TUESDAY 24TH TO WEDNESDAY 25TH APRIL
2012
We had to be at
Atherstone by Wednesday as Jacquie was catching a train to London on Thursday
morning, the forecast was for a dry Tuesday and a very wet Wednesday,
accordingly we decided to do the major part of the journey on Tuesday.
This comprised
continuing along the Ashby Canal to Sutton Wharf, where we could turn SKYY
around for the return journey. Back in 2009 we spent some time up here with
chums Marilyn and Brian, exploring the supposed battle field of Bosworth, where
Henry V11’s army killed King Richard and defeated his army thereby allowing
Stoke Golding to call itself ‘The Birthplace of the Tudors’.
Shortly before we left
the Ashby Canal by its narrow gateway, the town of Hinchley was bypassed, famed
by having the first stocking machine installed in 1640; now it’s famous for the
production of todays, very successful range of Triumph motorcycles.
We hadn’t been long on
the Coventry Canal when the steam boat President and butty passed on route to
London to take part in the Queens Jubilee Pageant on the Thames.
We stopped at the
boatyard at Boot Wharf in Nuneaton for diesel, it was quite congested and we
had to lie alongside another boat, but as I remembered that their fuel is very competitively
priced, it made the effort worthwhile.
Most of us wouldn’t
think of Warwickshire being able to lay claim to having a mountain, but it
does, known as Mount Judd. A spoil heap that was forty years in the making,
from the waste from the Old Judkins Quarry. The quarries, from which granite
was removed, stretch from just North of Nuneaton to Hartshill, much of the land
has now been reclaimed and is crisscrossed with paths making it an ideal place
to moor and walk Duggie, so after six hours of cruising that's what we did.
The next morning was
very wet and a reluctant Duggie was again shown how exciting old quarries can
be, before we moved off for the one hour passage to Atherstone. We secured a
mooring, battened down the hatches and here SKYY, Duggie and I will sit out the
rain for the few days, whilst Jacquie enjoys the bright lights of London.
No comments:
Post a Comment