On the move again

The stretch of the canal may not have started well for us at Bordesley Junction but once past Catherine-de-Barnes we were back in countryside and our mooring on the outskirts of Knowle was ideal....so much so that we decided to pause awhile.........
It was a 10 minute walk into Knowle which had good shops, huge church and a selection of pubs and restaurants.   We explored on Friday, checked the times of the church services for Sunday and booked a meal for Sunday.   This time we chose to go in the evening as it was Father's day and we thought there might be less children at that time!!!   Also the Greswolde Arms Hotel were offering 3 course for £14 instead of 2 if you went after 6pm......
Knowle Parish Church as they seem to call themselves(St John the Baptist and St Lawrence & Anne is what the book says) is huge with lots going on, 5 services on Sunday and lots of groups for the younger generation.   We chose the 11am Communion and met a large number of families coming out of the 9.30 service.   There must have been a good 50+ at our service.  Later we walked back to the village (it is really a bit more than a village) for our dinner which was excellent.......recommended if anyone is passing that way.
After a 4 day stay in a very pleasant spot we set off bright and early to tackle our first double locks of the year.   My day did not start well as Barney indicated to me that he wanted to go out at 5.30am....most unusual for him so I felt I had to comply.......it was a false alarm.......my day never really recovered, I felt out of sorts all day!!   The locks themselves were OK as we were going down, but there is nowhere to tie up in the large in-between pounds and they were all set against us so it was a long hover for me and a fair bit of walking for Geoff & Barney...  
The stretch to the junction was pleasant enough and this looked like a good cruising club.

When we reached Kingswood junction we turned to go down the Stratford canal and met our first boat of the day on the move......and guess what.......they were just starting down the locks!!!!!    I knew it wasn't my day......
We completed 5 locks and then someone passing told us there was a hold up ahead as one of the lock gates was stuck.   Since we were in a pretty enough spot and with room to moor between the lock bollards we decided to call it a day.  (No internet connection)

The sun made it's only appearance of the day through the trees later in the evening

This morning was another early start and this was a much better day........nobody in front of us for the locks (no one else gets up at that time of the morning!!!)  several set in our favour and the ones that were against were because of leaky gates.

Under the M40 to start 

Glad we are underneath

Pretty flowers on the banks all along this stretch

Unusual lock cottages

Patiently waiting for the lock to empty

Pretty bridges over many of the locks with a gap in the middle for the horses rope to pass through

another lock cottage

and yet another....rather a strange one....

The Edstone Aqueduct, not quite the Pontcysyllte  but  I preferred Geoff to be steering!

...and so to Wilmcote moorings....ahead are another 16 locks to Stratford so as it was nearly lunch time we decided to stop for the day.   We are still amazed at how quiet the canal is...........every boat yard we pass seems to have plenty of their boats idle.......

Monday 17th

Total distance:4.87 miles 
Elapsed time:5h52m30s 
Locks:9
Bridges:11 
Average speed:0.83 mph (2.36 lock/mph)

Tuesday 18th

Total distance:8.54 miles
 Elapsed time:5h7m43s
 Locks:14
Bridges:21 
Average speed:1.66 mph (4.39 lock/mph) 

Hop, skip & a jump and wellies out.

The day did not look nearly as bad as forecast so we decided to move a little and see what it was like at the top of Knowle locks.  I set off for my morning stroll with Barney but jumped back aboard after 20 minutes as the rain was becoming heavier. It was definitely a day for wellies as the towpath was very muddy in some places.  It was certainly windy but it didn't seem a lot worse than yesterday.

 Just short of the locks at Knowle we spied a lovely mooring place in the open, metal railings so no pins to pull out if it became very windy and just one boat there.

This end of the canal is now much more rural and possesses charm that the first bit was surely lacking!

Long macs and a grumpy dog in the rain....

The rain had stopped by the time we arrived so Geoff went off to explore the local Village of Knowle and discovered that it was a rather up-market suburb of Birmingham with plenty of facilities.

Knowle Parish Church

Top of the 5 Knowle locks......

........and the bottom

This is what awaits us when we decide to move on, the first of our double locks this year.  It would be handy to find a boat to descend with but there are so few boats around that the chances are not great.   In any event we have decided to stay put over the weekend as the forecast is anything but wonderful and we are in a very congenial spot.

Total distance:2.59 miles 
Elapsed time:1h6m8s 
Locks:0
Bridges:8 
Average speed:2.35 mph (2.35 lock/mph) 

Weed hatch Day!!!!!

