Ashby Canal & Coventry

by Chris Adams

Friday 2 April : Late (6 p.m.) start as we could not leave home until Helen had finished school. Jennifer joined us for the week so we had a crew of four. As Kay, Jennifer and Helen have all got academic exams in the next few weeks we went for the soft (virtually lockless) option of the Ashby Canal so they could get some studying done while I did most of the steering. Got through the Calcutt locks and turned left at Napton Junction then moored up as darkness fell.

(3 locks, 5 miles)

Saturday 3 April: A frighteningly early start for me at 6 a.m. although the others had more sense. Braunston Turn was very quiet at 7.30am as we turned onto the Northern Oxford. Most of the rest of the team were up in time for the Hillmorton locks which are both easy to use and fill / empty very quickly. I'd wanted to get some distance done today and a late start would have meant that there was no time to stop anywhere for lunch. The crack of dawn start gave us chance to moor up at Newbold and do some shopping and have a look for the portal of the original Newbold tunnel which I found, seemingly lost, in the nearby churchyard. Went for a pint in The Boat before setting off for the afternoon. Stretton Stop was busy with the Rose hire fleet Saturday changeover then on past Ansty to Hawkesbury. We successfully made the hairpin right turn at the junction after passing through the stop lock. Some new hirers going through the stop lock asked if all locks were that easy - we had to tell them the truth !. Soon after Hawkesbury and the bizarre "Charity" boatyard we made the right turn onto the Ashby canal at Marston. We'd never been on this canal before. It's quiet, tranquil, peaceful and all those other kind of words - a bit boring really - but great if you like boating through a mostly agricultural landscape without having to stop for locks. We reached our planned moorings at Bridge 15 just before nightfall. I then unwound the hose to fill up with water to see that the screw attachment at the end of the hose (to screw on to the water tap) was missing and presumably was left attached to whichever tap the boat was last filled up at !! I bought a replacement fitting a few days later and was fortunate that until then all water points visited had the ability for the raw end of the hose to be pushed directly on to a water tap outlet. After watering the boat, Kay and I watered ourselves at the Lime Kilns pub on the bridge.

(4 locks, 37 miles - 37 miles has got to be some kind of record for us !)

Sunday 4 April - Well deserved "lie in" after Saturday's early start and did not get going until 8 a.m. (well I guess that the words "lie in" are relative). We continued past countless fields and skirted Hinckley, Stoke Golding and Shackerstone and passed countless ramblers on the way. I was surprised how easy the canal was to boat through - I'd expected it to be shallow especially on bends but it was well dredged and we did not ground anywhere. Eventually we passed through Snarestone tunnel and reached the end of the currently navigable section of the canal. Beyond here the canal closed in the '60's because of mining subsidence. There's a winding point here and right at the end of the canal a water point and sanitary station - make sure to take on water before winding otherwise the hose won't reach. We had a wander around the terminus and spoke to a couple from the canal society who were erecting a promotions tent in preparation for the Easter weekend. They were confident that the closed section of canal would eventually reopen. We returned though the tunnel and stopped at The Globe in Snarestone village. Unfortunately for us we arrived at 4 minutes past two which was 4 minutes too late to get any food. So we had a couple of pints - the pub seems fine with loads of old and new canal magazines to read - just make sure you get there early for food. We then ate on the boat and retraced our "steps" back along the canal. We tried to moor for the night at the recognised Stoke Golding moorings by Bridge 28 but these were full so went on to Bridge 25 which is equally handy for the village but is perhaps busy on Friday night when Ashby hire boats are returning home. Walked up to George & Dragon for a meal. This place has a mock Chinese restaurant in the back room. Food was OK but everything was obviously micro waved. Retired to the pub next door (White Swan) which really was a pub.

(0 locks, 28 miles)

Monday 5 April - Late start at 9 a.m. and stopped at Ashby Boats for a gas cylinder. Then stopped an hour later at Trinity Marina where there's a shop to stock up on basic provisions. Back through Marston junction and stopped for lunch at The Greyhound at Hawkesbury. The Greyhound never seems to change - good beer - good food - great atmosphere and is used by many boaters. After lunch we did the 1½ hour cruise down to Coventry basin. We managed to turn in the basin despite the horizontal hail shower and moored up in the night club corner of the basin. There were about 6 other boats in the basin, including Ownership's Haversham so leaving room for about another 6 boats. The night club was closed on the 2 nights we moored there so had peaceful nights' sleep. On arrival in the basin we were greeted by a canal ranger; the rangers have an office there and are trying to encourage more boaters to the basin. They also keep the section from Hawkesbury to Coventry free from rubbish. The basin is a great place to moor, quiet and just 5 minutes walk from the city centre. After eating on the boat, Kay and I sampled 2 hostelries in the city centre.

