Nuneaton at Nuneaton

We walked the mile and a half into Hinckley town centre again this morning to meet up with Andy and Sue for coffee in "the office", aka Wetherspoon's. We returned to the boat via Lidl and had lunch, then set off towards the junction at 1400. We stopped for water at Bridge 15, just past the Limekilns Inn. The pressure here was low; after 20 minutes we gave up and carried on. At Marston Junction a horse and rider were crossing the bridge.

We turned right onto the Coventry Canal and met a motor towing a butty.

I thought that the last time I saw Nuneaton and Brighton they were signwritten as such; here I had only the cans to go on. The can on the motor was painted "Nuneaton", and on the butty the can ended in "...ton" so I guess that was Brighton.

We carried on through the town of Nuneaton and tied up near Hartshill. I cycled back along the towpath to Bedworth to pick up the car from outside Terry and Christine's house.

Using Waterway Routes to find abandoned canals

We found the Waterway Routes mapping system invaluable on the rivers in East Anglia recently; I was interested to see how useful they might be on the canals. I was expecting them to be not useful at all, given that we always use Nicholson guides and CanalPlan. But … guess what? Waterway Routes turns out to give a lot of extra detail compared with Nicholson, a case in point being lines of abandoned canals.

Coming along the North Oxford the other day I was able to spot - thanks to Waterway Routes - evidence of the former line of the canal in fields alongside the current course of the canal. It's a bit difficult to see in this photo, but there's a slight dip and change in the field pattern from the centre by the water off to the right.

It's easier to see in this next photo: the original canal ran alongside the trees - the cows are standing on the greener grass marking the route.

Another feature of the maps I have found useful here on the Ashby Canal is the clear marking of moorings. The "M" symbol indicates either piling or rings/bollards; handy when much of the rest of the bank seems to be reedy or overgrown. Oh, and when a water point is marked on Waterway Routes you can be sure that that is exactly where it is and that it will work. Mind you, it doesn't tell you how good the pressure is (perhaps a future refinement?)

Here's a screenshot of part of the Waterway Routes map for where we are in Hinckley. The top two M symbols in hexagons are actually on the same length of piling, but there are "No Mooring" signs at the bend, thus cutting the mooring space into two, as shown. The numbers in the long purple box give distance in km and miles, the number of locks, the number of moveable bridges and the time taken to travel from the beginning of the Ashby Canal at Marston Junction. So I know that it will take approximately two hours to get to the junction tomorrow.

I would have to say, though, that Nicholson (or Pearson) does give a lot of interesting background information on the area you might be travelling through, and it does tell you where pubs might be. Yes, many of the pubs listed in Nicholson have now closed, but for regular boaters they are a useful reminder of known hostelries. We will continue to use Nicholson but I have found we tend to keep the Memory-Map version of Waterway Routes within sight while travelling. The duration markers where you can judge the time it will take to navigate between two points are possibly slightly pessimistic, but it's better to be a little ahead of time than behind. We're only talking a few minutes in a journey of five hours, so not bad at all.

I haven't said anything about what we've done today: we joined Andy and Sue at their Hope Community Church in Hinckley this morning, then I cycled back to the boat to watch the Grand Prix. When that had finished we winded and went to Nutt's Bridge visitor moorings. We then walked into the town and met Andy and Sue again for a meal in Wetherspoon's. Back on the boat Jan and Sue practiced a couple of songs ready for next weekend while I rooted out an old dongle for Andy.

Here's one more photo (from Friday). A poor old Volvo P1800 has been in a garden with several other vehicles by Bridge 4 on the North Oxford for many years, getting more and more overgrown. As an old Volvo owner myself (in both senses) this hurts me!

Cracking bridges

We supported Christine's and Terry's church family fun day in Bedworth before resuming our travels, turning onto the Ashby Canal at Marston Junction. As I was making the turn a boat emerged from the Ashby, so I hung back in the wide opposite the junction. Fortunately the other boat was turning right onto the Coventry Canal, otherwise there would have been some interesting juggling of positions. As it was we were able to slip under the junction bridge with no problem. I took the photo looking back towards the junction.

