Going Nowhere Fast - or even slowly

January and February are always difficult months on the canals when one often has to play a waiting game either for the weather or stoppages due to repairs.  The major repairs are undertaken in the winter months as the canals are quieter but this can cause delays to those like me who live aboard and prefer to stay out on the water rather than in a marina.  In my last entry I mentioned I was planning on heading North up the Oxford and Coventry canals towards Birmingham to await until a lock repair was completed at Fradley junction in early Feb.  However, I didn't notice a stoppages planned for my route into Birmingham which scuppered that plan.  So I spent a couple of days moored in Rugby while I adjusted the plan.

Rugby

I decided to continue up the Oxford canal and then onto the Coventry canal to visit the fair city for which it is named.  The last few miles of the route into Coventry were not pretty as the canal winds through some of the less well developed areas and appears to be used as the local tip judging from the frequent bumps as bangs as the boat scraped over various submerged debris.  However, the last mile or so was clearly undergoing much redevelopment with several new housing and office developments and the moorings at the end of the canal were quite pleasant.

Approaching Coventry Basin

I spent a few days exploring Coventry visiting the original Catherdral, still roofless after being bombed in WWII and the new one which could be improved by bombing.  The Coventry Museum of Transport is well worth a visit. Unfortunately many exhibits were closed as it undergoing a major refurbishment programme but there was still plenty to see.

Coventry cathedrals - Old and New

After Coventry I continued up the canal and then onto the Ashby canal which is an arm off the Coventry canal running past Hinkley, home of Triumph motorcycles, and Bosworth, home of the battle field, towards but not reaching Ashby-de-la-Zouche.  The canal is only 20 miles long and I spent a week exploring it.  Partially because it was frozen solid on several days and partially because the novelty of standing on the stern in an arctic blast wears off after a couple of hours. Although cold it was largely bright and the canal is very picturesque passing firstly through wooded glades before opening into wide rolling countryside.

Ashby Canal

The more astute will have noticed I now have a second solar panel fitted. I'll see how these perform through the summer before deciding if I need any more. 

After a lovely week on the Ashby I made my way back onto the Coventry canal and moved a few miles northward to Atherstone last week where I will now stay for a few more days while the current icy weather passes. 

The next part of the journey is to head up to join the Trent & Mersey canal at Fradley Junction and then make my way up through Stoke-on-Trent to the Macclesfield to Manchester.

A belated New Year

It's been while since I updated the blog, mainly as I spent December retracing my steps back along the Kennet & Avon canal and up the Thames to Oxford for Christmas.  The trip was enjoyable and largely uneventful. The main aim was to get off the Thames and onto the safety of the Oxford canal without getting trapped on the river.  Miss accomplished as I reached Oxford on 23 Dec and moved onto the canal on Christmas day while my turkey was in the oven.

Christmas in Oxford

After visiting the post Christmas Oxford sales and also had my first visit to Twickenham stadium to watch the mighty Quinns. A very cold and disappointing match saved only by the good company of clans Beaumont and Pye (the latter I haven't seen for too many years to mention).

 I set off up the canal on 28 Dec heading for a two day trip Aynho to stock up an coal.  However, best laid plans and all that, after an overnight temperature of -6c I woke the next morning to frozen canal. It is possible to use the boat as an ice breaker but it does tend to to damage paintwork at the waterline and is also not popular with moored boaters who's paint can also be damaged as you pass.  I therefore chose the sensible option and waited for a coupe of days while the ice broke up.

I moved a few miles up the canal to a quiet spot near Somerton to see in the New Year without the accompaniment of drunks staggering home in the early hours and was rewarded with a lovely sunset to see out 2014.

The next few days were spent trundling gently up the Oxford canal to Calcutt marina where I moored up for a few days to give the batteries a good charge on mains power and do a few jobs including upgrading an alternator pulley and installing my first solar panel.

My old friend Pete Billings keeps his boat at the marina and came up to join me - always good to catch up with friends.


And to bring the blog up to date I'm now moored up in the centre of Coventry for a few days to ride out the next storm due to hit shortly. I'm awaiting delivery of my second solar panel, which I'll collect from my son later in the week and then time to work my way to Birmingham before making my way north up the Shropshire Union canal.