The Very Last Day of our Summer Cruise.

Tuesday 22nd October, 2013 at Aston Marina, Staffordshire.
Rain overnight, rain at breakfast and more rain forecast throughout the day. Just what we needed! Dawn was very grey and forbidding.

We decided that we might as well do all of the very last bit up to Aston Marina and moor up MM today, even though she was not booked in until tomorrow. A quick telephone call confirmed that this was no problem, so we girded our loins, donned our waterproofs and set off.
Despite one or two bursts of heavy rain, the day actually improved and it ended up being a pleasant cruise. Many of the low-lying fields were flooded after the last two weeks of continuous rain.

There were three locks left to do today and all three have a story. The first is where we met and befriended an Israeli family last month - such a nice family, coping bravely with the challenges of a strange language and an even stranger mode of transportation - we do hope that they enjoyed the rest of their holiday. At the second lock, M helped a group of obviously novice boaters with the workings of the paddles and gates, then discovered that they were truly brand new - they had bought the boat nb "Sophie" and taken possesion of her just this morning! You never saw a happier or more excited bunch of people - but that's boating for you, even in the rain!
At Sandon lock, the very last of 356 locks this year, a C&RT chap was working nearby and came and opened the gates for us. He was out of our line of vision behind the bridge so, as we approached the lock, to our surprise the lock gates seemed to open as if by magic! He very kindly closed the gate for us as we left our very last lock of the year.

We will always have a special affection for Sandon lock, as it is where we discovered the "elegant" little lime kiln on the way down. It was open just for one day and it happened to be the day that we were passing.
Then suddenly, almost before we knew it, we were at Aston Marina.  Hooray!

We turned in, found our space (A22) and R backed MM gently into her winter home as the sun came out.

The afternoon improved, so it was possible to give MM a wash down, and even a polish, to prepare her for the winter.

The unsettled weather made for a very dramatic sunset, the last of many beautiful sunrises and sunsets this summer.

Coming to the end of a wonderful summer is a bittersweet moment; we have had such a great time on MM. She has served us so well and helped us to see so much of England this year, just as we planned.
Over the winter, she will come out of the water to have her hull re-blacked and a couple of minor jobs done so that she will be ready to take us on another adventure, up north this time, next year. Thank you, "Many Meetings", for a fabulous year and for all the fun we have had.
Watch out for our "diary" to resume as we start off again next year!
Today: 8 miles, 3 locks and 3.6 hours.
Trip: 584 miles, 356 locks and 459.9 hours.
Since MM was launched: 1,179 miles, 836 locks and 961.4 hours.

A Wet Day's Cruising.

Monday 21st October, 2013 at Great Haywood.
It was dry all night but started to rain heavily just after dawn. Bother! The forecast again was not good and, if we are to get to Aston (out over-winter mooring) in time to go home on Thursday, we need to make progress today. We would much rather have stayed moored up in some rural spot to read books but, instead, we braved the rain and moved on.
This was supposed to be a nice picture of a popular wedding venue next to the canal, but mostly it just shows how wet it was!

Once clear of Rugeley and its power station, the canal becomes rural again and is lovely even in driving rain! Beautiful beech woods accompanied the canal much of the way. Colwich lock looked rather different from the sunny day in mid-September when a herd of cows paused on the bridge to watch our progress in curious fashion. Then...

And now...

It was a pity to pass Shugborough Hall without visiting it yet again (this is the fourth time we have cruised past) as it offers a wealth of historical interest, much of which is out of doors and today is not a day for outdoor activities.
By the time we reached Haywood lock, the rain was of the "stair rods" variety. Definitely not great boating weather! At the lock, R insisted on doing the lock on his own as he was soaked already and there was no point in M getting saturated as well. We couldn't help but feel sorry for those we saw out on hire boats, obviously on holiday.
The rain eased a little by the time we reached Great Haywood and we took on water beside the beautiful stone junction bridge, without question one of the loveliest bridges on the waterways.

Then, with a sigh of relief, we moored up for the day opposite the marina there.
Today: 10 miles, 2 locks and 5.9 hours.
Trip: 576 miles, 353 locks and 456.3 hours.

Home for the Weekend

Thursday 17th to Sunday 20th October, 2013 at King's Bromley Marina.
We are going home this weekend to have the walnut tree in the garden "reduced". It is now so large that it is making the whole garden dark. It has been reduced twice already, the last time only a couple of years ago, but it continues to grow by leaps and bounds.
On MM this morning, the light on the trees at dawn was magic and promised a fine day (not as forecast!).

We had booked MM into King's Bromley Marina, where she stayed for a few days last month on the way down. It was only a very short cruise of a couple of miles and one lock, so we arrived early. The weather was pleasant with no sign of the forecast rain.
At the marina, we filled MM with diesel and then moved her round to her temporary mooring, just a few spaces away from where she was last time.