Many of the bridges we passed under are built of stone; some seem to be cracking up. Here's Bridge 10 ...

… and this is Bridge 20.

Empress has a colourfully decorated cratch board.

We stopped by in Hinckley where Andy and Sue came to meet us, then Jan went with Sue in their car to their mooring while Andy steered Jubilee to Bridge 21. We walked back to their boat, Spring Water, and enjoyed a very pleasant meal and evening there.

Tomorrow we shall go with Andy and Sue to their church in Hinckley, then I shall watch the Grand Prix. I shall have to work out whether we have enough time to go to the end of the navigation before going to Fazeley by Thursday - I expect we have.

Oh - an update on the dodgy paddle gear at Stoke Bruerne: I had an e-mail from CRT yesterday saying that it had been fixed.

Graffiti smoke effect

It's a shame this photo is blurred, as the graffiti on the bridge could be the outline of a plume of smoke coming from Victoria's chimney.

Ashby Canal, August 2012

With regard to our route planning problem: I e-mailed Damian Kemp of CRT - he who sends out the regular Boaters' Update e-mails - and received a prompt reply. I'd asked him if the stoppage information is likely to be up-to-date, and he said it was. He gave me the e-mail addresses of the appropriate waterways regional offices and suggested I contact them for first-hand info. I'm just waiting for a reply from the South East Waterways office ...

Dark photo forced to reveal details

If, like me, you've sometimes taken photos in less than adequate light, you might have ended up with something like this:

Not much good to anyone.

However, the digital camera is actually quite good at capturing detail in the dark bits, it's just that you can't normally see it. But you can force the issue in a photo manipulation program. I use iPhoto as that's what came with my Mac. (I understand there's a program called Photoshop which people use with PC-type computers, but I haven't seen it in action.)

This is what I can see once the above photo has been tweaked:

It won't win any prizes(!) and it's horribly grainy, but I've turned night into day. What might look at first glance like the canal is, in fact, the top of Shadow (on the Ashby Canal earlier this year).

Wooden top bridge?

Bridge 31 on the Ashby Canal is also known as Wooden Top Bridge.

Perhaps at one time it did have a wooden top, but it looks more like steel and concrete now.

Diamond

I assume Diamond was on its way to the Shackerstone Family Festival when I spotted it on the Ashby Canal a couple of months ago.

Or is it still in use as a contractor's maintenance vessel?

Strange craft on the Ashby

Just north of the Lime Kilns pub on the Ashby Canal we passed two unusual craft tied to the bank.

The one nearer the camera looks like a home-made pedalo, built out of plastic containers for floats and bicycle parts for the drive train. Not just any old bicycle though: it's a tandem. The vessel seems to be constructed sturdily - not one of your raft race lash-ups. The bike chains are now rusty and hanging off the sprockets - I wonder when it last saw action. I wonder, also, how it was steered.

Behind the paddle wheel "motor" is a tub-like "butty".

This looks rather unstable - perhaps the ballast has been removed. It appears to be made from GRP and wood, with a pointed bow stuck on one end. Someone has put a fair amount of effort into making it - I wonder how well it swims! Perhaps the same someone has just emptied rainwater out of it - how else to explain its large amount of freeboard?

Giant cat's eyes on Bobcat; and Australian visitors

I got a bit of a surprise at Stoke Golding on the Ashby Canal.

A giant pair of cat's eyes was staring me down as I approached.

Impressive paintwork - but what was it?

The other side reveals it to be an unusual steel locker.

The boat is Lynx Rufus aka Bobcat.

More impressive paintwork depicts said animal putting its paw out of a porthole.

*************

We got talking to a couple of Australians in one of our favourite Indian restaurants in Norwich this evening. Greg and Hannah from Cairns, Queensland, are over here for a family reunion. It was good to meet you and chat in both the Ali and the King's Head - enjoy the rest of your stay. Perhaps you'll come back for a holiday on our wonderful canals, and see our country at its best. Greg, you'll be interested in the fitout of our boat - have a look here.

Meeting nb Kyle on Shenton Aqueduct

We stopped at Shenton Aqueduct on the Ashby Canal so I could take some photos.

