A Pre-dawn Start and a Long Day.

Sunday 7th October 2018 at Atherstone.
An early start today, partly dictated by the lack of rain in the forecast and partly by our plans to go to Norfolk mid-week (long story). It was, however, extremely cold, with ice forming on MM's roof.
We "let go" at 7:00am to the most beautiful sunrise. How wonderful after the gloomy skies of yesterday!

We love the "contour" canals, designed by Mr Brindley, which meander here and there in a leisurely fashion. Unfortunately, they were a source of frustration to the old boat people who were paid by the load and time was money. Along came Mr Telford, who cut straight canals, digging cuttings through high ground and building embankments for the low bits. He straightened out the worst wiggly bits of Brindley's canal - cutting the length of the Oxford canal by 13 miles!
It is still possible to see places where Brindley's old canal branched off, often the old "arm" was spanned by an iron bridge, like this.

It was the first really cold night of the autumn and the frost lingered on the fields as it did on this classic ridge and furrow field.

The morning light, as the sun rose above the horizon, was truly lovely.

The old working boat people used to have certain locations where they stopped to pick up orders for their next load, these were known as "Stops". Today, we will pass two "Stops" and this one, "Stretton Stop", was the first. It is now the boatyard and hire base for Rose Narrowboats. This boat had been pulled out of the water to have its bottom blacked (something we will have done for MM over this next winter).

We thought that this might well apply to us - not New Age Travellers but Old Age Travellers!

The little hamlet of Ansty certainly doesn't welcome boaters; we are obviously too common for them! This was one of a line of such notices.

However, the local equine population came down to the water's edge to greet us and have a quick drink.

Herons tend to be nervous and fly off as we approach them. This was a "brave" heron, who stood his ground and watched us pass with interest.

The second "Stop" of the day, "Sutton Stop" a.k.a. Hawkesbury Junction, one of the most important locations for the old boat people as it was right in the heart of the Warwickshire coalfields and the place where they were told which coal wharf to pick up coal to be transported towards London on the Grand Union Canal. We stopped MM briefly for some lunch.

Hawkesbury Junction is where the Oxford Canal and the Coventry Canal meet and is also the site of the old water pump house - currently the subject of a restoration project.

As with yesterday's abandonned signal gantry, this telegraph pole is a lonely relic of a forgotten past, rarely seen these days.

Finally, we moored up at 4:00pm in Atherstone, once famous for the manufacture of hats, which were exported all over the world (including pith helmets!). The factory is sadly now derelict; we would love to see it restored and used as offices or apartments, but unfortunately, it may be beyond repair now.

Very good progress today.
Today: 25 miles, 1 lock and 8.4 hours.
Trip: 384 miles, 232 locks and 241.6 hours.