Mustered and no Git Gaps

So Reader, 

Here we are again happy as can be.

We drove back up to WaL in Great Haywood marina arriving later in the afternoon, this time using two trolleys to unload despite fully intending to be travelling light this trip.

The other team members were already mustered and at the ready in Tixel Wide, this included the Lewis's who up till now had been slaving in France installing a new bathroom.  So glad to have them back.

We unpacked, well I made the bed up, we had snacks and I suggested that we whizz over on bikes to Tixel.  We did and left the boat looking a little like a bomb had gone off.

We arrived and were warmly greeted by the three dogs, that is to say two Dachshunds and a new crew member, Fletcher, he's a big dog, a labrador cross fox red retriever lots of energy and friendly with it.  The later belongs to Amanda and David Lewis's son and is enjoying a holiday afloat.  Also, hugs were had by their owners, Amanda, David, Lesley and Joe.  

Then over tea, a story was told to me of a lady who had walked past the two boats and struck up conversation with David Lewis.  This lady, Gill or Jill, knew that NB Caxton (Now David and Amanda's boat) had Lesley on it in the past and also a dog called Fletcher.  Now unknown to Jill this new Fletcher had been named after Lesley's old dearly departed dog Fletcher.  Bearing in mind that Lesley hasn't blogged since 2015, although she on Facebook now, very impressive Jill getting all those threads corect!

Then Gill was kind enough to be complimentary about this blog Reader! 

It was just a shame that I didn't arrive earlier to have met you Jill.  But as you live in the vicinity of the marina and see us buzzing about do stop us and say hello.

Well as David and I sat on the bow of NB Hogarth and drank tea, it started to rain.  We hopped inside while it passed but ended up staying a bit longer than intended but the rain persisted.  In the end Lesley donated the dogs towel to dry off our saddles and off we shot.  The rain got harder and lasted some time.

Good for the reservoirs I guess after the fantastic hot cruise we had the previous weeks, you can hardly complain. 

Back on WaL and amongst the debris, David cooked the breaded fish to have with peas, we stayed overnight to give the fridge and freezer time on the hook up leckkie as both were completely rammed.  Something we hate to do but always manage.

The next morning we departed on a much brighter day.  As David and I approached Hoo Lock I went up to empty it and met Hogarth there about to depart.

We followed on about 20 minutes behind and unknown to us Caxton was filling at the water point.

Hoo Lock had had a problem back in April with the collapse of the by-wash, CART had lowered the level of this pound accordingly   but the morning we had last come through it was so low boats could hardly move, we had understood that it was to have completed the works but not quite however the lock was operational.

Just behind the lock and the new pipe is visible.

.... and sandbags.

It was a very nice run up to Weston, we had moored up by 10am!!!  Fabulous mooring here with open views.  We stayed a couple of nights here.  

Nice moorings, the boat on the left departed soon after we arrived, us finishing our cruise beforehand.

With 3 dogs in the team who like Walkies, the ladies went off.  I did more boat organisation after walking up between locks and later again the Lewis's went for a long hike over five miles.  Too long for me.

WaL at Weston Lock.

Cheesy salmon pasta

If you squint you'll make out Hogarth, then WaL behind then Caxton, leaving no Git Gaps, another boat did arrive later in the afternoon.

 

  

Hot days and sunny flags.

So Reader for the rest of the trip we ambled back down the Ashby.  The weather went from boiling and "It's too hot to sit out in, where is there a tree?" to "God almighty get the bloody heating on!"  I carried on my daily walks which I am getting into, David initially said he missed me on the back on WaL chatting nonsense but that has fairly quickly changed to him listening to his podcasts through his Bluetooth hearing aids, then when I do get back on, he pretends to listen to me, nodding sagely here and there while still listening to something else.

We had a couple of nights just north of Stoke Golding, on a south facing bend.  On the way up Lesley had spied this mess on one of her walks.  We were told that boaters in yoghurt pots had driven up to here, discarded all this over the farmers hedge and into his field, he in turn had put it back onto the towpath and who could blame him.  

But when we arrived back down the entire lot had gone.  

Thank you to whoever was responsible for the clean up.

People are disgusting.  So upsetting that it was a boater.

We weren't really short on time but it was really time to leave and return to Great Haywood.  I have a week of appointments coming up, David on the other hand doesn't.

We hopped and skipped our way back up the Coventry canal and then turning onto the Trent and Mersey.