We set off just before 8am and after we passed the nice open mooring place we should have been on we started on our industrial day going round the outskirts of Birmingham.

The title of this post was nearly 'No other Boats' as we did not see a soul for nearly 3 hours......and then it was only a tiny CRT boat doing some surveying.

At the top of the 3 Minworth locks there is a convenient sani station of which we availed ourselves.

  I hopped off here with Barney for my daily walk leaving Geoff to carry on alone.

Approaching Salford junction dual carriageway roads are in abundance and we went under several thanking our lucky starts that we we not caught in the traffic above.

M6 towering above us

Not far after the turn we were amazed to see some very good moorings at Star City.   If we had not wanted to get as far as possible today with the forecast of extra strong winds tomorrow we would have been tempted to stop.

Star City Moorings

Even though we were very much in an industrial area, the locks had a charm of their own

even with the trains....

Not long after this we had our first stop for Geoff to partake of his least favourite pastime!
Only a heavy duty plastic bag this time.

Approaching Bordesley Junction

This was where more trouble started.   We had decided to turn left here onto a stretch of the canal we had never been down.  The object of the exercise was party to recce the area for friends who would be borrowing Petroc for two weeks in July and who intended to do the Warwickshire ring.

It was quite windy now and as we turned left the lock was right on us and a very awkward landing place to drop Geoff off.  However I managed to get the nose in and he hopped off and prepared to make my approach to the lock.  However Geoff then called (or rather signalled) that a boat was just entering the lock at the top.....this was only the second boat we had seen all day!!!

I attempted to back off...not easy on this windy corner......only to have a loud clunk from the engine....just what I needed.   Tried the engine....no power, very fortunately the wind blew me onto a nearby sort of quay.  There was nothing to tie up to so I had to hop along the roof and swap with Geoff so he could investigate whilst I hung on to Petroc....   Weed hatch visit number 2...........this time it was a large heavy motor cycling jacket which was entwined round the prop so it too a while to clear.  Geoff said it was quite the worst he had had to contend with since we have been boating.
Eventually we were underway again and completed the 6 Camp Hill Locks.
The charm of this stretch of canal was not making any impression on us..........

Approaching the 3rd of the Camp Hill locks and our 3rd boat of the day!

A local engaging Geoff in conversation......

It was then a long, mainly uninteresting flog to moor at Catherine-de-Barnes (I think we are in the Solihull area)
Not too long before we had another enforced stop and weed hatch visit number 3........a load of plastic bags   and bits of rope this time.
Eventually tied up after what was for us a very long day.  Unfortunately the rain chose this time to return and we were eventually soaked by the time we were securely tied up.   Never mind, warm and cosy down below....
The forecast for tomorrow is windy windy windy ....so we may be staying put.

Total distance:15.91 miles
 Elapsed time:8h16m59s 
Locks:14
Bridges:92 
Average speed:1.92 mph (3.86 lock/mph) 

Fun at Fazeley!!!

Earlyish start again.  After watering at the top of Glascote locks we followed a working boat down but he was soon last to us and we never saw him again.   Geoff decided to continue walking with Barmey as far as the junction at Fazeley.   Weather was indifferent, drizzley showers might be the best description.
Fazely junction was interesting.......mainly because I made a right Pigs Ear of the turn.   In my defence it is a very tight turn the way we were going, from the Coventry to the Birmimgham & Fazeley......nevertheless......I ended up broadside across the canal and stuck.  Inevitably there was a hire boat coming from the other direction wanting to go from whence we had come.   With the rudder jammed securely I had to resort to the bow thrusters, which eventually allowed me to redeem the situation.  C'est la vie.....
Once on the Birmingham & Fazeley we saw very few boats.  Passing Drayton Narrow Boat Hire just after the junction a lot of their boats were sitting idle......we have seen this in other places we have passed ..............obviously not a good year for the hire companies.

Going up the Curdworth locks

Such a patient Geffie

It's hard to believe that this very rural climb up the 11 locks at Curdworth are in fact only a stones throw from the M42

Moorings were shown after the Curdworth tunnel so we decided to call a halt for the day....it was approaching Geoff's siesta time!!!

The moorings were perfectly adequate and a sort of light oasis after the gloom of Curdworth tunnel.   However exploring later if we had gone on two more bridges we could have had a much better mooring overlooking open green fields....but by then we could not be bothered to move.

