Easy Cruising

Monday 21st April to Thursday 24th April 2014

With the skipper out of action with a bung knee, it was indeed fortunate that there were many lock-free miles ahead of us.

She would be able to sit and relax her leg, but getting medical people to do as they are told / should be doing is practically impossible.

A man's work is never done

After watering and emptying rubbish and cassette at Sutton Wharf it was simple plain cruising for quite a while.

We filled the diesel tank at Trinity Marina (not too bad at 92p/l) and then onward to the moorings at Bulking Road Bridge.



a bit too expensive for propulsion

Tuesday was not so great weather-wise but put the foot down firmly with her and so she was consigned to the chair in the cratch with her book and on boat lookout duties -  for once she accepted it - mainly because we were due to eat out that night and she need to walk a bit, and we would have a harder day following.

There were plenty of comments about the "lady of leisure" in the cratch.

Approaching Marston Junction

Mooring right outside The Anchor Inn at Anchor Bridge was fortunate.

We were due to catch up with Linda and Richard (nb Mary H) with whom we had cruised last year along the Leicester branch and then up to Warwick, and of course Muffin their spoodle.

It was really great to see them again.

The food was acceptable - nothing that is likely to drag us back again but that was of little consequence as we chatted away.

Richard with his ice-cream and custard dessert

Linda - (n)ice cream

"I'm not sharing much of it"

The following morning we needed to get ourselves into Atherstone, which fortunately was not too far away at all.

We had Post Restante parcels arriving - 1 was already due to be there and 2 would be arriving that day.

Taking advantage of water and Elsan facilities at the top of the locks before starting the flight, we also enjoyed the sunshine that had made an appearance.

The lockies were on duty, with the fellow at the top confirming to us that Holme Lock in Nottingham likely to be closed until the end of May - this would now require a re-think on our cruising plans for the summer.

We only needed to go down 5 locks before mooring up; Diane took advantage of the sun and wind to have the washing out the back, whilst we took off into town to the Post Office (2 parcels down, just 1 to go); a relaxing coffee (Costa); then off to the bank for funds for the solar panels; then some shopping at Aldi and the Co-Op (she doesn't miss a chance to replenish the milk stocks.

The smile was for the washing drying nicely

Diane also purchased a child's small fishing net - some talk about tadpoles and ducklings - maybe an exotic escargot/canard pate.

The cash from the bank (we needed to seek teller assistance) was given to us in an envelope; the teller not counting it in front of us, and we not checking; so I decided to make sure - ₤40 short - we stared at each other as we always check cash like that - so back to the bank and explained the problem - there were virtually no problems and the balance was given to us.

If I was a suspicious person then I would be thinking something not at all nice - wait! I am a suspicious person and I was thinking of a few things that indicated something was amiss with the bank's procedures.

Anyway, as we headed back down the main street, it was about time for package number 3 to be available - and it was. In the end it was a good result.

A bite for lunch and we decided to head off to finish this flight of locks and moor up near Bradley Green which has always seemed a nice place to stop and so we did.

Lock 10 on the flight was slow filling on our way up 12 days earlier and so it was again - seems from what another boater told us, it has been this was for quite some time.

We are still travelling roughly 3-4 hours a day and then mooring; Thursday was similar with the exception that Diane wanted to get to Sutton Road Bridge which allows better access to Tamworth Retail Park - she would shop whilst I finished working.

We were carefully navigating our way past the moored craft at Polesworth when another boat was approaching - a familiar boat at that - it didn't take long to realise that it was Mick and Elly on Parisien Star on their final voyage; we helloed and good-byed almost in the same breath, there being no possibility of mooring up and both steerers negotiating a narrow piece of canal without any hitting of boats; it was not possible to avoid getting grounded and Mick being on the outside met this fate, but they were soon away.

Elly and Mick (Parisien Star)

It is a lovely stretch of canal from where we had moored through to Glascote Locks - depth of water was fine and free of rubbish.

gave her the chance to do one lock today and here she is -
sitting down on the job

Canal protection system

We arrived with a boat leaving the top lock and one coming up in the lower one, so we were through both in 15 minutes.

The sun was out and it had turned out to be a most enjoyable afternoon - even the shopping bill was pretty good.

