Thursday 22nd February 2018
Following a surprisingly peaceful night in Coventry we awoke to a cold but dry day, we had looked round the town the previous day so, with the Beast from the East now looming large on the horizon, we decided to make our way up to Atherstone. It was bitterly cold but I was well wrapped up so all was ok. Lucia was nursing a cold and stayed down below by the stove and kept herself warm, occasionally passing through a hot drink to keep me warm.
We arrived at the stretch where all the rubbish surrounds the canal and, passing through a rubbish strewn bridge, I noticed a large rat swimming across the canal, just shows what all this rubbish can attract. It's a great shame as this is only one mile of the five into town, the rest being fine.
We continued along intending to take on fuel at Starline boats in Nuneaton, however they had all their hire boats moored up and breasted together with boats moored opposite, leaving very little room to squeeze through, so I decided to press on. Passing under another rubbish strewn bridge I saw another rat pass the stern. I never seen this before until today.
It was with relief that we reached the open countryside again and pulled up at Springwood Haven for fuel and water, they also had a well stocked chandlery.
A couple of miles or so further on brought us to Atherstone where we intend to sit out the cold spell.
The weather became progressively colder as the days passed by, and the canal began to freeze over night. The days however were sunny and the warmth from the sun cleared the ice, for the first few days, so we were able to move the boat down to fill with water.
On Sunday we walked down to the Kings Head just below lock 5 , this pub doesn't look much from the outside, inside however is a different story, newly decorated, it is very welcoming and the staff could not do enough to help. We ordered our meals and were really impressed, the food was delicious and plentiful and was very reasonably priced, it was so good and so filling, we had to resist the temptation of a range of great looking sweets. They also have a good range of well kept beers.
By Tuesday the "Beast" had arrived and the temperature started to plummet, with frequent snow showers, however the sun kept the snow at bay. We decided to walk around the countryside above the town, progress was made easier due to the ground being frozen. Scruff had a little adventure, running down a farm track, she ran onto a frozen puddle, her hind legs shot out behind her and she slid across the puddle on her belly, looking bemused she tried to stand up displaying a good impression of Bamby on Ice in the process.
We continued up to the ridge near Purley Park affording us tremendous views across the valley towards Stoke Golding and the Ashby Canal, as well as a view of the impressively, large quarry sitting in a fold of the surrounding hills. A pair of Buzzards hovered over the fields close by calling to each other with their distinctive cry.
We made our way back down to the canal and through the town to return to the comforting warmth of the boat, soon after dusk the temperature dropped rapidly and, with a clear sky, the moon cast an earie light across the frozen water.
Wednesday brought a light covering of snow so far, this area seems to have escaped the chaos that seems to be happening in other parts of the country.
Following a surprisingly peaceful night in Coventry we awoke to a cold but dry day, we had looked round the town the previous day so, with the Beast from the East now looming large on the horizon, we decided to make our way up to Atherstone. It was bitterly cold but I was well wrapped up so all was ok. Lucia was nursing a cold and stayed down below by the stove and kept herself warm, occasionally passing through a hot drink to keep me warm.
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| James Brindley in the Coventry Basin |
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| Moored in Coventry Basin |
We continued along intending to take on fuel at Starline boats in Nuneaton, however they had all their hire boats moored up and breasted together with boats moored opposite, leaving very little room to squeeze through, so I decided to press on. Passing under another rubbish strewn bridge I saw another rat pass the stern. I never seen this before until today.
It was with relief that we reached the open countryside again and pulled up at Springwood Haven for fuel and water, they also had a well stocked chandlery.
A couple of miles or so further on brought us to Atherstone where we intend to sit out the cold spell.
The weather became progressively colder as the days passed by, and the canal began to freeze over night. The days however were sunny and the warmth from the sun cleared the ice, for the first few days, so we were able to move the boat down to fill with water.
On Sunday we walked down to the Kings Head just below lock 5 , this pub doesn't look much from the outside, inside however is a different story, newly decorated, it is very welcoming and the staff could not do enough to help. We ordered our meals and were really impressed, the food was delicious and plentiful and was very reasonably priced, it was so good and so filling, we had to resist the temptation of a range of great looking sweets. They also have a good range of well kept beers.
