A Very Wet Day.

 Thursday 11th June 2026 at Great Haywood

Thus far, we have been very lucky with the weather and we have largely avoided the rain. Not so today! The rain started early and looked to be set in for the day. We decided to walk to the nearby Tesco for breakfast and for a few bits. As we walked in, M saw a very welcome advertisement. Every June, M eagerly looks forward to the arrival of fresh peas in the shops so we entered Tesco in great anticipation.

But inside our hopes were dashed - not a fresh pea in sight. Still, the cafe breakfast was surprisingly good and very healthy - R had Summer Fruits French Toast, which was excellent.

M has always followed the Tour de France in the past but decided not to avail herself of this free guide as all the famous names that she remembers have long since retired.

Braving the rain, we set off towards Great Haywood and soon passed Brindley Bank and the infamous "Bloody Steps" where the murdered body of Christina Collins was found in the canal on 15th June 1839, 187 years ago less four days. She had innocently paid for a lift to London on a working narrowboat but the crew were not to be trusted. The story was used by Colin Dexter as the basis for one of his "Inspector Morse" series.

   Normally, Colwich Lock is one of our favourites and in the past we have often seen the local milking herd of cows ambling across the bridge next to the lock. Today, no cows, just more rain. 

 

We arrived at Great Haywood to find that mooring spaces were few and far between; hardly surprising as folk tend not to cruise in heavy rain - and who can blame them?  Normally, we would have continued cruising despite the rain but we have friends to meet over the weekend so decided to moor up for the night and continue tomorrow. At the water point, we disposed of our rubbish but R then had to back MM over 300 yards to the only space long enough to take her.  MM is the little yellow dot disappearing into the trees. R commented on how easy she is to reverse thanks to the Axiom propeller.

MM tucked into this space with just enough room. We were glad of the chance to dry out and warm up. The rain eased off a little later and we walked to the Canalside Cafe to treat ourselves to tea (coffee) and cake.

 Back at MM we both had a zizz. Cruising in the rain is very wearing!!

Today: 5 Miles, 2 Locks and 2.4 Hours.

Trip: 140 Miles, 86 Locks and 66.2 Hours.

HS2 Abandoned Destruction and a Broken Sluice.

 Wednesday 10th June 2026 in Rugeley.

Unsettled weather was promised but we decided on an early start so that we could get to Fradley Junction and have breakfast at the C&RT Cafe there.

The countryside around her is very rural with large fields put down to arable crops, namely wheat, maize, potatoes and (M hopes - PEAS!!).

Half way to Fradley, we passed Huddlesford Junction, where one day the Lichfield Canal may connect through to Birmingham. In the meantime, the arm provides private mooring, although the large "Stop" sign is hardly welcoming.

At Fradley, we moored up just before the water point and walked down to the Cafe. Sadly, these days it is only a take-away service but it is always a nice place to visit.

The Cafe staff are very friendly and helpful. M had a fish finger bap and R had a toasted teacake and marmalade.

One bold visitor to our table had his eyes on M's bap. He snatched up a bit and immediately made off with it, hotly pursued by a hopeful blackbird, followed by a determined pigeon!  

We returned to MM to find another Kingsground boat, nb Norwood, moored up beside us. She is twenty years old but the owners have only had her for three years.They are a lovely couple and absolutely delighted with her. 

 

There are two locks at Fradley; M was pleased to see dozens of  Early Purple Orchids next to the first lock. We have seen quite a few of these around Fradley but it is unusual to see so many in a small space like this.

 

 Above the second lock there was a field of wheat absolutely full of poppies. It looked lovely but the farmer may not be best pleased, as they will take nutrients from the main crop.

Just a few hundred yards further on, through lovely mature woodland, is a section of the woods that has been destroyed for HS2. Work on HS2 has now ceased this far north but the massive mounds of earth and the devastation remains. Will all this ever be returned to nature?  Somehow, we doubt it.

Earlier, we went past another site at Lichfield. All across the countryside around here are HS2 scars that have seemingly just been abandoned. The two huge brown scars in the bottom half of this picture used to be a productive farm, a small airfield and an equestrian centre. Only the isolated farmhouse survives, stripped of its farmland. What a waste - and for what?

There was one more lock ahead at Wood End but when we arrived we found that three C&RT chaps were there trying to fix the ground paddle, which was not sealing properly, thus making it difficult to empty the lock. To identify the problem they decided to put in stop planks and drain the water out.

It turned out that one of the guide runners that holds the sluice panel in place had come adrift - it's inside that black hole under the paddle mechanism. So they had no option but to try to get it to seal and then put that paddle out of action as they did not have the necessary equipment to replace the guide runner. Somebody will have to come and do that later. In the meantime the lock is still usable, so we were able to go through after a short delay of about one hour. All credit to the C&RT chaps who were so good humoured and were perfectly relaxed about having us as an audience!