Having secured MM, we took a taxi to the local railway station at Lichfield and then a train home.
Today: 1 Mile, 1 lock and 2.9 hours.
Trip: 566 miles, 351 locks and 450.4 hours.

On Sunday 20th, we drove up north by car. Our 2013 cruise will end this week and we will need the car on Thursday to take home all those items which need to come off the boat for the winter.
We had an easy journey up, but it did feel strange to be travelling at 70mph!

From the car, we saw canals and locks that we now know extremely well but it is almost impossible to relate the two; glimpses of canals from the motorway at 70mph is a world apart from cruising gently along at 3mph in the countryside.
At King's Bromley Marina, we unloaded on to MM the few things that we had brought up with us and then continued on by car to Aston Marina. About 30 minutes by car but two good days cruising by MM! Aston Marina looked at lovely as before and it was pleasing indeed to be greeted cheerily by name by Alex, the Marina Manager.
R checked the details for our arrival on Thursday with Alex and then we went to the Bistro for tea, coffee and a pair of toasted teacakes. Yummy! Over tea, we spotted an unusual boat on the other side of the marina which is almost certainly nb "Whitefield", an extremely unconventional boat that featured in Canal Boat Magazine a few years ago. When we get back on Thursday, we will walk round and take a closer look.

A taxi took us to Stone railway station to catch the train back to Lichfield.

This was the last train journey of our 2013 trip and, true to form, it arrived exactly on time. We have had the most astonishing experience with trains this summer - they have all been on time to the minute (with the sole exception of one that the internet timetable had shown but in reality didn't actually exist!). 
At Lichfield, another taxi took us back to King's Bromley and MM. We arrived just before 6:00pm, far too late to go anywhere tonight, so we decided to stay put in the marina for the night.
And so to bed by the light of a just-past-full moon.

Rain as Forecast but, after we stopped, Sunshine that wasn't!

Wednesday 16th October, 2013 at Fradley Junction.
Wednesday morning, and we have to go home tomorrow - so we have to get MM to King's Bromley Marina by tomorrow morning. And, wouldn't you know it, heavy rain is forecast all day! Rats!
We decided to set off regardless.
Huddlesford Junction was a lot less busy than it had been at the "Gathering" last month and by the time we got there, the rain had started in earnest. By the time we reached Fradley Junction, we were both very wet despite the umbrella, as the wind was blowing the rain horizontally into our faces.
At Fradley, there is a swing bridge and two locks. We decided that, as we were wet already, we might as well do them and moor up above the locks so that we had less distance to go tomorrow (when it is also forecast to rain!).
At this point you stop worrying about being wet - that is now a given - and just get on and do the locks regardless.  We learnt that lesson during last year's wet summer.  There's a point at which you just can't get any wetter - usually when you're shoes are squelching with water and your hair is dripping!
However, above the locks, we found a nice mooring where we were able to turn up the central heating, put the wet things to hang in the shower, dry off and warm up. Bliss!
Next to us, two John Deere tractors were trying to plough the field but even they were having trouble getting any grip on the mud.

Sod's law - shortly after we moored up the rain stopped, the skies cleared, the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful autumn afternoon! Would you believe it!!!

We walked back down past the locks to take a look at the junction in the afternoon sun. Fradley is a very picturesque spot that is much loved by boaters.

It has some charming buildings and is not easily accessible by road, so it attracts mostly only boaters and walkers. The "Swan" pub is known locally as "The Mucky Duck".

There is also a cafe, so a coffee and cake were mandatory!
On the way back to MM, we paused to help a couple on their boat through the two locks. It turned out that they were also overwintering at Aston Marina and were on their way there. They were as enthusiastic about the staff and facilities as we were. They will moor up in space A28 and we are due into space A22, so we will be near neighbours!
After the soaking that we received in the morning, we had a lovely clear sky in the evening.

Sunset was followed by the moon, almost full, shining in on us.
Today: 6 miles, 2 locks and 4.4 hours.
Trip: 565 miles, 350 locks and 447.5 hours.

Whittington, Guarded by Gnomes!

Tuesday 15th October, 2013 at Whittington.
We awoke to the promise of a dry day. Hooray!
As we set off, we saw that the boat moored up just in front of us was another Kingsground boat; nb "Tinker Fox" was Kingsground's 35th boat, launched on 30th April 2001.

We have been keeping a record of each Kingsground boat that we see on our travels. So far we have spotted 52 out of 112. Just another 60 to go!
It was a very pleasant day's cruising and the sun even broke through intermittently.
The two locks at Glascote, just before Tamworth are very attractive and not difficult, but a bit like a child's money-box: Slow to fill but quick to empty! M nicknamed them the "Piggy Bank Locks".
The weather stayed dry and pleasant, so we decided to keep going and made good progress, passing the junction at Fazeley where the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal branches off towards Birmingham.