We passed Al and Del again too.  Fingers crossed we'll see them by and by.

NB Derwent 6 utterly utterly gleaming and the reason is Del who takes great pride in her and just to remind you Derwent 6 is 17 years old.

I was on the bridge at the junction making sure the coast was clear for both boats to go Brobat, that is as my brother used to say, clean round the bend.

The Coventry shortly before Nuneaton.

Shortly before Springwood Haven marina.  A handy bench under a tree where i waited and got back on,  It was very hot this day.

Luckily no one waiting for this lock!

Two locks to go on the Atherstone flight.

Moored up after the Atherstone flight at Grendon.

Lesley, always so affectionate, 

I'd not ever noticed these before, that's walking for you.  What I presume is an original milestone.  If you can't make it out it says 2 1/2 on the left side and 5 on the right side

The very first yellow flag Irises I saw.  When we return I expect there will be masses, a joy to see them every year. 

Well it was a lovely fun trip, an interlude really as we were prevented from hightailing down the Severn to Gloucester.

The company, the food and by golly the weather.  David already gloom and doom saying that we have had summer and June is bound to be wet....... blah blah blah

We will be back shortly after a short spell at home, mowing the lawns and playing with the grandies.

Stay tuned.

Trains, Princes and blood all over the floor.

So we did some great faffing here at Snarestone.   After we moored up the four of us walked to the Ashby Society shop and brought rather nice ice-creams, after which books were calling and comfy chairs.

The late evening sun through the hedge that night.

Lesley David and I walked to the farm shop the next day.  This is a very undeveloped affair.  There were a couple of freezers selling pastries, some fruit and veg, some bread and rather a lot of factory made cakes which I left well alone.

Quite a shame as five years ago the lady, presumably the farmers wife, said the mobile shop was as she had just started and was going to see how things went.  We brought far more then than today.  It needs someone with a bit of imagination and pizazz.

On the way home from the farm shop, the suggestion was we visit the Globe for a swift half.

The pub in the village has recently reopened after a period of being closed, but there isn't any food being served at the moment and the new decor is somewhat stark and cold for a pub, it needs someone with some experience and pizazz, I fear in it's current state it will be by-passed by locals on their way to the Horse and Jockey a few miles down the road.

That evening Lesley and Joe continued their crusade on teaching David and myself Cribbage, there may have been wine and snacks.

The next morning was blowy, the roof was covered in fluffy, sticky stuff, it looked a right mess even if it didn't here so much.

We departed after the two permitted nights.  

Joe and Lesley had gone at a little after dawn, we followed keenly 90 minutes later! 

I was on foot and here I was already annoyed how he'd left the cratch cushions all in the wrong places.

Such a pretty scene ruined by those cushions.

May is my favourite month, the trees with the sun on them is just gorgeous.

Bye.

I was going to walk back to the next stop, Shacklestone.  It was a little under four miles, I wanted to walk fast.

I had a phone call from David asking where I was, he seemed surprised when I told him I was at the intended mooring talking to Joe. 

The maize had come up in the two days.

So just around the corner to here where the canal passes over the river sense is where we moored up that day.

The next day we were going on a trip to The Battlefields at Market Bosworth, getting there on a steam train.

Great fun however it was cold.

I did't get a good shot of the engine that took us due to all the crowds, so this is the one that took us back just before it turned around, do trains "wind" or just turn around? 

Hard to get a selfie but here is Lesley and the handsome George Clooney.

This is the rear view of sweet Tucker.

Lesley and Marcia, sometimes called Lady Marcia.

This is a very impressive glass installation with King Richard 3rd at the centre, I tried to get the sun shining through but no luck.

David and I went through the interactive museum which was very impressive.  We had a run down by a whizz of a guide in there of the rather complicated Royal Family situation plus the opposing teams of the battle.  

I can't remember much now except that Richard almost had Henry beat but out of the jaws of victory grabbed defeat.  But the visitors centre is very worthwhile a trip, remembering that only last spring we were in Leicester city centre and visited the former council car park, also most impressive.

David fluffed up the train timetable going back so eventually we met back up with Lesley and Joe in the Rising Sun pub Shackerstone and I was so cold I ordered tea to warm up.

That night the Lockgate stove was lit, it promptly went out and the central heating went on instead.   

It's all gorgeous.

The next morning was cooler,  a delightful change from the pretty extreme heat we have had these past days but who's complaining?

