Sunday - A long day

Sunday

Anstey to Sutton Cheyney

No "3" signal again, so this blog is late - sorry.

Hawkesbury Junction

Hawkesbury Junction

A Police Station?

Made our way down to Hawkesbury Junction and turned right onto the Coventry Canal, then about 2.5 miles further on we turned sharp right again and made time to explore the Ashby Canal, and what a pleasant surprise. Its much llike the Shroppie in places, especially the Middlewich branch, and in others its like the Caldon Canal. Stopping at The Lime Kiln for lunch, we had a pint each but there was nothing on the menu we fancied and the service was slow. The ale was good, though. We went as far as Sutton Cheyney and winded. Looking for a mooring spot for the night can be difficult. Any steel pilings have got continuous moorers welded to them and mooring elsewhere usually means shallow waters. We found a spot out in the sticks between bridges 31 and 32 where the pilings were concrete with a wooden facing. Too thick for piling hooks, I wrapped the mooring lines around the wood - no problem.There are a couple of large marinas and some nicer smaller ones too, food for thought for the future.

Monday

Sutton Cheyney to Atherstone

Still no "3" signal.

I was impressed by the Triumph motorcycle factory at Hinckley, the factory where I work would fit in there 15 times or more, it is massive.
Turning right at Marston Junction was a smoother, less acute affair than when we entered the Ashby, and we find ourselves back on the Coventry Canal heading toward Nuneaton. Through the town the canal is loaded with detritus. I actually saw someone throw a beer can over a bridge parapet into the cut in front of us, and he didn't even look where he was throwing it. People who do this really upset me but there's nothing I can do as an individual. The local authorities need to clamp down hard on people who cause this problem.

Spottted Bittern today, She's a sister ship to TQ and is currently based at Blue Haven Marina on the Oxford Canal.

Bittern, one of the fleet

We needed to get this troublesome battery seen to today so we called into Star Line Boats and also had a pump out and topped up the diesel. Very helpful and friendly service. NOTE:- they do not accept credit/debit cards. Lin had to walk into the town and get some cash. With all that done we headed on our way out of Nuneaton through some very nice countryside in complete contrast to Nuneaton.

Monday night, we find ourselves moored near Bridge 37, very close to a very busy railway line, with freight running all night. Better moorings around the corner but we didn't find out about that until Tuesday morning - Oh! well.

Tuesday

Atherstone to Alvecote Marina

Yippeee! Maximum "3"

Saw fellow bloggers Chas and Anne aboard their narrow boat Moore 2 Life today, happy daze!

Polesworth is quite a nice village, the River Anker flows under the main road and the water is crystal clear. We had a stroll around and bought some award winning sausages from the butcher, pork and leek and pork and apple, and some ales from the off licence - some Crabbies Ginger Beer and some Speckled Hen. A sandwich back on TQ, a bit of blogging and then... I'll catch up later if I can get a 3 signal.

Update:-

We've moved up to Bridge 59, just short of Alvecote Marina. A poor signal on "3" but I think I can get away with it.

Like last night the railway is very close although not so busy.

We had some of those sausages for tea. I can confirm they are really good. "Are there any left?" I asked. "There's two" Said Lin. "Two" With more emphasis. "I'm counting them." Even more emphasis. "Are they the same?" I asked, thinking there might be one each of pork and apple and/or leek. "No" she said, "They're bent in different directions." What? (Fall about laughing)

There's a coal merchant just up the bank from here, I'll see if I can get a bag tomorrow.

Battery system is holding out a lot better. We used the telly and a laptop for most of the evening last night and still had loads of juice left for the Webasto heating the next morning - result.

As you can see in the video the black cover is broken exposing the vent from which the gas is escaping in large quantities. Look closely at the video and you can see the vapour emitting from the vent. This is what was making the hydrogen sulphide odour. When a battery boils it gives off hydrogen and oxygen, potentially an explosive mixture, and with the presence of electricity...