Leo's furthest South, well this year anyway

We've cruised today one of the most popular sections of the Inland Waterways, through Braunston but strangely Leo has never before been up the six locks at Braunston and through the tunnel.  So we have been filling in another blank in our cruising map.

Last Tuesday we were on the Coventry Canal south of the Atherstone Locks, but it was a miserable day so we only cruised for about 3 miles, enough to warm the water for a shower.  On Wednesday the weather was better and we carried on into Coventry.

This is the historic Hartshill Boat Yard, now a depot of Canal and River Trust.  It is a very attractive group of old buildings, but they really should fix the clock!

'Mount Judd' is actually a spoil heap in a quarry but is now one of the sights of the area.

Coming into Nuneaton this house and bridge made a peaceful scene.  As you can see the blue sky has returned.

At Marston Junction we passed the end of the Ashby Canal but had already decided not to go that way this year.  We have since heard from other boaters that it is very shallow and seems in need of dredging, so that was probably a wise decision.

At a rather ramshackle boatyard there are several characters hidden in the trees including the Stig seen here.

 And the wildlife round here is pretty impressive too.

The last 5 miles from Hawkesbury Junction into Coventry tend to be a bit shallow and also strewn with rubbish in places.  This rather seedy stretch is enlivened by passing 'Cash's Hundred Houses' which were built for weavers.  Coventry was famous for weaving ribbons.

And here is Leo moored in the basin in the centre of Coventry.  The basin is a delight and several boats were there for a few days exploring the city on foot.

Even James Brindley who planned the Coventry and the Oxford Canals is there, seen here planning his next canal.











While in Coventry we visited the Road Transport Museum, the Herbert Gallery and Museum (both free and well worth visiting) and the Cathedral (which charges entry but is now cheaper than it was last time we came here).

This wonderful building is the Council headquarters.

The Transport Museum has the best collection of bicycles we've seen anywhere including this bicycle made for five.  Another articulated bike could carry up to 14 people all pedalling.

In the Herbert Gallery we were quite taken with this statue which is called 'Michelangelo as a Boy' and is by Emilio Zocci.

As they had reduced the entry price we decided we would visit the Cathedral which was built after the war by Basil Spence.  It is an impressive building.  This picture is of the West Window which faces the old cathedral which was largely flattened in 1940 by German bombs.

The weaving behind the altar is by Graham Sutherland and is the largest in the world.




















Last Friday (5 August) we left Coventry returning to Hawkesbury Junction where we turned right onto the Oxford Canal.

Filling with water before we left Coventry another boater mentioned that he had seen some turtles a short way up the canal.  As you can see we found them, presumably escaped pets but now well settled to life on the cut.

The junction at Hawkesbury is always entertaining with its tight turn under this bridge followed by a stop lock and all outside the Greyhound pub where customers are watching for you to make a mess of the manoeuvre.

Having made the turn the stop lock is in front of you.  The function of a stop lock, which only changes the level by a few inches, was to limit the loss of water from one canal company to another.

Further on we came to Stretton Stop.  This is now a boatyard and hire boat centre and has a tiny swing footbridge which needs to be swung out of the way to allow boats through.

And here is Helen doing just that.

Friday evening we moored near Brinklow and walked into the village in the evening.  Brinklow has a fine Motte being the mound on which a castle was built.  The mound is about 40 feet high and must have entailed a lot of spade work to build.  It is now a good viewpoint.

From the top you can see ditches separating the inner and outer Bailey of the castle.

This is inside the church at Brinklow which has a very odd claim to fame.  The floor of the church slopes very distinctly up the nave towards the altar.  This is not because of subsidence; it was built like that.  The difference in level between the two ends of the nave is about 12 feet so is quite marked.

A stormy sky that evening made for some splendid colours when the sun set.













On Saturday we set off in good time to pick up our friends Maurice and Carolyn who joined us in Rugby for a couple of days' cruising.

Coming into Rugby we came through the Newbold Tunnel which is wide and has a towpath on both sides.

We managed to pick up our friends easily and cruised on to the pretty Hillmorton Locks.  There are three of these locks and each set of locks is paired so there are no queues.

Maurice and Carolyn undoubtedly brought us some good weather as this shot looking back at Hillmorton Top Lock shows.

Here you can see Maurice, Carolyn and Helen on Leo moored on Saturday evening near the village of Willoughby a few miles before Braunston.

We walked into Willoughby which was a beautifully kept village and had a field with these creatures.  I think they are Alpacas rather than Llamas but I could be wrong.

