Atherstone, locks for a change!

Wednesday, 04 March 2009 17:04

How about this for a morning view?

We appreciated our mooring much more this morning after yesterday's evening of rain and gales. We set off hoping that the sun would continue to shine, as it was perfect for locking down the Atherstone flight.

I love bridges!

This is Rawn Hill Bridge (37). When the sun catches the brickwork, bridges can be really lovely. Of course, it helps if the surroundings are also lovely too!

At the top of the Atherstone flight there are boaters' facilities. There was a boat on the water point but as there is another one we drew alongside to use it. Only problem - we did not have the right hose connector for this type (or the proper fitting had been removed - ed)! The other tap was what we wanted!

As the lock was set for us we gave up and entered the lock. We walked back to the facilities compound to throw the rubbish away and empty the toilet cassette, whilst Epiphany was in the lock.

The locks in the flight seemed slow to fill and some of the gear was a little stiff. Anyway it was John's problem, as I was in charge of the boat! The flight is very pretty in places and once Spring is really sprung it will be lovely.

Lock 4

We stopped for water at lock 5 and like all the locks it was a slow filler! Still, that gave us time to eat lunch and have a bit of a sit down! Lock 5 is the last of the locks that are close together. The next 6 are in pairs with a bit of a walk between each pair.

Lock 6, just before Kings Head Bridge has a good example of a disused side pond and a lock cottage.

Side pond and cottage

Baddesley Basin is home to Harvey's of Tamworth - a well known boat builder

We reached the bottom of the flight and who did we see ahead of us?

Les was down in his engine 'ole changing filters etc! John asked him if he had time for ours, ha ha! We did not stop as we thought he would not thank us for interrupting his work!

The canal now travels through the last of the countryside before Tamworth so we thought it a good idea to stop. As we neared Grendon we spotted Grendon Dock with Nb Longships from Sennen (the Cornish flag was still flying!) in dry dock. The restored ex FMC boats Jaguar and Stafford are also moored here, looking very smart.

Grendon Dock owned by Narrowcraft

Just beyond was an ideal spot for us, so here we are, enjoying the last of the sunshine and the distant sound of trains!

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