There was a small store just by the bridge and a pub which Geoff reported looked quite reasonable, although we did not try it.

Total distance:7.35 miles 
Elapsed time:5h7m18s 
Locks:11
Bridges:32 
Average speed:1.44 mph (3.58 lock/mph)

11 locks to Tamworth

Early start (0715!!!)as we did not want to be held up at the locks.   However we were not the earliest risers as someone had been through in our direction before us.   Luck was with us as when we reached the first lock a boat was just coming out.  This should have meant that all the locks were set for us but that did not take into account how leaky the locks are..........still we met one or two other boats on the way up so it only took us just over the 2 hours to complete.

The weather was still grey with not much sign of the sun breaking through but it was a pleasant run through mainly rural area.  I was allowed off the tiller for the last two locks to get some exercise!!

...and so to the top of Glascote Locks where we are on the outskirts of Tamworth.   We have never stopped here before so Geoff immediately went on his reconnoitre of the town.

He discovered Tamworth Castle

The castle boasts a wealth of history as Tamworth was an important town in the Kingdom of Mercia.

He discovered the huge church of St Editha's

The church is one of the largest and oldest in the Midlands and dates back about 1200 years.  Sadly we will not be here on a Sunday or Wednesday to attend one of the services.

Today the interior was laid with tables, including in front of the High Altar.   Geoff asked if they were expecting an extra large Last Supper, onlyto be told that over the next four days they would be hosting over 1000 local primary school children.

That is certainly one way to encourage children into church!!
A pleasant enough mooring just before the top of Glascote locks but not sure about the pub which is a short distance  away.  However when we moored up just before lunch when some people on two small cruisers moored in front of us, came back to their boats the smell indicated that they had collected Fish & Chips.......the smell was too tempting but we resisted until this evening.   A very short walk brought be to a good Fish & Chippie, very clean and with a very cheerful lady serving me..... the fish was excellent.......

Total distance:8.93 miles 
Elapsed time:5h11m32s
 Locks:11
Bridges:33 
Average speed:1.72 mph (3.84 lock/mph) 

Weekend in Atherstone

Just in case anyone thinks it is summer....
Barneys early morning walk....3 layers of clothes for me!!

Another gentle day with no locks so plenty of time for me to sit up front in the cratch watching the world go by.....also reading my book.....have now wound down and managing to get through several books.

En route to Atherstone we passed this poor specimen.

Not only was it sunken but it's rear end had come adrift and careful navigation was required to get past!.  It had been tied up with BW's (sorry CRT's) normal thin bits of string.   BW obviously handed rolls of the stuff over to CRT!!

At Atherstone we managed to find room at the top of the locks in exactly the same place we had moored last year.   Reading my Blog from last year I see we were very wary here as this was where Pistonbroke had their lines cut.   However we did not have any trouble and so far (Sunday afternoon) we have been fine.
Geoff did his normal explore of the town to check out time of Church Services and also pubs for Sunday lunch.   Early evening we walked down to the Kings Head Pub at the bottom of the first 5 locks as we fancied a canalside hostelry.   However it was not our cup of tea!!  So we decided we would visit the Red Lion in town where we had eaten before.

The other canalside pub was a non starter!!

It was a chilly walk to church and it was even chillier inside the church although we had a friendly welcome.

By the time we came out the sun was trying to make it's presence felt.

Later it was back to town for a very reasonable Sunday Carvery in the red Lion Hotel.

It is an old Coaching Inn......

....as the sign opposite bears witness.

Total distance:8.11 miles 
Elapsed time:3h9m45s 
Locks:0
Bridges:33 
Average speed:2.57 mph (2.57 lock/mph) 

...and a little way further

We had intended leaving about 8.30 to be passing Hawkesbury Junction about 10, but we were both up early, I having reverted to my 3.30am wakening, so we were underway by 8.30 and stopped about 11.......
Once again the day started chill and we had several layers on but the sun broke through to give another good day.

Entrance to disused Wykern Colliery now used by boats

We stopped at Hawkesbury briefly for the sani station

Congenial Moorings if there is space.

In the stop lock, sharp turns ahead!!

The Greyhound Pub
We were not stopping for the pub today, excellent though it is as we had a full fridge!

Todays interesting boat

Garden Creatures at Charity Dock

Boatyard at Charity Dock

We found a suitably congenial mooring place just after the Marston Junction where the Ashby Canal goes off.  Last year we travelled the 22 miles of this lockless canal but this time we were giving it a miss.

