Catch up time!

Unfortunately, we have been having Dongle trouble recently but it seems to be ok at the moment so here goes.....
Back to Monday, when we set off from our idyllic spot at 8am, with the temperature rising fast. Suitable weather for a strappy top even at that time in the morning. What a change! The canal passes through a very peaceful, rural area for quite some time. The Hillmorton locks are duplicated, so we went through quickly and then continued on to Bridge 58, where we tied up and walked the short distance to Tesco's for a couple of items. As it was lunchtime and there was a cafe, we decided to have a panini, which was very tasty and also reasonable. Although it was extremely hot and humid, and looking as if it were going to rain any second, we were very lucky and missed the terrible weather which many places endured that afternoon.
The Newbold tunnel- only 250yards - gave us a surprise with its unusual coloured lights display, some of which can be seen in the photograph. We moored at 5pm near Bridge 14 at Ansty, where we later went over the bridge to the Rose & Castle and enjoyed excellent meals! Two different sea bass main courses -and both superb!

Yesterday we set off at 9am for the Coventry Canal. Soon afterwards, we saw some animals at, and on, a haystack in a field. There were lovely, kid goats and some donkeys and they made a very pretty picture. As I was watching, one kid jumped on the back of a donkey and walked along it!
We continued along to the stop lock to the Coventry Canal, where we had quite a delay as a crane had been transferring a wooden bench from one side of the canal to the other. Eventually there were four boats waiting at each side to use the lock when the operation was finished. (We were the third on our side). The Hawkesbury Junction was very pretty with its two iron bridges and the renowned Greyhound pub. Haven't tried it yet...
As we cruised down the Coventry canal we noticed a lot of artwork, including metalwork on bridges, sculptures along the canal side and decorative fencing. Photos enclosed.
We passed through the urban area before squeezing under Bridge No. 1 and into the Coventry Canal Basin. This bridge is the smallest one in the canal system- and we had to bend down to almost the same height as the boat in order to avoid serious damage to our heads. Even holding the camera up to take the photograph was a bit of a risk!
We tied up there at 1pm; there are about eight or nine available moorings in the Basin but there were only four boats here when we arrived.
Later on we went into the town, only a few minutes' walk away, and had a look round the old cathedral ruins. We were impressed with the way in which the craftsmen, artists, parishioners etc. had worked together to make the theme of reconciliation and forgiveness so visible to visitors. It was rather too late to visit the 'new cathedral' by that time, so we managed to find one of the two Pizza Expresses and enjoyed a good meal, before returning to the boat and sitting out in the lovely evening sun. We met the owners of the boat moored next to us- Herbie- who also write a boating blog.

Today, Wednesday, we went into town again and visited the modern cathedral. I had heard about this very new cathedral all those years ago, from a College Lecturer who was fascinated with it. The students were shown many colour slides and we were told so much detail about it that I felt I knew it. All those years ago and today was the first time I'd seen it. We loved all the old buildings here too and were glad we decided to make this a part of our trip.