Canal Trip in a Narrow Boat

Tuesday August 6

Today was exciting for me as I was going to see my friends and Ann and Tom and go on their narrow boat Harrier, for another holiday. Mary has taken me on their boat twice before so I am really at home there and know how all the locks work. 

Hamish and Louise were coming with us for a day trip. Bella was coming as well so it was going to be a big day out for her. It took us about 2 hours to drive to the boat. We set out along the canal from Ruby and stopped at a little park area for lunch.

 Bella enjoyed being able to run along the tow path for a little while. 

Hamish learnt how to drive the boat with Tom although Tom always took over for the tricky bits. We had to back track at the end of the day so that we could deliver Hamish and Louise back to their car.

After they had left we all hopped back on the boat and went back up the canal where we had just been and stopped overnight near a rail bridge where the mainline trains were flying over very fast and often. Most of them were Mr Branson's virgin trains. Hope I get to go on one of those they look like fun.

Wednesday August 7

Ton was planning to get us to Coventry by 3pm and we did this easily. We had been there before in 2003 so it was great to be back.

 Mary was really keen to revisit the cathedral. It more than lived up to her expectations. The old cathedral that was bombed during the war has been left as a ruin and the new cathedral is on the same site. A wonderful etched glass screen at the end of the new cathedral looks through on to the ruins. The glass screen is the work of a New Zealander.

ww.coventrycathedral.org.uk   There is a great website about it with virtual tours and apps for phones to explore. 

The cathedral is a treasure trove of modern art all on a theme of unity. The decision to build a modern structure to replace the old gothic one was inspired and Christchurch shoud take a leaf out of Coventry's book and build a new cathedral for the time we are now in. 

 Alan wanted the visit the medieval street; Spon Street. Some of the houses in this street escaped the blitz, but most were moved from other parts of Coventry to create this delightful medieval street after the war.

We also found the Lady Godiva statue in the town square. She was all decked out in blue bows, as were many other places in town to celebrate the birth of the Prince George. We got back in time for dinner on the boat in the Coventry Basin. 

While we were in Coventy Basin we had this man outside the window looking in at us.  He was Brindley and he was responsible for planning the inland waterways system which was once used for transport but is largely used for pleasure craft today

 It was quiet with a only a few boats tied up. It is quite different to sleeping on the canals ide in the country where you are away from traffic sirens and road noises.

Thursday August 8th

 

Today we were on the canals all day. These photos were taken at a place called Charity Dock. I think it is where boats go to die!  

 This boat was like a market garden!   Those are very healthy runner beans at the front and you could pick your salad off the roof.

Pubs like this are dotted all along the canal so there is plenty of opportunity to stop for a pint!

Tom wanted to head for Bosworth where the battle took place where Richard III was killed. So we left Coventy and then changed canals at the Mar4ston Junction and travelled up the Ashby Canal. We found a mooring place really close to where we wanted to go the next morning. It was not easy. The water level in the canal was lower than usual and there was not enough depth in a lot of places to moor. However we finally found a good place and settled in  for the night and had dinner.

Friday August 9

After breakfast we set out to walk to The Bosworth Experience. It is located in the contryside on Ambion Hill Farm to commemorate and tell the story of the events that took place on 22 August 1485. 

 

 The centre had been here in various form since 1973, but it has been upgraded to a state of the art exhibition in 2010. It tells the story of The Wars of the Roses. It is even more interesting now that Richard III remains have been found in a car park at Leicester. Richard died in this battle and Henry Tudor became King. 

http://www.bosworthbattlefield.com/index.htm

 A replica of King Richard's sword and crown in the rose garden memorial.

It was a fascinating experience and we finished it with a walk of the battle area. In the afternoon we made our way back to Hawkesbury Junction for the night, which was quite busy with overnight mooring. Alan and Tom went for a pint at the local after dinner.

 Ann and Mary waiting for a train at Shenton railway station  on the Battlefield line.The train only runs excursion trains on weekend and holidays.  It was a Friday so they would have been waiting a while.

Saturday August 10

Today was a travelling day where we retraced out journey back to Rugby where the boat is moored when not in use. Ann and Mary were packing and sorting all the stuff so that they would be ready to take all the stuff to the car when they got back to the mooring. Another mimi adventrue was about to come to an end. I rather like being on the canal where you travel at 3 to 4 miles an hour.

Tom was cross as we met a lot of stupid people on the canal today. One silly person forced him through a tunnel too close to the side and he has now damaged his chimney. He has taken it home to try and fix. There was a lot of traffic on the canal today and passing in the nrrow parts was quite difficult at times. Lack of rain hasmeant the canals are at a lower level than usual and you can get a bit stuck in the mud at he edges if you are not careful.

So here are some final shots on the last bit of the journey.

This could be a project for someone wanting to get into canal boating.  

In the evening the big people went to the FBI for dinner. That is The Ferryboat Inn at Felixstowe. Mary and Alan have very happy memories of dinners here when Mary was teaching at Felixstowe in 2001. It hasn't lost it charm.