Back on Leo we had a pleasant evening together.  The arm holding the beer really is part of Ian shown on the left and not some extra person as it appears.










Today we've come through Braunston which is the epicentre of the canal system in England.  It was very busy.  Not surprising given this was a sunny Sunday in the school holidays but it did take us quite a while to get through and up the six locks.

The first sight of Braunston is the spire of its fine church.  As soon as Maurice took the tiller, the boats came thick and fast towards us, mostly around the bridge holes.

Ian took some time off driving the boat and Maurice looks pretty relaxed at this point.

Carolyn also enjoyed the cruise.  Behind her you can see the twin iron bridges at the junction where the Oxford and Grand Union Canals jointly go right.  Our way lay on the Grand Union to the left of the two bridges.

There were a lot of boats around us as we approached the bottom of the six Braunston locks.

We've spent most of this summer on narrow canals so it was a bit of a shock to be sharing locks.  Curiously we shared with three different boats in the six locks but did several with this Black Prince hire boat with a lovely family onboard who were new to boating.

Up the top of the locks we were soon in the darkness of Braunston Tunnel which is a long one at one and a quarter miles.  The other side we came to Norton Junction and turned left (north) on the Leicester Branch of the Grand Union Canal.  We moored very soon in a windswept but sunny spot.  Leo is the third boat on the right.





We had to say goodbye to our friends and hope they had a good time.  In the next few days we will be heading north towards Leicester as a first step towards returning home to Yorkshire.

Sent to Coventry

Well perhaps more cruising towards Coventry might be more accurate.  We are now on the Coventry Canal heading south and moored tonight just outside Atherstone looking out at the rain, which will be welcome here as the canal seems to be about 4 inches below normal.

We left the Black Country Museum last Wednesday.  The Museum is well worth a visit and the volunteers in each of the buildings brought to the site were a mine of information about the people that used to live there and about the life in the industrial Black Country.

The previous evening we were joined by two illustrious narrowboats, President and its butty, Kildare.  President is a coal fired steam powered boat built in 1909 and Kildare is an unpowered butty built just a few years later.  Both boats left at 7 am heading for Audlem.

We cruised back a different way to central Birmingham.  We followed the Old Main Line for a few miles and then turned left on the Gower Branch.  This branch has the only staircase lock on the BCN, a double.  Leo is shown here in the lower lock of the two.

In Birmingham we moored opposite the Roundhouse.  This lovely circular building was built in 1873 by Birmingham Corporation as stables and stores.  It is presently being renovated.

A neighbouring boat was home to a dog, Cassie, that delighted in cavorting in front of this road sign.  Why we don't know, but it did manage to get plenty of exercise without involving the owner.









On Thursday we left Birmingham which means going downhill and that day descended 24 locks, mooring at Star City at Aston.

Here is Leo coming to Cambrian Wharf where the Farmers' Bridge flight of locks begin the descent.  You can see the first lock in the middle of the photo and the BT Tower beyond which you pass on the way down the 13 locks in the flight.

Here we are part way down.  The pounds between the locks are quite small and it can be difficult to pass boats coming up and we did meet one.  Office buildings are built on stilts above the canal.

One of the locks is under railway arches and it is difficult to get off the boat to help work the lock, or at least that is Ian's excuse.

 Here is the BT Tower seen from right below it.

Near the bottom of the flight the rain began.  We turned right at Aston Junction and this led us to the Ashted locks.  Below the first lock is the Ashted Tunnel.  This is short but very low on the side away from the towpath.  We had previously scraped the hand rail of Leo on this tunnel and unfortunately we did so again.  The canal was very full and this probably caused our problem.

Below the flight of 6 locks you turn sharp left and go through an old stop lock shown here.  Unusually the gates can work whichever canal has the higher water level.  There are two gates above and below facing different ways.

Soon we came to Bordesley Junction where the Camp Hill locks are ahead.  These lead up on the Grand Union Canal heading out of Birmingham towards London.  Our way lay left under the bridge you can see to pick up the far northern end of the Grand Union down Garrison Locks to Salford Junction.

This route out of Birmingham can not be described as pretty!  The Garrison Locks are lined with derelict factories.

Shortly before Salford Junction you pass Star City and there is a pontoon mooring here which is secured by a locked gate.  The surroundings are also open and fairly green and pleasant.  We think this is preferable as a mooring to Cuckoo Wharf below the Ashton Locks which is an alternative.






