Sunrise, Gnomes and a Brave Heron

 Monday 14th September 2020 at Amington.

M got up at 6:00am as usual. A slender crescent moon and Venus were still high in a dark sky with a thick blanket of mist covering the ground and the canal.

By 6:30, the sun rose over the horizon, peering through the mist and casting a rose coloured glow over everything. Magical. M said that each year there are two or three mornings that stand out and she will always remember; this is one of those.

Just after breakfast, just as we were preparing to set off, to our surprise, the "Pride Train" went south on the main line towards London. M just managed to photograph it in time.

In Whittington, there is a garden that we always look out for as it has an astonishing collection of gnomes. M, walking on the towpath, was taken by surprise to see a life sized "gnome" fishing. It turned out that he is the son of the owner. M remarked on the fact that there are fewer gnomes than there used to be and he explained that this was sadly due to yobos throwing stones at the gnomes from the towpath and smashing them.

Also near Whittington is what we call the "half-way" stone. It marks the point at which the Coventry Canal and the Trent & Mersey Canal meet. The builders of the Coventry Canal were very slow so eventually the owners of the Trent & Mersey Canal became impatient and started building towards them from Fradley - and it was here that they finally met.

On this section of the Coventry Canal the bridges have names rather than numbers. The towpath is rather attractively overgrown here and, if you look very closely, you might just see MM emerging from under the bridge.

This very brave heron stood its ground as MM approached and sailed past. Most of them fly off as we approach but this one didn't seem to be too bothered.

Glascote Locks in Tamworth are known as "Piggy Bank" locks because they are slow to fill but quick to empty!

Tonight's mooring is at Amington on the outskirts of Tamworth. We have stopped here before and it is very pleasant and quiet, given that it is in such a built up area.

Today: 8 miles, 2 locks and 4.1 hours.

Trip: 52 miles, 18 locks and 31.4 hours.