(0 locks, 16 miles)

Tuesday 6 April - This was the day that Helen and I were returning home by train for the day so that Helen could attend a GCSE revision class. It was because we needed to be close to Coventry Station this morning that our schedule in the first half of the week was a little hurried. Railway journeys worked fine; it's always interesting travelling by train through Birmingham and Wolverhampton to get a different perspective on the local canals. We were back on the boat by 7pm - Kay and Jennifer had spent the day shopping and looking at the cathedral. After running the engine for an hour to top up the batteries we all went for an Indian meal.

(0 locks, 0 miles)

Wednesday 7 April - Set off at 9 a.m and back to Hawkesbury to return via Oxford Canal. Spotted our first batch of ducklings of the year. The stop lock at Hawkesbury was now manned by a couple of lads who help B.W. at busy periods. Carried on until Newbold where we moored at about 2.30pm. Kay and I then jumped on a bus to Rugby to have a look around the town for a couple of hours. Although Newbold is not the closest moorings to Rugby it's a nice spot and only a 10 minute journey by bus into town. Stayed for the night at Newbold.

(1 lock, 16 miles)

Thursday 8 April - Reached Braunston Turn about midday and moored briefly at Midland Chandlers to buy that missing hose attachment. Also spoke to them about matching paint for the boat, but they could only advise that Milburns did not buy paint from them and the only thing to do was to contact Milburns (or presumably Ownerships as it's to their spec.). Then cruised to Braunston Marina to turn and we moored up - the stretch between the marina and Braunston Turn was very quiet for Easter week, plenty of places to moor. Tried to have lunch at the Wheatsheaf up in the village but it does not open mid week lunchtimes so went to The Plough which was very quiet. Food and beer were good. On the way back at Braunston Turn we bought a bag of coal from Ivor Batchelor (25kg Taybrite for £6.00) as we'd just finished the coal that we'd taken with us. Moored for the night just before Stockton Top where several other Ownerships boats were already moored with their crews busy mopping and brasso-ing. After eating Kay and I walked to the Boat Inn. The pub was quite busy (mostly Ownerships people I guess). Last time I was there (lunchtime in November) I met the most miserable barman ever - tonight it was his wife - they're a perfect match. You'd think they'd be laughing all the way to the bank having the audacity to charge £2.45 for a pint of Draught Bass in this part of the world !!

(6 locks, 16 miles)

Friday 9 April - The approach to the boatyard was easy and we were able to moor up alongside another boat by the diesel pump without any delay.

(0 locks, ¼ mile)

End of Holiday Report items

Item	Comments
1 x Gas; 2 x pump out; fill with fuel.
Top of rudder was bent over when we took over boat - was not affecting steering.	Suggested on EOH report that straightening it should be left until winter maintenance.

Other comments about Rodbaston (changes since we were on the boat in February)

Fault, Task, Request		Comment
Repair damaged cratch cover.	J	Fixed
Very minor damage to inside of cratch - small piece of beading lost revealing some unpainted wood.	L	Possible that this was done when the cratch cover was removed for repairs - just needs a lick of paint sometime.
Move coat / key hooks	J	This outstanding job has now been done.
Replace damaged FM aerial	J	Done.
Supply of paint	L	Still no paint as previously promised by Allen Matthews. I've now left a wire brush and emery cloth on the boat and left them with Eve & Martin's brushes and white spirit. I've e-mailed Roger Davies for the paint specs. - I'll post the response (if I ever get one !).
Heat guard for stove	J & L	Hmmmm ... this was asked for partly because the side of the dinette couch was getting too hot when the stove was in "furnace" mode. Well we now have a new firescreen apparently made from the same laminated "wooden" material in between the stove and the couch. To me it looks more dangerous than it was previously but I suppose they would not have installed it if it was not safe ( ? ! ? ! ). I imagine it will be safe enough provided that the stove does not get too hot - I'll be interested to hear what others think about this improvement. One of the photos accompanying this report shows the new screen.
Heat from cooker damaging the venetian blind	L	No action on this.
Drugget	L	Not done.
Scotchguard		Still can't tell if this has been done - I don't think it has.
Rechargeable torch	L	The small torch left on the boat by Eve & Martin (I think) would not recharge for us this time so we replaced the rechargeable batteries with normal ones - maybe someone else will have better luck. I'd wondered if the power supply to the cigar lighters had failed but this checked OK on return to the boatyard.
Television		Between us having the boat in February and Peter Kirvan having the boat a few weeks ago the TV stopped working - Ownerships fitted a different TV before Peter set sail. The new one has teletext - handy for sports fans if you've stumbled upon an area of half decent reception !
Missing stud on cratch cover	L	Still missing. I think we may lose more of these. When we got back to Stockton Top other boaters were merrily walking across our bows and standing on the cratch cover where it drapes over the gunnel - it only needs someone's weight here and a stud is sure to ping off with the pressure.

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