one at the junction, which wasn’t numbered.

Marston Junction

Bridge nought?

We turned left onto the Coventry Canal, and soon we saw a very ugly house by bridge 14, with a wall painted grey like a battleship. This was new since our last visit.

 Battleship house

 

Once onto the Coventry canal, we only had a short distance to go before we pulled in alongside Grace to visit BCF friends Terry and Chris Rigden.  It was good to catch up with them, and to sample some of Chris’s chocolate cake.  After nosing around each other’s boats to see recent modifications and gain ideas, we set off once more.

Visiting Terry and Chris

Just around the corner, we saw a fisherman who obviously had a fish on the line, putting up some resistance.  When he landed it, it turned out to be a zander, an introduced species of fish we have never seen before, although we have heard about them for some years.  They weren’t mentioned in James’s “Mr Crabtree Goes Fishing” book in the early 60’s.

Zander (only a small one)

We moored at the start of the line of boats leading up to Hawkesbury Junction, just before an overspill weir.

0 locks, 7 miles

Next week's plan:  Church in Rugby on Sunday, then hopefully buying paint in Braunston (if it arrives).