33 Miles, 13 Locks

Totals: 2355 Miles, 1695  Locks, 77 Tunnels, 32 Lift Bridges, 146 Swing Bridges

A schedule, a schedule, an easy life for a schedule

Friday 18th April to Saturday 19th April 2014

Prior to turning at Marston Junction on Thursday, Diane had generously offered to set all of the locks on the Ashby - she is a kidder; probably going to come back in the near future to laugh at again.

See - eyepad purchased and it was on sale as well

She had studiously looked at the villages and towns along the way and made notes from reading other blogs about places to moor and to see, so there was a plan of where we would head to - for Thursday it was to be the Battlefield moorings with a brief stop at Sutton Wharf for an Elsan stop.

As has been the case for the past week almost, the sun was again out and casting warmth onto our backs, but there also was the cold air, which with a lack of a breeze was OK but we were still a bit cold as well.

Diane says - hope the grass is mint flavoured - saves having
to put in on later

All went well until we neared Sutton Wharf - rounding a corner we had suddenly caught up with a boat we had been following - the reason - there were another two boats in front of them - the first slowed by the moored boats and the rest of us in convoy.

Fortunately at the wharf, the first and third boats carried on and just the two of us pulled in and breasted up together - each for the same reason - Elsan and rubbish.

As is generally the case, you get chatting and the fellow on the other boat advised us that the battlefield moorings were no more - due to Richard III having the audacity to conduct his battle in a different location, the farmer has rescinded permission for boaters and others to cross his land.

A quick decision was made to moor up on the jetty moorings for the day (and night). This decision was primarily decided on one of us (that would be the one that eats bacon) thinking that the SuttonWharf Cafe would be a nice place for a light morning tea.

Diane's idea of a light snack

A quick look through the Nicholsons guide showed another footpath from the cafe up to the Bosworth Battlefield exhibition - problem solved.

Off we went - a casual stroll up the gentle incline. It went so well that Diane spent most of it on the phone sorting out the plans for our flights back to Australia later this year and then return flights via NewZealand and the US.

(We got the email through later and it is practically perfect for dates and most importantly the price as well!).

Anyway we were suddenly at the destination; paid our money and had a good look through the display.

her knight in shining armour

just taking the mickey

and her knight's horse

critical to discovering where Richard III was probably killed
was the finding of the silver boar

It is well worth the effort to go through - especially for us foreigners who may have heard that there was a battle and not completely sure about all of the intricacies of it all.

another part of the display were these magnificent birds

sundial - not adjusted for summer time

Market Bosworth in the distance

There was a self-guided walk around the area - no access to the newly-found actual battle-site (seems the owner of this land wasn't giving permission for the general public to go wandering about his land), but we did find the railway station and as luck would have it, the steam train had just arrived and was in the process of shunting for the return journey - it would have been semi-heaven for Paul.

A little bit more walking around before we opted for a return to the boat via the towpath.

We were a bit tired when we got back and took the easy way out - flopped down to recover.

Saturday was a slightly later start for us - must have been a bit more tired from our walking the previous day, but the day itself couldn't be much more different to yesterday - cloudy and very cold - even a little ice on the pram hood at the back.

So we untied the ropes a bit later.

Today's destination was planned to be Shakerstone and from Friday we had planned to make the train journey down to Bosworth station - as we had seen yesterday.

Cruising along - there were a few shallow sections to negotiate - we thought about it a bit and decided to reappraise the schedule - we would make for the terminus at Snarestone - just a few extra miles and not much longer.

As we passed the Market Bosworth moorings, the new marina was very evident - the first part is in water, but there appears to still be a fair amount to be done - no power or water to the pontoons.

We carried onto the end, passing through the Snarestone Tunnel, winded and took the last mooring spot at the end of a group of boats - which included a couple of CaRT vessels.

Timing can be everything, and not long after we moored up there were three other boats that had come through - a couple left and the other stopped for water and other services.

A short walk back into the village (just about a km), a visit to The Globe for a quick drink each and then back to the boat - it hadn't got any warmer, but at least the walk made us feel better.

just a pair of big kids....

...trying to get warm

At least one of us relaxed a bit too much in the lounge when we came back - I did feel better for the nap.


17 Miles, 1 Tunnel

Totals: 2316 Miles, 1682  Locks, 76 Tunnels, 32 Lift Bridges, 146 Swing Bridges