The countryside beyond Tamworth is surprisingly rural and it was fascinating to see, in reverse, all the sights we had seen on the way down last month, including the gold monolith at Alvecote glimpsed through the trees.

We remembered that there were nice moorings at Whittington, where there is also a stone marker to show the old join between the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal and the Coventry Canal.

M had a "cunning plan" to moor MM so that her front half was on the Birmingham & Fazeley and the back half was on the Coventry. Unfortunately, like all of Baldrick's "cunning plans", this one came to naught as, much to M's annoyance, someone was already moored right across the join!
So, we ended up mooring just a few feet away, on the Coventry.

Afterwards, we walked into Whittington village for a "few bits". The bridge from the canal was guarded in a most unusual way, although "Elf & S*f*ty" would have approved as there was an appropriate warning sign on the gate...

Still, we gave them a wide berth, just in case.

We also passed an intruiging tree. It looked like a Spindle Tree, but its fruit was bright blue instead of orange. Any ideas anyone? We couldn't find it in the books.

Today: 11 miles, 2 locks and 5.2 hours.
Trip: 559 miles, 348 locks and 443.1 hours.

11 Locks and a Water Vole

Monday 14th October, 2013 near Polesworth.
The rain continued this morning, so we decided to walk into Atherstone town centre in search of a fishing umbrella, the purpose of which is not for fishing but to keep us dry when cruising. We do have a golfing umbrella, but it only just covers the two of us - and if it is blowing hard, we still get wet! The gentleman in the small angling shop, called "Fishing 4U", was very helpful but didn't have any in stock. So R consoled himself with a coffee...

After lunch, the rain eased off a bit and we decided to tackle the flight of eleven Atherstone locks immediately ahead of us. So, we entered the top lock...

On the way up this flight last month, we met the Kingsground boat "Reflections". This time, going down, we met another Kingsground boat called "Maud Rose"; she was on her way down to Kingsground at Enslow Wharf for a re-paint. She is ten years old but still looking good! The owners said they are still delighted with her.

Finally after a couple of hours, when the rain held off (thank heavens), we came out of the last of the eleven locks...

While cruising on, we happened to see a water vole sitting on a rock beside the canal watching us go past. They are normally very shy and difficult to spot, but this one seemed very unconcerned at our passing so close. Unfortunately we couldn't get the camera out in time to photograph him (so we took this picture off the internet).

It is a terrible shame that the release of American Mink into the wild has decimated the Water Vole population (they are a favourite "snack" for mink). This is the first time in our two years of cruising that we have seen one.
We also spotted a duck with a very young duckling - unusual to see one so small at this time of year. As you can see, Mum was being very protective!

The skies cleared to give a lovely evening.  After an early supper, we enjoyed watching "The Titfield Thunderbolt", a classic Ealing Comedy with lots of beautiful steam engines.

After we had gone to bed, we saw a strange light on the curtains on the canal side of MM. It turned out to be a narrowboat going by in the dark. It is very rare for boats to travel at night and it passed silently by like a ghostly, grey apparition in the moonlight. A bit scary!

Today: 4 miles, 11 locks and 3.3 hours.
Trip: 548 miles, 346 locks and 437.9 hours.

Another Wet Day.

Sunday 13th October, 2013 at Atherstone
Heavy rain continued all morning and through lunch, so we stayed put.
In the afternoon, we took advantage of a break in the weather and cruised the five lock-free miles from Nuneaton to Atherstone. On the way, M was very pleased to see a boat named "Maid Marion".

We also passed the British Waterways (now Canal & River Trust) yard at Hartshill with a lovely range of old buildings including a covered loading dock.

In Atherstone, we moored up just a few yards from where we moored on 25th September on our way south.
Too wet today for many photographs or for going very far!
Today: 5 miles, 0 locks and 4.7 hours
Trip: 544 miles, 335 locks and 434.6 hours.

A New Camera for Marion.

Saturday 12th October, 2013 at Nuneaton.
To our surprise, the Canal Basin in the city centre was very quiet overnight and we both slept well. The rain had continued all night and carried on all morning, so we got rather wet as we said goodbye to our overnight moorings and set off back up the canal toward Hawkesbury Junction.

On the way out of the city, we passed some fencing that had been created and painted in a very imaginative way. We particularly liked the little gold bubbles! However, even this looked sadly neglected.

At the junction, we stopped for water and then some lunch close to the old pumping station that used to pump water into the canal from a well, using a Newcomen-type atmospheric engine called "Lady Godiva". It was installed here in 1821 after working in the Griff Colliery for nearly 100 years!  She ceased work in 1913 and "Lady Godiva" is now in the Dartmouth Museum.

