Sunday 10^th April

Friday we took a walk into town to find the market. It's a lovely little place, but the market was a disappointment. A few stalls selling not a lot of interest. There was a fishmonger and a butchers van but we didn't need either.

The car finished at auction Friday afternoon and I was soon contacted by the successful bidder to set up a time to pick it up. Saturday suited us both, and very helpfully he came from Rugby which meant he could pick me up here in Atherstone as he was passing.

Saturday morning we again strolled into town and did some provisioning at the local Co-Op. In the afternoon Neil and a friend picked me up and we drove to Stafford. Neil was pleased with his purchase ( he should be!) and drove me back to Atherstone.

Today we set off heading for the Ashby Canal. Since climbing Atherstone Locks on Friday there are no more locks for quite some time making this a lovely lazy cruise.

At Marston Junction we turned up the Ashby Canal and have moored up at Attleborough for the night.

Lovely countryside around Atherstone on the Coventry Canal

Thursday 7^th April

Back to normal with the weather forecast today. Although it didn't rain, they had promised us sunshine and that certainly didn't appear.

Lyra motored her way through the excellent Warwickshire countryside until we encountered Atherstone Locks. This flight of 11 locks raises the canal 80 ft. into the town of Atherstone. Here we'll stop for the night and treat ourselves to fish and chips from the local. Tomorrow we will go and have a look at the local market and haven't decided if we'll stay here or move on after that.

Coventry Canal at Tamworth

Wednesday 6^th April

The weatherman got it right for a change! It's been a glorious day. We travelled along in lovely sunshine and some very nice surroundings. At Dunstall Farm Bridge we came across the same team of BW workers as yesterday, doing the same sort of job on this bridge. Vandals have knocked the coping stones from bridge into the canal and they must be retrieved.

After about an hour they finished and let us past to continue along to Fazeley Junction where used the facilities and visited the BW office to check on our licence renewal. We have in the past had some trouble renewing on line because they hadn't sent us a code number. They were very helpful and gave us a phone number to call when the time comes.

After the Junction our lazy mornin came to an end with Glascote Locks, just two of them raising the canal 13' 8”. Above the locks, even though it is still in Tamworth, the canal remains very pretty and it seems a lot of work has been done to keep it nice. The tow path is in excellent order.

We carried on as far as Polesworth where we have decided to moor for the night. A delightful little town with an interesting history; There are the remains of a 10^th Century abbey here where Egbert, the first Saxon King of England built a nunnery.

Cleaning out the mess

Tuesday 5th April

Despite the weather forecast we decided to move on today because we were badly beached last night with the boat listing a lot.

Once again the Met Office seems to have got it wrong. All we got were a couple of drops of the promised lots of rain. We made good distance and have stopped about 4 miles from Fazeley Junction.

Yet again our washing machine has played up. This time the over temperature one shot safety failed, it will still wash though, so the next time we are in a big town I must try to find one.

While travelling today we were held up for a while at Hademore Farm Bridge while BW cleaned out some Debris which had fallen in the canal. It looks as if it was the bridge parapet that had fallen in and was getting in the way of the grooves cut into the sides to allow planks to be put in so that parts of the canal can be drained.

Monday 4^th April,

What a day! We set off from Great Haywood at just gone 9.00 and plodded towards Rugeley where we intended to shop. We easily found a mooring and did a raid on Morrison's before continuing towards Fradley Junction.

Just after Rugeley it started to rain so we thought about finding a mooring but nothing showed up and the rain abated, so we continued on our way. Then the wind got up and made manoeuvring very tricky. Our first attempt at mooring up was a disaster because the side was too shallow and the wind kept carrying us into the bank so getting going again turned into a drama, taking several attempts. Very embarrassing. Our intention was to stop around Fradley but when we arrived there were no vacancies so we had to continue down the Coventry Canal for about a mile before we found anywhere to put out our pins. Even here it is very shallow and we are tilted over by being grounded.

We had hoped to do only about 4 or so hours today but ended up doing nearly 8.

The River Trent in the Shugborough grounds

Sunday 3^rd April,

Yesterday we turned around an headed back towards the Great Haywood and the L&L. Our plan was to spend the night near Shugborough Estate and then today visit the house, where there is an exhibition of Lord Litchfield's photography.

The day started quite bright but showers developed as we walked through the grounds to reach the house. This is a lovely place, in good order and is also a working estate, themed in the Victorian era. After looking around a bit we had lunch in the cafe and then a short walk around the gardens.

Free at last!

We're off at last! Despite not having sold the car yet we left the marina this morning to continue our journey. In truth we haven't gone far yet because we had to take the car to John in Stafford who has very kindly offered to look after it until it sells. Anybody want an '02 diesel Xsara? It's on ebay.

This morning was interesting for me because while Cath drove the car into Stafford I handled the boat alone for the first time. No trouble apart from the wind while trying to get out of the marina. A very pleasant short run down to Stafford during which I at last saw signs of most of the trees starting to green up.

Cath has now planted up our flower boxes so the top of the boat is looking a little brighter. Tomorrow we'll set off back towards the Leeds & Liverpool and turn east heading for the Ashby Canal.