Lesley and Joe departed first and about 9-ish.  We did a bit of faffing and I guess followed on 20 minutes after.

We passed through Shackerstone and what I call the Crescent moorings, private moorings following the curve of the canal all along a large field.  In the field are the remains of a Motte and Bailey castle, I can't find much about the castle except it was almost certainly wooden and Medieval.  Interestingly, during the WW2 an air raid shelter was dug within and it is said that a rocking chair still remains in there.

Private moorings on the left all the way around.

The Motte, the Bailey is not evident at all.

David dropped me in the winding hole (turney around place) and I set off to meet him, by way of a tarmac lane, at Snarestone, which I did, I arrived first!

I walked on the lane as its easier on the feet than a towpath.

On way way look at this dense hedge, small birds were whizzing in and out of it.

A spot of farming news.  I forget what this is, David Lewis will tell me I'm sure, but it's early remembering that these two photos were taken a fortnight ago.

Heads on in early may

A light dusting of green, maize planted and coming up.  Its a bit dry for it.  The field was chained shut with largest padlock or I would have got closer.

So I arrived at Snarestone, I had time for a good gander at some new builds which I liked the look of in the grounds of what I took to be a dilapidated farm yard, further into the village was a cottage for sale which I also liked....

I'd promised my mum I'd pop into the knitting shop, part of a complex of wee shops just out of the village, but now the shops are gone and a nursery of the children variety has arrived.

Sorry mum.

I'd said that I would hop on at the tunnel for the last bit having marched my 10K steps, but there was no way he could pull in and the steps down were chancy of slipping and taking a dip at the bottom.

There's a path under there somewhere.

Steps if you believe me.

Out of sequence, but last time we were here, five years ago, David and I caught this wee bus down to Congerstone for lunch at the Horse and Jockey, where we were yesterday.  He has no memory of it so I took this to show him.

This last half a mile is so after the tunnel is incredibly pretty.  The blossom, the greens of fields and trees, the birds song, the butterflies and the canal speckled with the petals.

and here the open views, David appreciated this as he had been in a green wooded tunnel most of the way.

The next boat on the left is NB Hogarth.

We left no Git Gaps, later two others popped on behind us and several more went onto the new section past the footbridge.

We filled our evening by teaching "The Yars" Hearts and later it was reversed and The Yars taught us Cribbage.  It took me a good while to pick up Hearts which we played whenever our now Kiwi daughter and SIL visited the boat or at Christmas and I can tell you that sometimes, only sometimes, I don't come last.

Cribbage was another matter altogether.  I'm trying hard to learn as my mother plays, she has tried valiantly to teach me but it was a hopeless task.  

Lesley is unfailing in her efforts to make me understand and do the scoring.

Phew. 

  

No, no rain.....

 The very sad thing about the Ashby canal now is that some pubs have closed, in line with other towns all across the UK of course but it's a real shame.

But!  Today we were headed to the Horse and Jockey at Congerstone, about two thirds of the way up the canal.  There are moorings close to the village so that is where we headed to.

Pretty pink fluffy thing.

A bit out of sequence but this is where we moored at close to Congerstone village.

Beautifully trimmed hedge.  Why is it some farmers keep them shaped and lower and some the hedge goes to rack and ruin and eventually trees.  Today the majority of boat owners surely have solar panels and want sunshine, besides I hate tall trees.

I do like these bridge reflective shots, the canal utterly calm.

We arrives at Congerstone, and walked to the pub late afternoon.  It was fabulous to see it busy, the pub was full inside with two large groups but in any case we all wanted to sit in the large garden, that too was busy on a mid week evening.  

The food was excellent, but I can't remember what I ate, sorry.

The day had been hot, sun cream was applied and hats worn.  It clouded over a bit, is it going to rain I asked the "Weatheraholic" no says he, no rain about.  I was sat next to Lesley....  It's looking a bit grey says I, yes she agreed, shall we make a move?

Well us girls did start the 15 minute walk back, after five minutes it was as black as yer hat, faster steps, ten mins we were on that bridge in the photo and the men catching up, we got in the boat and it bucketed down.  

D consulted his in depth satellite app to find one big shower right over Nuneaton.

The pub was great, definitely a "Use it or lose it" as other good ones along the way have gone, not so many shops either on the Ashby.

We just stayed one night and moved off in the morning heading for Snarestone and for us the top of the canal.