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After spending 2 nights in run down Rugby we moved the grand distance of 1 mile to Clifton to drop in on friends Dawn, Michelle and Chris and the alcohol did flow and this morning I woke with a sore head.

Do'h.

Onward in the pouring rain but after an hour we admitted defeat and moored to dry out.

The North Oxford is incredibly shallow, today we were scraping the bottom of the canal which beggars belief considering how much rain has fallen and just looking at the edges of the canal you can see how low the water level has fallen. This doesn't bode well for the rest of the summer.

Brinklow landslide

As soon as we turned around the weather changed. The last 4 days have been cold, wet, grey and not good boating weather.

Hell we're still lighting the fire at night. Ridiculous.

We're back on the Coventry & moored at Hawksbury junction. We have a leisurely 9 days to get to NKW. We were to take the boat in on the 1st but they won't now be ready for us until the 7th but it's going in anyway on the 3rd because we have a hotel booked in deepest north Yorkshire on the 6th & it can't be changed!

Back in February there was a major landslide just outside Brinklow on the North Oxford canal. The waterway finally reopened last weekend but there is only one-way traffic through the affected area and today we must pass through and I'm guessing there will be a v long queue.

Also it is Crick boat show this weekend which will mean many boat travelling our route so it could well be a slow day, we shall see!

I've had my Facebook account locked for suspicious activity which is a complete mystery to me and it is an absolute nightmare trying to get it reopened. I feel like I've lost all contact with the outside world so anyone reading this please feel free to message me here and we can resume normal contact. I thank you.

I've been unlocked, wa-hay.

The official end of the Ashby though it does go on for another 200 metres of residential moorings before it finally runs out of water.

Previously the canal used to run for another 9 miles to the deep coal mines at Moira but severe subsidence caused the abandonment of this stretch. Work and plans are underway to rewater the stretch and hats off to the wonderful volunteers carrying out the work because the Ashby is a diamond of a canal and well worth visiting.

I'd forgotten how stunningly beautiful the Ashby is. It is up there with the best and lock-free!

Swinging left off the broad Coventry is like entering a different world. The Ashby is shallow, narrow and because it is a contour canal twists and turns as it hugs the lush verdant landscape. It is almost entirely rural and so remote we feel like Humphry Bogart & Laureen Bacall on the African Queen.

The only large town of consequence the canal passes is Hinckley. We moored up and though the town centre was a fair way off set off to explore only for David to get us lost, words were had and we returned in near silence.

Do'h.

Market Bosworth was a similar distance away but was in a straight line so even David couldn't get us lost. The sleepy little centre was very affluent, a smattering of expensive independent shops dotted around the picture perfect town square. The only big name store on offer was the Co-op and the shelves were empty.

Rubbish.

The area is also rich in history passing the battlefield where Richard lll died and is a vital source of income for the area but we didn't stop because the site is closed through the week and I'm guessing there isn't a lot to see!

David is so naughty. Yesterday he went on a mission back to Fenny, accomplished but in his rush to return to Atherstone got on the wrong train and ended up back in Brum.

Do'h.

Said it many times, I like Atherstone and I'm thinking we might just winter there this year. There's a small marina half a mile north of the centre, it's cheap, it's cheerful and has everything we need. The town is small but there are many pubs/eateries so work wouldn't be a problem for me and David would have the car and could find gainful employment in Coventry or elsewhere. And the gaff has great train links to London and is ideally placed for when we set off next Spring for the frozen north.

And and and the big Co-op in town is now a big Tesco. Who knew it? Every little helps.

Onward south and the waterway is so beautiful until it reaches Nuneaton. We passed straight through the town of a thousand allotments because,

a) the centre is too far from the canal for these aching bones

and

b) it's a bit chavvy.

A couple more miles and we reached the junction with the Ashby canal and I swung the boat hard left. We did the Ashby 12 years ago when we first bought the boat and I can't remember much about it except it's where Terry fell off the boat once.

The canal is 31 miles long, lock-free and was built to transport coal from the Leicestershire mines to Birmingham, London and beyond.

New front cover.

Our short time on the F&B is over and if you enjoy a waterway full of contrasts then the F&B is the one for you, whether it is the sublime beauty at the Fazeley end or the concrete craziness entering the second city.

