Stoke Golding/Dadlington

 

Ashby Canal view

Stoke Golding church overlooks our mooring

Getting boring, yet another very hot and sunny day and attractive scenery. After leaving our mooring we stopped at Hinckley to shop.  Unfortunately the nearest  shop , a small Coop, was more than half a mile walk from the nearest mooring. Never mind, we walked there, bought sufficient provisions to last a few days, walked back and set off again.

The photo shows a picture of another bridge.  A probem with taking canal pictures is that the bridges are the only things to photograph.  General views of attractive scenery just dont work

We stopped for the day at 13:00 between the villages of Stoke Golding and Dadlington rather earlier than the plans said but we will catch up tomorrow.

In the afternoon I walked into Dadlington but apart from the small 13th century church where some of the dead from the Battle of Bosworth (Richard 3rd, a horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse etc) were buried there is little to see.  I will be saying more about the battle tomorrow.

2 hours 20 mins cruising, 6.31 miles

On the Ashby Canal

 

Densie leaving Hawkesworth to turn right on the Coventry Canal

Looking back to the start of the Ashby Canal

Typical Ashby Canal scenery

Moored near Hinckley

A perfect day for cruising with a cloudless blue sky and hot sun, but with a gentle cooling breeze.

We left our moring at 8:50 to avoid the hottest part of the day.  After passing through Hawkesbury Basin we turned right onto the Coventry Cnal (left for Coventry city centre).  Almost immediately we stopped to fill up with water at a rather slow tap. The set we off on the 2.5 mile journey through the outskirts of Coventry to Marston Junction where the Ashby Canal branches off to the right.

The Ashby Canal does not join any other canal and so we will be travelling the 30 miles to the end of navigation, then turning round and retracing our steps. It is quite dfferent to the previous 2 canals being shallow with delightful wooded scenery. Our speed is limited by the depth of water to 2.5mph compared with the 3.0mph we could easily reach previously. 

We moored for the day a mile before  Hinckley, the only major town on the canal, at lunchtime just as the breeze was dying and the temperature rising.

3 hours 40 minutes, 7.37 miles

Hawkesbury Junction

 

Disused canal arm

M6 passes high above the canal

Hawkesbury Junction stop lock

Last night was somewhat disturbed with rain and thunder.  At 2am we were woken up by the screeching bark of a fox  which seemed to be right outside the boat.  Today has been another hot and humid day. First job in the morning was to spray WD40 on a couple of stiff hinges and have a general check of the engine.  All was well so we set off at 9:40.

Our route took us through pleanat thoiugh unremarkable countryside.  All along the canal there is evidence of the changes that the canal hs undergone since it was contructed in the 1770's.  The picture shows the old bridge over a now disused arm to the nearby village of  Brinklow.  Other similar bridges are all that remains of extravagent meanders in the original canal which was straightened in the 1820's. The engineer if I remember correctly was Marc Brunel, Isambard Kindom's father.

Further on we pass ed beneath a more modern construction, the high bridge that takes the M6 over both the canal and the adjacent West Coast main railway line.

We finshed our journey for today at 12:50 at Hawkesbury Junction, which marks the end of the North Oxford Canal.  Here the canal descends a 1 foot stop lock to the Coventry Canal.  The lock helps maintain water levels and prevents water flowing from one canal to the other as the canals were built by separate ond often rival companies.  Of course water was a valuable asset.

3 hours 10 minutes, 7.99 miles,

Rugby and Brinklow

 We started early this morning at 9:00 so that we could make reasonable progress before the weather got uncomfortably hot.

Descending Hilmorton top lock

Orchids at Hilmorton Bottom Lock

Leaving the paired Hilmorton Locks

First point of interest was Hilmorton Locks where the canal descends 18 feet through 3 locks, each being paired to speed the flow of traffic. Then to Rugby where we moored up at 11:00 as the weather was getting hotter and we needed some things from the shpping centre conveniently located a few minutes walk from the canal.

Cruising through Brinklow Woods

We stayed in the boat, with the cabin temperature at 30 degC for lunch and did not set off again until the weather cooled a bit at 15:00.  We were somewhat apprehensive as the weather forecast was showing a possible thunderstorm.  Fortunately it never happened and we moored up at Brinklow  soon after the very attractive woods at about 17:00. 

Cruising time 3 hours 50 mins, 3 locks 7.7 mile,

Out again - June 2023

 

Densie in the marin

Ducklings at Barby Moorings

Bridge 76 on the North Oxford Canal

We are out on Densie again for a 2 week cruise to the Ashby Canal. .  As we had packed yesterday afternoon we were able to leave home earlier than usual and arrived at the marina at 11:30.  After unpacking and fillng up with diesel we set out at 13:40 going north on the North Oxford Canal.  The temperature was forecast to be around 30 degC with thunderstorms.  It was certainly sunny and very warm with a slight breeze but fortunately no thunderstorms.

We moored at 15:15 near Hilmorton Locks.

1 hour 35 mins cruising, 3.70 miles

Back in the marina

 The wind was calm when we set off at 9:30 with Mike driving Densie whilst Denise did the packing.  By 10:45 we were moored on our pontoon after emptying the waste tank.

2.21 miles, 1 hour 15 mins 

Total statistics for trip:

61.92 miles, 44 locks, 2 lift bridges,  32.5 hours cruising.

Nearly home

 Last night we ate out again, this time at The Folly next to the canal at Napton bottom lock.   Very good "pub grub" style menu.  I really enjoyed the faggots in gravy with chips and Denise enjoyed her burger both helped down with Hook Norton beer.

After the sun comes the rain.  Today started with very heavy rain falling from very grey clouds.  However by 9:20 the rain had stopped although the weather was cold and the sky still very grey. So we set off dressed in our full water-proof gear with woolly hats and gloves and made fast progress off the South Oxford Canal, up to Braunston on the Grand Union where we joined the North Oxford Canal.

Here we were pleased to see "Naughty Lass" moored up at Braunston - this being Robbie Cummings' boat featured in the BBC series "Canalboat Diaries".  We nearly knocked against her as the waterway was restricted by another boat on a waterpoint.  But spurred on by the thought of starring in a future Canal Boat Diaries we carefully avoided this with a couple of inches to spare.

We debated about whether to complete the journey home  today but the wind soon turned too blustery to make it easy to manouevre in the marina so we moored up on the towpath at lunchtime.  The weather forecast for tomorrow looks much calmer.

7.73 miles, 0 locks, 2 hours 55 mins.