Shadow (on the left) under a crescent moon at Coventry Basin
My alarm went off at 0700, but, for some reason (the night before?), I didn't get up until 0730. We got under way at 0820 and immediately entered Newbold Tunnel.
Stopped at Rose Narrowboats, Stretton, for water. (Entirely unnecessarily, as the tank is huge and we didn't really use much. When we got back to the marina on Thursday we were still about three-quarters full.)
I cycled off to get a paper. Unfortunately I went the wrong way, following the signs to a farm shop (it's NOT 1/2 mile, it's over 1 mile) which, of course, did not sell newspapers. Vast selection of foodstuffs, though, which would have been great if I'd been looking for provisions. But I wasn't, so I cycled back again, crossing the canal, and into Brinklow, where I got a paper from the post office. Back at the boat we'd finished watering up, and so we continued to Sutton Stop, where a stop at the Greyhound to sample some ale was tempting... but we were in danger of not making it to Coventry before dark if we delayed, so we carried on.
going through the stop lock at Sutton Stop
It was today that Ben showed me that my car satnav could, in pedestrian mode, give cruising speeds accurate to the nearest 0.1 mph. And this was after I'd been assured from what seemed to be a knowledgeable satnav forum that GPS devices for cars gave speeds only to the nearest 1 mph. So I needn't have got my hand-held Garmin eTrex H after all! Don't know whether to be cross or pleased! Pleased, I think, but still GRRRR!
Having turned left onto the Coventry Canal the increase in the amount of rubbish on and in the water was marked. The boat seemed sluggish and the steering heavy, so I assumed I had picked up something round the prop. I stopped, went down the weed hatch after pouring some hot water in, to find... absolutely nothing. All right, there was a propellor down there, but it was completely free of rubbish. Must be shallow, then.
It was along this stretch of urban canal that we saw two kingfishers: not doing their usual darting into the bushes in front, giving one the merest glimpse, but perching on a branch, showing off their orange bellies and electric blue plumage. Of course, my camera wasn't to hand!
At 1630 we moored in the right-hand arm of Coventry Basin, reversing in past a couple of boats. There was the thinnest of thin skins of ice starting to form at the end of the other arm,so I hoped it wouldn't spread too much. Some hope!
After dark I tried a few night shots. I was surprised to see that the laser beam sweeping the sky over the city had come out.
weighbridge office, Coventry Basin
Alison and Ben went off into the city on a shopping expedition, while Jan and I walked to the cathedral to have a look at the old and new (both closed). Then we met up for our worst experience (so far) at a Wetherspoon's pub: two of the meals we'd decided on were off; and a third, which we'd successfully ordered, turned out to be off too!
statue of James Brindley, once Coventry's most expensive sculpture
Back at the boat we did some serious wedding invitation list creation before bed.
3 comments:
The run down to Coventry is much maligned, but I really enjoyed it when we did it a few years ago. And I thought the basin itself was lovely. I'm always glad when I read about people doing "unpopular" waterways like this.
Adam, they're not unpopular with me! It was my second visit to Coventry Basin: the previous encounter was on my epic trip of 2005. It was warmer then!
I took one or two (night-time) piccies of Debdale moored at Stockton when we got back. If they don't make it onto the blog I'll e-mail them to you.
Great account, and lovely night shots. I'd love to do these English canal trips myself!
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