World Gorilla Day and a catch up with our friend Jan.

 Thursday 24th September 2020 in Braunston.

Very brooding cloudscapes gave rise to lovely silhouettes at 6:30 this morning.

Today is apparently "World Gorilla Day", so Guy was guest of honour at breakfast (in case you were wondering, Guy is the short hairy one holding the banana!).

The sky had cleared as we set off to visit our friend Jan in Willoughby. This lonely remnant of the once famous Great Central Railway still waits patiently for the next "Master Cutler" from Sheffield to London, once revered as one of the fastest train services in the country at the time.

The rain held off until we had arrived at Jan and Abbie's new house, where we were eagerly greeted by Jan's goats who thought our presence might mean food.

Jan is building the house on his own and it is still work in progress, thanks to planning delays and building regulation changes since it started. Jan has done a really spectacular job, particularly given the obstacles placed in his path by officialdom. He and R compared notes about the difficulties of self building a house.

So many memories of R building the house at Les Treuils! We spent a happy couple of hours with Jan having a long overdue catch up. Jan hopes finally to move in over the next month or so.

Then off again heading south with familiar views of Braunston church and the sail-less windmill.

Even this late in the year, there are still swallows here and M caught this one flying low to drink from the canal. M can't remember them ever being this late to migrate, perhaps they were delayed by the lovely Indian summer we've had.

Having found a mooring in very popular Braunston, we walked down to the Gongoozler's Rest, a narrowboat café and another of our favourite breakfast haunts. We were worried that it might have closed but were delighted to see that it still opens daily from 9:00am to 2:00pm, although they are only doing take-away. That is tomorrow's breakfast sorted!

Tonight's mooring outside Braunston Marina.

Today: 3 miles, 0 ;ocks and 1.1 hours.

Trip: 121 miles, 33 locks and 62.5 hours.

The Rain Finally Arrives

 Wednesday 23rd September 2020 outside Willoughby.

We've been so lucky with the weather this trip. Today the weather finally broke. Rain came in the morning and intermittently all day.

There is a relatively new shopping area called "Elliot's Field" just a short walk from our mooring in Rugby. After breakfast, coffee and croissants in the M&S café (Hobbits' second breakfast) was a must!

M was able to acquire a "few bits" and R found himself some new shirts and a couple of thermal vests just in time for the plummetting temperatures forecast for this weekend. Outside the shopping centre it looks like this narrowboater took a wrong turning! It's actally a local hire boat company that sponsors the roundabout.

It was still raining as we approached the three Hillmorton locks. These are unusual in that each lock is duplicated with two narrow locks side by side. Very unusually, all six locks were working so we made quite rapid progress despite a couple of very slow hire boats.

We could see the rain sweeping in from the horizon. Luckily, there were only a couple of really heavy showers and R managed to shelter under our large umbrella.

A good friend of ours lives in Willoughby, just north of Braunston. Jan was the falconer at Mary Arden's Farm in Stratford; R called him and we arranged to meet him tomorrow. Jan's news of Mary Arden's was very sad. It has not only been closed since March but all the staff have been made redundant, most of the rare breed animals have been sold and there are no plans to reopen it even next year. It may be that the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust never reopen it and may never have "Tudors" working there again. This would be a great loss, as it was a fully working Tudor farm and was the most vibrant and interesting of all the Birthplace Trust sites. Sadly, we don't think that the management "suits" ever understood the farm. One of their accountants once asked why the farm manager was buying feed in the winter when there were no visitors! (Clue - Its' a "farm" - with live animals!)

M was astonished at the furrows in the field next to our mooring. It had just been ploughed - imagine trying to work that heavy clay soil!

This is a very agricultural area and many of the fields opposite our mooring show signs of "Ridge and Furrow" farming. A very quiet mooring tonight.

Today: 7 miles, 3 locks and 3.4 hours

Trip: 118 miles, 33 locks and 61.4 hours.

The Tump and Pumpkins.

 Tuesday 22nd September 2020 at Rugby.

A mist lingered over the fields again this morning. The weather forecast had indicated that it would be cloudy but we woke to a clear blue sky...

... and another lovely sunrise.

It is supposed to get colder and wet over the next couple of days so we wanted to enjoy the sunshine while it lasted.

Brinklow is a pretty village with only one small convenience shop, but it does have an excellent café called "Pumpkins" and the prospect of breakfast there was irresistible. M had called yesterday to check their opening times, so we set off at 9:00am to the village half a mile away across the fields.

The mediaeval strip farming method of "ridge and furrow" is much in evidence hereabouts. The "hill" in the background is the motte and bailey castle, known affectionately by the locals as the "Tump".

Rush Hour in Brinklow! The road is actually the old Roman Fosse Way, which ran from Exeter to Lincoln.

Pumpkins! The staff were as cheery and welcoming as ever and breakfast was yummy. 

M said afterwards that she was glad that she had only asked for the small version - which was more than enough! The sausage was gigantic!! We look forward to another breakfast on our return journey next week.

We always like to walk over the top of the Tump on our way back as the views are spectacular, although it was a bit too hazy to see Coventry clearly. From this aspect the unusual double bailey is very apparent.