The rain eased off a little in the afternoon as we continued on up to Nuneaton, but by the time we got there, it was raining very heavily again. We moored up in the same spot where we had stopped on the way down last month.
Despite the rain, we decided to walk into town as R had discovered that the town boasted a large Curry's store and he wanted to buy M a new camera to replace the one that ended up in the canal last Tuesday. A young lad named Luke showed us the cameras that they had and M chose a very pretty red one and a purple carrying case (R liked the spec, M liked the colour!).

On the way back to MM, we just "happened" to stop off at a Costa Coffee where, luckily, R set up M's new camera; only to discover that the memory card sold with it was not compatible. M went back to MM with the shopping, while R went back to the Curry's store and exchanged the memory card for one that worked. To be fair to Luke, there was nothing in the camera instructions that indicated any compatibility problem. Still, the store was very helpful and soon R was back on board, quite wet, but with a working camera for M, and we took a "test" piccie in MM!

Today: 10 miles, 0 locks and 5 hours.
Trip:  539 miles, 335 locks and 429.9 hours.

Coventry - and an Unexpected Musical Treat!

Friday 11th October, 2013 in Coventry.
A bright start, but rain followed later in the day. The sunrise filtered through pylons rather than trees today!

We set off from the junction with the North Oxford Canal down the last six miles of the Coventry Canal into the centre of Coventry.

This length of canal has long had a bad press; understandably, given the tracts of wasteland and derelict buildings - and so much detritus in the canal that R was down the weed hatch more than once, disentangling the propellor from the accumulated rubbish. To be fair, the city fathers are trying to revitalise the canal as a "Greenway" into the city centre, but they still have a way to go!
We passed "Cash's Hundred Houses", buildings constructed for Cash's name tape workers, with accommodation on the lower two floors and weaving workshops on the top floor. Only 48 of the hundred were ever built and only 37 of those survive, but they are handsome buildings, now converted into apartments.

By contrast to the canal, the Canal Basin in the city centre was very attractive with several historic wharf buildings, including a pigeon coop.

Even Mr Brindley was to be seen assiduously studying his canal guide book for the best route for the next part of MM's journey!

The rain began in the afternoon and continued for the rest of the day. We walked into the centre and were intrigued by the mixture of buildings. Coventry was heavily bombed in November 1940, therefore much of its architecture is fairly ugly post-war, yet there are real gems of older buildings, giving a glimpse of what a lovely city it once was.
One gem was definitely the statue of Lady Godiva riding side-saddle on her horse. The poor lady must have been perishingly cold if it was a day like today with all the wind and rain! Good job she had such long tresses to hide her modesty.

The real reason for walking into the city was to see the "new" cathedral. It was consecrated in 1962, and in that year, M had come up from Reigate with a school party to see it. It was new and quite controversial so she had to queue for two hours to get in. M had not liked the modern architecture then and was curious to see if she liked it any better 50 years later. The answer was that she definitely DID NOT! We both agreed that seventy foot high grey concrete interior walls do not inspire. Nevertheless, we did like the old ruined catherdral, the tall south window with its engraved figures and the Baptistry window with its magnificent colours.

However, it was well worth the effort of going in, as it turned out that a real treat was in store. As ever, the unexpected treats are the best.
By pure chance, there was a concert scheduled for this evening and, as we walked into the cathedral, the orchestra began rehearsing. Immediately we recognised the opening notes of Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis - M's very favourite piece of music! We sat in the centre of the cathedral and listened to the orchestra play the piece right through. It almost as if it were a private performance just for us, there were only half a dozen people in the whole cathedral! The sound was sublime. It resonated and filled the empty space. We sat entranced!

Apart from the few people wandering round the cathedral, the only "listeners" were the cello cases standing in the aisles, listening intently to their owners' exquisite music!

Any thoughts of moving on today were immediately banished and we went to buy tickets for the evening performance. It was the London Sinfonia conducted by Stephen Layton with the Cathedral Choir and, in addition to the Vaughan Williams, they were doing the Fauré Requiem, a piece that we both love and know well. The seats were just £10, and the lovely lady at the desk with whom we got chatting, very kindly reserved seats for us right in the centre (for everyone else, it was first come, first served).
The performance in the evening was superb. Predictably, with several hundred people attending, the sound didn't quite have the richness and depth of our "personal" performance in the afternoon; that was an experience probably never to be repeated, but it was still a wonderful concert.

The ruins of the old cathedral were floodlit as we left. Quite magical in the dark. What a wonderful day!
Today: 5 miles, 1 lock and 2.5 hours.
Trip: 529 miles, 335 locks and 424.9 hours.