Turning onto the Trent and Mersey Canal

This posting to our blog passes not one, not two, but three canal junctions, first Fazeley then Huddlesford and finally today to Fradley Junction where the Coventry Canal meets the Trent and Mersey Canal. So here are some pictures of the last few days:

From Marston Junction where we left the Ashby Canal we have travelled up the Coventry Canal, passing round Nuneaton where we were able to do some shopping and past Hartshill Boat Yard which is used by Canal and River Trust for canal maintenance. The clock tower is distinctive.

This view is taken looking back from the top lock of the 11 Atherstone locks. We went down 5 of these and then moored for ready access to the station as Ian had to go home on Tuesday for a hospital appointment.

Here is Leo in the top lock at Atherstone.

And here we are just coming into Lock 5.

We liked the town of Atherstone and sat admiring the buildings in the Market Square.

After Ian returned to Leo we carried on past Grendon Wharf which features another similar clock tower to Hartshill. You can see two narrowboats in the dry dock under cover probably having their bottoms blacked.

This is Alvecote where a lot of fine historic vessels are moored. The two shown here are Nuneaton (a motor) and Brighton (an unpowered butty) which are owned by a narrowboat trust which does a coal run down south every year crewed by volunteers.

Having come down the two Glascote Locks the canal crosses the River Tame on an aqueduct shown ahead of Leo here. The River Tame is a major tributary of the Trent and rises at Oldbury, west of Birmingham.

Here is the view of the Tame from the aqueduct.

We moored just beyond the aqueduct and walked down to the river. This view shows the rather solid looking structure supporting the canal above. We followed footpaths beside the river into Tamworth which we've not visited before.

Tamworth was once the capital of Mercia and has an imposing castle keep on a Motte. The castle is one of the original ones built by the Normans after the invasion in 1066.

Unfortunately we arrived too late to do a proper tour but peeped into the courtyard to get this view of the Elizabethan improvements building a great hall.

This view was taken looking down from the top of the Motte and shows the gatehouse and a column explained in the next photo.

On the top of the column which dates from 1935 is a carving of Aethelflaed who was the eldest daughter of Alfred the Great and, being a great warrier herself, ruled Mercia and most of what is now England from 911 to her death in 918.

Here at Fazeley is the first of the three canal junctions. Under the bridge is the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal which goes up locks to the edge of Birmingham.

Sorry about this photo! The trouble is that the helmsman needs to have an eye out for other boats coming through the junction and Leo had zoomed past before I noticed that the picture was cut off on the right. Anyway the arm which is the Birminham and Fazeley goes to Birmingham, we had come from Coventry and were heading to Fradley.

This photo is looking back having passed through the junction. To the left under the  bridge is where we had come from and to the right is the Birmingham and Fazeley.

A few miles further on we came to Huddlesford Junction. This is a bit of cheat in that it is no longer a navigable route. Once however one could turn left here and head to Ogley Junction where the canal (once part of the Wyrley and Essington Canal, but now commonly referred to as the Lichfield Canal) started a climb of 30 locks to reach the area north of Birmingham. The sign post at this junction is shown below. The arm of the old canal that remains is now used for moorings by the Lichfield Cruising Club.

We had a walk that evening and passed close to the present end of the arm that will perhaps one day be the restored Lichfield Canal. The curious barriers are from the HS2 site which is also in this area. This will be part of the truncated route where trains can link into existing lines to go north to Manchester and Crewe.

And finally today in time for an early lunch at the cafe we came to Fradley Junction where the Coventry Canal comes to an end where it meets the Trent and Mersey Canal. This view is taken from the Coventry Canal. Left goes north on the Trent and Mersey and right goes east towards Burton on Trent. We turned left. The Swan pub opposite has been a boaters watering hole for many generations.

There are five locks at Fradley on the Trent and Mersey. This view is taken looking over 'Junction Lock' which is the last one before the Coventry Canal goes left. In the distance you might be able to see what is erroneously called 'Middle Lock' (it is not the middle one of the five).

 So now we are on the Trent and Mersey and heading north to Rugeley tomorrow and later to Stone and Stoke on Trent. We had to queue for a lock today and there certainly seem to be quite a lot of boats up here. As you can see from the last photo we have had some sun today but the northerly wind leaves it still rather chilly.