The aqueduct is massive, brick, solid - very unlike a soaring iron trunk aqueduct such as the Pontcysyllte.

The two sides are remarkably similar to each other.

When I climbed up to the top, on the opposite side to where we moored, a boat I recognised was approaching.

It was Kyle, steered by Brian Jarrett of RN Diesel Engine Co.

Breaking wash

A certain Large Northwich approaching a few weeks ago highlighted the shallowness of the Ashby Canal.

A breaking wash is something boaters should try to avoid as it breaks down the banks and pulls more silt into the channel, making it even shallower. However, I do understand that, sometimes, a shallow section can catch one unawares.

18 seconds later, when the photo above was taken, Whitby had evidently slowed down.

I do like passing former working boats.

Solar panels - what to get?

I wonder what proportion of private boats now have solar panels. Half? More than half? In one one hundred yard stretch of the Ashby Canal I passed at least five boats with them on top.

Most panels are mounted on frames which allow them to be tilted towards the sun.

This one looks like it could double as a sail.

And some rest horizontally on the roof.

There's no urgency to buy yet as Jubilee has mains readily available to keep the batteries charged. (I've just thought: the starter battery probably needs charging as the boat hasn't gone anywhere for a few weeks.)

I'm keeping my eyes open though, as I will be wanting to fit one or more solar panels ready for when we get the boat back for our own use.

Some more old boats at Shackerstone

A month ago, as we were coming past Shackerstone for the second time, more historic boats had moored for the festival.

Here are two views of Darley.

No sign of Blossom, though.

On the same stretch of towpath was steam tunnel tug Hasty...

... and FMC boat Empress (renamed from Emperor?)

I'm looking forward to being able to visit these sort of rallies properly by boat one day.

Kestrel and Northolt

Two boats at the gathering at Shackerstone last month were Kestrel and Northolt.

Kestrel appears to have been built for Fellows, Morton and Clayton in 1928 (but, according to the A.M.Models website it was cut into two boats in 1959, the stern remaining as Kestrel).

According to the same website Northolt was built in 1942 for FMC, then being acquired by the Samuel Barlow Coal Carrying Company. The website also says, "Renamed Sunny Valley for the film 'Painted Boats' and has remained so ever since". So how is it that it now appears as Northolt?

The (current) end of the Ashby Canal

It was raining steadily when we reached the current limit of navigation on the Ashby Canal last month.

The new swing footbridge was swung for us and we nosed up to the end of the canal.

That's a slipway on the right.

After tying up I sheltered from the rain while looking round the small Ashby Canal Association shop where I bought an old book and paid for a "certificate of navigation" which was posted to me later.

I really should have walked into Measham from there, but a combination of the rain and the fact that I had to give ourselves enough time to get back to Wigram's Turn led me to give up that idea. There'll be another time.

The Mangle House, Stoke Golding

Stoke Golding, the "Birthplace of the Tudor Dynasty", on the Ashby Canal has a number of blue plaques dotted around the village.

One marks the former existence of a box mangle at a house.

"At this house in the late 1800s a Box Mangle was in public use".

What a strange thing to commemorate with a blue plaque!

I looked it up: according to the village website the box mangle was used more for "polishing" laundry than for squeezing water out. Possibly an early form of ironing.

A good cut at Burton Hastings

No, not the Ashby Canal, fine waterway though that is (despite the lack of locks for the ordinary boater), but on the fine slate gravestones at St. Botolph's Church in Burton Hastings.


This was another of our planned stops for local exploration on last month's trip.

If you want people to be able to read your gravestone centuries after you've gone, then perhaps you should go for slate.


The lettering looks as sharp today as it must have done 175 years ago when, presumably, the inscription commemorating Elizabeth Barrs was done.


The name of the monumental mason appears at the foot of this gravestone: Smart of Attleborough. There is an Attleborough only three miles from Burton Hastings on the outskirts of Nuneaton, so I presume Smart's did their engraving here (and not in Norfolk!).


The slate would most likely have come from the quarry at Swithland in the neighbouring county of Leicestershire. Smart's doesn't seem to exist these days, but there is still a monumental mason in Attleborough - Dobson's.