Back on board, happily fed and watered, we "let go" and headed towards Rugby. To our surprise, there was a queue of boats to get through Newbold Tunnel. It turned out that there was a C&RT boat in the tunnel doing a survey.

Two men were walking along the towpath tapping hammers on to the bricks . If the bricks "rang" they were good but if they made a dull thump then they were loose and needed to be replaced or reinforced.

Moorings in Rugby are much in demand with a water point and large shops close by. We were lucky to find a lovely mooring next to the park.

R went off to Homebase to get some items to restore a couple of MM's external woodwork bits that need sprucing up, while M busied herself polishing the brass!

By mid afternoon, the sky had clouded over and the barometer had dropped considerably, heralding the end of the Indian summer and the approach of autumn.

Today: 5 miles, 0 locks and 1.6 hours.

Trip: 111 miles, 30 locks and 58.0 hours.

Farewell to the Ashby.

Monday 21st September 2020 at Brinklow.

The canal's full name, little used now, is the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal, but the old boating people used to call it the "Moira Cut", as it ran up to the Moira coalfields.

M walked up on to the bridge in her dressing gown to photograph the mist on the fields at 6:30. Luckily, no early dog walkers came past!

There followed another beautiful sunrise. We shall always remember this canal for the beautiful sunsets and sunrises. The ground is very flat and the landscape very open, so you can usually see to the horizon to the east and west.

We will also remember it as "windy" in both senses, and both pronunciations, of the word. The wind whips across the landscape and the canal winds from side to side. It also gets progressivly shallower as you go further north. It was often difficult to travel at even 2 mph, as we were scraping the bottom.

At Marston Junction, we turned south back on to the Coventry Canal. It has been a memorable few days back on the Ashby. We were blessed with glorious sunshine the whole time.

Hawkesbury Junction is generally known as "Sutton Stop," named after the original lock keeper and the fact that the boat people used to stop there to pick up orders telling them which coalfield to go to in order to load up with coal, usually destined for London. The chimney of the old pumping station still stands proud as you approach the junction.

This junction is a real test of boat handling skills! You have to turn through a full half circle to get round the junction. With MM's 60ft, there is plenty of room but it must have been really difficult with two 70ft fully laden narrowboats!

There is a stop lock, just six inches deep, between the Coventry Canal and the North Oxford Canal designed to stop the Oxford Canal from "stealing" the Coventry Canal's water. The rivalry of the two original companies was so fierce that when they first met, they ended up running side by side for well over half a mile because they couldn't agree on a junction!

Passing under the M69 - horrid thing!

For some reason, the natives at Ansty are very hostile to boaters. Every few yards is a notice that forbids mooring. Perhaps it is because the boaters would be at the same level as the bedrooms in the houses and they are worried about "Peeping Toms"? Or do they just think that boaters are a common lot? (no comment!).

A tight combination of a half fallen tree and a narrow bit of canal meant that we could only just fit through. Anyone with lots of stuff on the roof is going to have problems!

Another blooming motorway, the M6 this time, but at least M got to spot an Eddie on this one!

Thomas Telford shortened Brindley's original Oxford Canal by more than 13 miles by cutting straight bits that left orphaned loops, most of which have now vanished, but some junctions are still there complete with their original elegant iron bridges.

Moorings near Brinklow are always popular and, as the official moorings are 14 days, are full of boats that look as if they seldom (if ever) move. We ended up on pins, but at least we did get a mooring that was still in the sunshine.

A paddleboarder made her slow way past and stopped to talk to the hire boat behind us.

No sunset picture this evening as the hedge got in the way!

Today: 11 miles, 1 lock and 4.2 hours.
Trip: 106 miles, 30 locks and 56.4 hours.

Duke of Edinburgh, Invasive Crayfish and a New Moon

Sunday 20th September 2020 at Marston Junction.

No view of the sunrise this morning as we had a tall hedge to the east. On Friday, the canal had been  very busy so we decided to make an early start to try to avoid the rush by setting off at 7:30. 

A footpath from Bridge 35 is by far the quickest way to get to Shenton Station and the Battlefield Heritage Site and there is armco for mooring there, although we did not see if it was possible to get close to the edge. This is a very shallow canal and the edges are often not deep enough to moor.

This was an excellent example of traditional "hedge laying" even if they had used posts instead of natural growth.

M decided to walk the towpath again. By now, the sun was up and the colours were lovely. Rosehips in abundance....

... and Purple Loosestrife.

What a lovely sight! A large, happy crowd of students out on their D of E challenge. They had stopped for lunch and said how much they were enjoying themselves.

Not such a nice sight, an invasive American Signal Crayfish on the towpath, the size of M's foot (size 4 by the way). They have decimated the native UK species and many other wildlife in the canals. It is actually illegal to return them to the water if found.

We did quite a long day in order to get back close to Marston Junction, (the junction with the Coventry Canal main line) and we moored up in the same place as we did on Friday. We were rewarded with another lovely sunset.

And then later the very new moon reflected in the water.

Today: 13 miles, 0 Locks and 5.2 hours.

Trip: 97 miles, 29 locks and 52.2 hours.