Geoff set off to explore the neighbourhood as is his wont....  Bedworth being the nearby habitation.

Former Almshouses, now private residences

The tow path was not as wide as last nights mooring place but this did not stop Barney from lying right in the middle of it, causing the cyclists to navigate around him!!

Later Geoff and Barney walked up part of the Ashby, I had had my exercise first thing in the morning with him.......can't overdo it !

Start of the Ashby Canal

Total distance:7.09 miles

 Elapsed time:3h9m11s

 Locks:1

Bridges:23 
Average speed:2.25 mph (2.57 lock/mph) 

This is the life.......

We have cut the umbilical cord at last..........although the promised early departure did not happen.  One or two domestic items forgotten and I managed to sleep until 0740 which is unheard of.  It is ages since I saw the figure 8 anywhere on my watch when first awakening........

However 0930 saw us waving goodbye to Helen and Paul at Clifton Cruisers and Petroc was underway with Geoff aboard.  Barney and I set off for our morning stroll as far as Tesco's in Rugby.    We managed to find a space to stop whilst I nipped to Tescos for a couple of items.  Whilst I was away President came past in full steam and Geoff was cross he could not reach the camera in time........we had elected not to tie up securely as it was for such a short time and he was holding Petroc on the centre line.

It was hardly summer weather when we set off, in fact I was seriously considering getting my gloves on......later the cloud did break and the sun shone, however I would take issue with the TV presenter who told us it was the hottest day of the year.

So quiet and peaceful

We passed tatty boats.......

.....and pretty boats

Swans with their young

We went under the M6

We eventually stopped just short of Anstey in the exact same spot we had moored before, lovely open countryside.   The railway is alongside with frequent trains but after a while you cease to notice their passing.
Geoff as usual remembered the spot he wanted to moor and as usual I have no recollection of having been here before!!!!   Still I think it makes for a more interesting life, every place is new to me............
We have managed to get everything serviceable on Petroc and have even bought a slightly bigger TV (eyes are not what they used to be!).  The Sat receiver has been replaced by a Freesat Box.  However I failed miserably to get my GPS to work with my new computer which is running Windows 8.  Lots of emails and help from Stuart at Water Explorer and much trolling of forums has shown that the chip in my GPS gadget is not compatible with Windows 8....Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!  So a new one, with I trust the later chip, will have to be purchased.  Meanwhile  I am using MotionX-GPS app on my iphone from which I hope to be able to upload our position daily for those of you who may be close enough to contemplate a visit.
Total distance:9.27 miles
Elapsed time:4h15m59s(includes shopping stop) 
Locks:0
Bridges:29 
Average speed:2.17 mph (2.17 lock/mph) 

Nearly ready!!!

Various things fixed on Petroc now.  New Tap in Galley to cure a leak.   This must be our year for taps....before we left home we had to have a new one fitted in our bedroom....all it was doing was dripping.....a few years ago we would just have needed a new washer........nowadays it's a new tap......that is obviously progress.....for someone!!

Sat TV fixed with the purchase of a new Freesat box.

D Day is tomorrow........we hope....I need a doctors appointment which I am hoping to get today then we just hope this beautiful weather continues a while longer.   It is really quite congenial here at Clifton Cruisers. Barney wanders at will occasionally passing the time of day with Ben or Heidi and seems to have slipped back to life aboard very easily.  We had a good night out with Phil & Victoria on Monday and Helen and Paul came for drinks last night so lots of catching up done.   Their cafe is open every day also with wonderful cakes..... very tempting .https://www.facebook.com/Bridge66atCliftonUponDunsmore

Closer to departure

After a mega spring clean of our house, we have reached Petroc via various friends en route.
Most of our stuff is aboard and we have had a big cull....as usual we had forgotten what we had left on board and have also brought far too many clothes....and books.....
Petroc has had a bit of a paint touch up in parts, especially the roof so is looking very smart.   We move aboard tomorrow with the hope of getting away on Wednesday or Thursday, still a few things to fix.  Sat  TV not working, kitchen tap leaking and rear fender has severe brewers droop!!!!
Shop and drop from Sainsburys ordered for tomorrow so things are progressing.
We took Fran and Keith to the Clifton Cruisers dining club on Saturday where we all enjoyed the Greek meal.
Today we went to church in Kimcote where the congregation was small but very welcoming.
We drove out to Foxton locks this afternoon which was very busy with people but quite quiet boat wise.
Back to preparations tomorrow.