We did have a look round Star City.  It is a strange place, reminiscent of places in the US.  It is a combination of adult entertainment - casino, cinema and ten pin bowling - together with kids entertainment and play areas combined with a selection of restaurants.  Not our sort of place, so we walked over to Cuckoo Wharf and followed the canals via Salford Junction back to Leo.

On Friday and into Saturday we finally shook off the outskirts of Birmingham by cruising the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal which Leo hasn't travelled before.

Here is the signpost at Salford Junction where four canals meet.  We had come from Bordesley and Digbeth and were heading for Tamworth.  We have previously been up the Perry Bar locks and followed the alternative route from the City Centre.

Having turned right we followed the M6 on piers above us.  Given the sign warning of congestion on the motorway, we were happier being on a pretty empty canal.  Not many boats come this way.

Soon you come under industrial buildings built out over the canal.  This was like going under a tunnel but with windows on the side.

The three Minworth Locks drop the canal 17 feet towards Warwickshire.  Not sure why the sofas were outside this cottage beside the top lock.  Given the rain the previous day, I doubt they were much used by passing boaters.

We moored overnight at Curdworth having come through the short but again very low Curdworth Tunnel.  More paint damage and we scraped a hole in the cratch cover too.  On Saturday we descended the 11 Curdworth Locks.  This photo shows Leo in Lock 4.  By this point we could see fields and sheep and cows - very welcome after a week in the smoke.

Coming out of lock 5 you can see how the tow ropes have carved grooves in the stone with horses pulling boats out of the lock.

We moored just below the bottom of the Curdworth locks, next to Kingsbury Water Park.  This park was formed out of previous gravel pits but now has a lot of wildlife as well as some lakes for pedal boats, and sailing dinghies as well as a miniature railway.

We  had a good walk round the park passing some lovely lakes both sides of the M42.  An underpass connects the two parts of the park.

The big pedal boats were in the form of swans.  That's what we need, a giant swan to tackle the nasty aggressive real swans!  That would teach them.

Out the other side of the park we crossed a footbridge over the River Tame shown here and went into the village of Kingsbury.  This didn't have much to recommend it apart from the Royal Oak, which we felt obliged to visit for a refreshing drink.







Yesterday (Sunday) we reached the end of the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal and turned right at Fazeley Junction onto the Coventry Canal heading south.

Drayton footbridge is a unique structure with two 'Rapunzel' towers with spiral staircases connected by a walkway.  Next to the footbridge is a swing bridge presumably built to allow farm carts to cross the canal.

Here is a close up of one of the towers with its Gothic shaped doorway.

Approaching Fazeley Junction there is a fine chapel on the left (shown here) and a rather dilapidated old mill on the right.  The Coventry Canal can be seen through the arched bridge on the right of the picture.

The toll house on the Coventry Canal is very similar in appearance to the one we saw recently at King's Norton Junction where the Stratford Canal meets the Worcester and Birmingham Canal.

The picture above shows the signposts at Fazeley Junction.  We turned right towards Coventry.

Very soon we crossed an aqueduct over the River Tame.  This is a pretty impressive river which later joins the River Trent near Alrewas on the Trent and Mersey Canal.

There are two Glascote Locks that we ascended on Sunday afternoon.

We found a country mooring near Alvecote and managed to find these remains of Alvecote Priory shown on the map.  The Priory was founded 1159 by William Burdett.  After returning from a crusade, Burdett accused his wife of being unfaithful and stabbed her, and as penance founded the monastery.  Quite a lively lot those Normans.





Today we've come up the 11 Atherstone Locks and we are moored just beyond the houses of Atherstone.  The rain began soon after lunch so we are hoping for something better tomorrow.

We passed this poor neglected old working boat at Grendon Dock.  I do hope someone restores it soon.

Here is Leo waiting patiently below Lock 10 of the flight (they are numbered from the top, so this is near the bottom).

This cottage is at Lock 5.  We met lots of boats coming down which makes life easier.   

The Atherstone Locks have side pounds which unfortunately are not used but the top one has this fine duck and moorhen floating home in the pond.  There is even a baby moorhen next to the little bridge.

And here is Leo in the top lock at Atherstone.  A volunteer was keeping a tally of boats and, by the time we passed about 1 o'clock, there had been 18 boats going down and 6 coming up.  Apparently on Wednesday there were 59 boats through the flight.  So perhaps it's no surprise that the rest of the Coventry Canal is a bit low.





Tomorrow, subject possibly to weather, we will carry on, passing the junction with the Ashby Canal towards Coventry.  Aside from the rain, we are in a fine spot with horses and rabbits in the rough field opposite.  It is good to be out in the country again!