Next to the lock is what was once a lovely cottage - but that too has fallen into the hands of HS2 and so is slowly rotting. Yet another waste!

Soon after is Armitage "tunnel", a very narrow section that used to be a tunnel until the sandstone roof caved in. M went ahead to check that there was nobody coming the other way as the far end cannot be seen from where we were. 

These houses on the outskirts of Rugeley have always amused us as they used to appear to have huge chimneys. Sadly, no more since the power station was demolished!

We moored up in the centre of Rugeley just as heavy rain arrived. We are not far from a large and excellent Tesco, our first stop tomorrow for a "few bits".

Today: 13 miles, 3 locks and 4.9 Hours.

Trip: 135 Miles, 84 Locks and 63.8 Hours.

A Short-lived Royal Underground Toilet.

 Tuesday 9th June 2026 near Huddlesford.

 In the last four days we have made good progress so we were in no hurry today and set off after breakfast towards Tamworth. The countryside is lovely and it's hard to believe this was once all an industrial landscape, a mass of collieries.  

Soon after setting off, we passed what used to be Pooley Hall Colliery but is now a large nature reserve. We stopped and moored up.

 At one end of the colliery site is a huge spoil heap a few hundred feet high. On the top of the spoil heap is a "Gold Monolith" that is visible for miles around. The cross section of the monolith is of a birch leaf to symbolise the trees and leaves that over millenia became the coal that was mined here. It's an imposing yet moving testimonial to all the trees and, indirectly, to all the miners.

The small red figure is R, standing next to it. The view from the top is spectacular in every direction although the surrounding trees grow taller every year so now you have to find gaps to peer through.

Pooley Hall Colliery was opened in 1850 and continued through to 1965. In 1926 it became famous because of a visit by the then Duke of York (later King George VI). The pit bottom was whitewashed and a "bucket" toilet installed with a rosewood seat - the first underground toilet in a mine in the country. The miners were instructed not to use it until after the Duke's visit. However, it was removed only a week later because the smell at the pit bottom had become unbearable!

At Tamworth we went through the two Glascote Locks, known as "the piggy bank locks" because they are slow to fill and quick to empty - a very accurate analogy! There was a "single hander" on a boat coming up through the bottom lock so we helped him through and set the locks in our favour at the same time. All the while, M had a very animated conversation with him about Laithwaites wines!!

We continued on through Hopwas and then through the army firing range with its warning notices.

Because that large area has restricted access it is a haven for wildlife; it's rare these day to see natural unmanaged woodland.

When the Coventry Canal Company ran out of money, the Trent & Mersey Canal Company stepped in and completed the section to Fradley Junction. This stone marks the point at which the Coventry becomes the Trent & Mersey. As usual, there was somebody moored across the marker stone! We have been up and down this length of waterway many times in our fifteen years of cruising and have always wanted to moor across two canals at once - but have always been thwarted in this endeavour!!

Not much further on we moored up as the sky was looking threatening and the wind was very blustery. In the end it didn't actually rain but we had done enough for today.

 Today: 11 Miles, 2 Locks and 4.6 Hours.

Trip: 122 Miles, 81 Locks and 58.9 Hours.

The Atherstone Flight.

Monday 8th June 2026 at Polesworth.

The weather forecast turned out to be correct and the rain started early in the morning. To pass the time, we walked into Atherstone to post some cards. M in particular was very upset to see that the old historic hat factory was now a very large pile of rubble. Atherstone was famed for its hats, which were exported all over the world. We had seen the old factory deteriorate year by year, with the windows all smashed etc.  Another bit of canal history lost ...

The huge jaws on the digger on the left were particularly scary; it looked like a prehistoric monster. Nobody seemed to know what was planned for the site but, talking to locals, the general opinion was that it would be more apartments. Such a shame that it wasn't converted to apartments while it was still in good condition. 

Around midday, the weather cleared so we decided to tackle the 11 locks of the Atherstone flight. C&RT volunteers set the first two locks for us and we encountered several boats coming up the flight so almost all the locks were in our favour. A "Good Road", as the working boat people used to say, and with M lock wheeling to set the lock ahead, we did all 11 locks in just one and a half hours.

M always loves this grass covered bridge with its footpath disappearing into the distance. It seems to call you to follow it ....

It seemed that we had hardly started when we reached the bottom lock with its lovely "lock gate" bench under the trees. The field behind was often planted with potatoes (for which Staffordshire is well known) but this year it is wheat.