By Tuesday the "Beast" had arrived and the temperature started to plummet, with frequent snow showers, however the sun kept the snow at bay. We decided to walk around the countryside above the town, progress was made easier due to the ground being frozen. Scruff had a little adventure, running down a farm track, she ran onto a frozen puddle, her hind legs shot out behind her and she slid across the puddle on her belly, looking bemused she tried to stand up displaying a good impression of Bamby on Ice in the process.
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| On the way up to Purley Park |
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| Purley Woods |
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| View across to Stoke Golding and the Ashby |
Wednesday brought a light covering of snow so far, this area seems to have escaped the chaos that seems to be happening in other parts of the country.
Saturday 3rd March
Well the big freeze has well and truly taken a grip, the canal was completely frozen, frotunately the facilities were still operational, Wednesday night was the worst spell, with really strong icy winds winds, sleep was broken by the sound of the boat slowly being enclosed by the ice with strange creaking and cracking sounds, the boat was being buffeted by the wind but as the ice took a hold the boat eventually stopped moving, the following morning the boat was in the firm grip of the ice.
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| Frozen In |
it looks as though Monday will be the earliest possible day to move so fingers crossed.
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| The thaw starts |
We walked back to Atherstone around the back of the town, passing the incredibly huge HQ of Aldi along with its enormous distribution warehouse.
Tuesday morning and the ice appeared to be still too thick however the unfrozen areas had increased significantly, later in the morning a couple of boats came by, pushing and breaking the ice ahead of them, these were followed by a couple more along with one passing us in the other direction, this left the ice nicely broken up so all bodes well for a departure Wednesday morning.
Sure enough the morning brought a clear canal with just a few lumps of ice around, so we prepared ourselves and moved on down to the services just above the locks. It took a little while to fill the water tank but we were soon underway making progress down the eleven locks of the Atherstone flight.
We caught up with NB Desiree, a single handed boat ahead of us on the flight, this meant, of course, that we had to reset each lock as we arrived.
The day was lovely, sunny and spring like, making the journey to Alvecote, just south of Tamworth, a fine days cruising, passing willows in bud and the fields showing the first signs of green shoots.
Our plan is to make our way to Stone, we will stop there for a few days whilst I go to York for a couple of days, from there our intention was to go on up to Stoke and onto the Macclesfield and Peak Forest canals, to make up for our aborted trip last September. News arrived that the Marple Flight problem has caused further delays and will not reopen until early May.
We have had to re-think our plans one more time, we now will turn round at Stone and head back to Great Heywood where we will head south west on the Staffs and Worcs canal down to the junction with the Shropshire Union. Here we will head north to Chester and the Llangolan Canal. Our trip up the Lancaster and Peak Forest Canals will have to wait for another day.
Tuesday morning and the ice appeared to be still too thick however the unfrozen areas had increased significantly, later in the morning a couple of boats came by, pushing and breaking the ice ahead of them, these were followed by a couple more along with one passing us in the other direction, this left the ice nicely broken up so all bodes well for a departure Wednesday morning.
Sure enough the morning brought a clear canal with just a few lumps of ice around, so we prepared ourselves and moved on down to the services just above the locks. It took a little while to fill the water tank but we were soon underway making progress down the eleven locks of the Atherstone flight.
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| Filling with water at last |
We caught up with NB Desiree, a single handed boat ahead of us on the flight, this meant, of course, that we had to reset each lock as we arrived.
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| The first of eleven! |
Our plan is to make our way to Stone, we will stop there for a few days whilst I go to York for a couple of days, from there our intention was to go on up to Stoke and onto the Macclesfield and Peak Forest canals, to make up for our aborted trip last September. News arrived that the Marple Flight problem has caused further delays and will not reopen until early May.
We have had to re-think our plans one more time, we now will turn round at Stone and head back to Great Heywood where we will head south west on the Staffs and Worcs canal down to the junction with the Shropshire Union. Here we will head north to Chester and the Llangolan Canal. Our trip up the Lancaster and Peak Forest Canals will have to wait for another day.
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| Aldi HQ |
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