MM nosed into the last of the Atherstone locks for the final time and still the sun shone on us.

The pretty lock flight is two miles long, so we only cruised another two miles before the weather again became threatening and we moored up in Polesworth as the rain began. Later, however, the blue skies returned so M was able to get a good photograph of our mooring. For an urban area, it is a very quiet and pleasant spot to moor up.

 Today: 4 miles, 11 Locks and 3.1 hours.

 Trip: 111 Miles, 79 Locks and 54.3 Hours.

A Very long Day to Atherstone.

 Sunday 7th June 2026 in Atherstone.

 Today, the weather is forecast to be fine but tomorrow rain is predicted almost all day. As a result, we decided to do a long day today so that we could relax and not travel far tomorrow if the forecast proved to be correct. We set off at about half past seven, leaving Rugby behind.

At Brinklow, there is a very narrow cutting built by Thomas Telford when he straightened out much of Brindley's original very circuitous contour canal. The bridge before the cutting was receiving some attention.

 

The cutting has always had problems with land slips and when we came through last year there were two major ones which had buried much of the towpath. Since then, the whole side of the cutting has been cut right back to prevent future problems where each of the landslides had occurred. Major, and expensive, work.

There was only one lock today, the six inch "Stop Lock" at Hawkesbury Junction designed to "stop" the North Oxford from stealing the Coventry Canal's water. This was common practice when rival canal companies competed for trade. For the same reason, there is a former Toll House at the junction.

 

M has always admired the garden next to the lock but today it looked  a tad overgrown and neglected. Some weeding needs to be done! It was still pretty, though.

 

The turn from the North Oxford on to the Coventry Canal is renowned for being a very tight 180 degrees but MM went round without any problems (thanks to R's excellent skills, says M!)..

 

 Most of today was just cruising, so not a lot of photographs or drama. At the junction of the Ashby Canal we had to hover to allow a boat to turn into the Ashby, another tight turn, especially when approaching from the south..

This nostalgic sight is a relic of a bygone age and now stands alone, unconnected to any friends. In its heyday it might have carried twenty-four telephone conversations alongside the canal. Today, it is all fibre optic cables buried below the towpath capable of carrying tens of thousands of calls at the same time. 

The site of Roman Mancetter is believed to be the last battle of Boudica against the Romans, which took place c.AD 60-61. A sign identifies the spot although with a ? in the title to acknowledge that many other places also claim the same!

When we eventually arrived at Atherstone, we were told that a floating market had taken all the visitors moorings, so we moored in the last available spot half a mile from the town after nearly nine hours travelling.

Today 24 miles, 1 Lock and 8.7 hours.

Trip 107 miles, 68 Locks and 51.2 Hours.

Orchids and the Maori Silver Fern.

 Saturday 6th June 2026 in Rugby.

 Early on Saturday morning we tackled the three Hillmorton Locks. Rain was forecast and had already started but it stopped just as we arrived at the top lock and held off until we left the bottom lock. Very good timing!

 

At the bottom lock pair at Hillmorton, several years ago, M had seen that there were orchids growing between the two side-by-side locks and remarked that they should be protected. There is now a notice to stop people disturbing them.

 

 These orchids are the "Early Purple" variety and there are dozens of them in that small area.  It pleased us enormously to see that they are being protected. It was interesting that, next day, M spotted the relatively rare Bee Orchid growing unnoticed on the towpath near Nuneaton. It has probably survived because passing folk are not aware of what it is.  We also saw some Common Spotted Orchids, the same variety as pops up year on year in our lawn back home!

  

We continued on to Rugby, where we passed nb "Inkling" again, moored opposite the park. 

 

Our favourite mooring is next to the Park under an old willow tree. Initially we had to squeeze in next to another boat nb "Te Ara Wei" and we fell into conversation with David, the owner, who was delightful. We then went out shopping and were very pleasantly surprised to find that, while we were out, they had moved across to the other side of the canal and had very kindly re-moored MM under the willow for us. Boaters are like that - they help each other!

 

David and his wife on Te Ara Wei had spent 13 years in New Zealand before coming back to the UK and moving on to their narrowboat. The name in Maori means "The Way of Memories" or "Waterway" and the symbol underneath is the "Koru", the Maori Silver Fern that symbolises new beginnings. So very appropriate. 

In 2012, our friends Grant and Katy, originally from New Zealand, were visited by Grant's parents, who came for a trip on MM and gave us a tile representing the Maori Fern; it still hangs on the wall in MM's kitchen. That was another celebration of new beginnings and we have decided that the fern should stay with MM to welcome her new owners.

Today: 3 Miles, 3 Locks and 1.6 hours.

Trip:83 Miles, 67 Locks and 42.5 Hours.