At Fazeley corner we took a right onto the Coventry canal and have reached Atherstone where we will stay for a couple of nights, replenish stocks and finally enjoy some well deserved sunshine.

Bring it on.

Goodbye Brum, we'll be back.

Kinver arrived early, fitted cover & dodger quickly and efficiently and we were go.

Our exit out of the city was difficult, we reached Aston flight and they were closed so we had to do a detour through extra locks and a very low tunnel where we got stuck. Our chimney got wedged on the tunnel roof and for half an hr I had to hammer the chimney to shift it. Eventually it moved and we slowly pulled out of the tunnel and now our chimney looks like a witches hat!

What a carry on.

We are now on the Fazeley & Brum canal and happy to be back in the countryside though some sunshine would help the spirit.

Yesterday we heard from NKW. The boat they are currently working on is more corroded than they thought and they will have to delay starting on our boat. We'll find out by how long later this week.

Oh bugger.

The best thing about being in a city is the eye candy, it is everywhere.

We are still moored in Brum mainly because we are slightly ahead of schedule and tomorrow Kinver Canopies are fitting our new front cratch cover and back dodger. And then on Tuesday we will turnaround and head out of the city on the Fazeley & Brum canal. There are 3 routes out of town and the F&B is by far the most difficult, 19 single locks leading under the city and another 10 under and around spaghetti junction. And there are no decent moorings mid-route and it's all a tad scuzzy and no doubt I'll be spending some time cleaning the prop foul.

Can't Beat a Bit of Brum

#birmingham

The entry into Brum from the south is far more pleasurable than coming in from the north on the mainline, there is far less crap in the canal for a start.

We moored easily, the city seemed quiet when we arrived and we had a good choice of moorings.

Due to the rail strike we hired a car today to take us to Nottingham for the final appointment with the boat paint/designer. We have finally decided on colours and design and David is happy therefore I am happy.

Next.

More issues. Another red light. Moving alternator. Fixed by a very very nice man at Lyons Boatyard. I thank you, now please no more issues.

The North Stratford canal circles the southern most reaches of Birmingham and is very beautiful but so shallow. We're moored at Kings Norton junction and this morning take a right onto the Brum & Worcs canal and into the 2nd city.

Hatton flight 21 locks.

Uphill, no help. 3 hrs 45 mins.

Beat that.

A few miles after Hatton the GU reaches Kingswood junction where we took a left onto the Stratford canals and the Lapworth flight, 19 single locks and possibly the most beautiful flight of locks in the country.

We climbed the locks in record time thanks mainly to the boat ahead opening the bottom paddles for us and once we reached the top we stopped for the evening though finding a mooring was difficult due to shallow water which is a worry this early in the season.

Weds and Thurs morn we awoke to a flashing red lo-battery light and on Friday morn permanent red. Our batteries are knackered, they're 4 years old and I thought we might get another year out of them but they is f*cked.

Dilemma. Where do you get 4 marine batteries in deepest Warwick? The nearest chandlers was way back in Braunston and nothing ahead of us according to the canal Bible. David googled said items and up pops Warwick Batteries 0.5 mile away! We walked to said place and arrived to an oasis of marine batteries, we were in marine battery heaven.

Thank you.

So we bought 4 big heavy bastard cells and then had to get them back to the boat on a small trolley making 2 journeys including bumping them down the steps to the towpath.

The guy in the shop gave us a number of a guy who might fit them for us. I could've done them but pay a man and get peace of mind. David phoned him, he'd be with us in an hour.

Result.

I thought I better check down in the engine hold before Robbie arrived, opened the hatch and horror of horrors, oil everywhere. The oil cap had come off.

Nightmare.

I cleared up as much as I could quickly and then David went off to the nearest supermarket to buy nappies to soak up the majority of the oil underneath the engine and 15/40 oil if they had any.

Robbie arrived, tested our old cells and yes, dead as dodos. He fitted the new ones, tested and all working and even took our old batteries away with him.

Result.

David returned laden with nappies and amazingly, 15/40 engine oil.

2 litres £32, dirty robbing bastards but thank the canal God that they had some.

I then spent the next hour cleaning up oil in the cramped engine hold and then I was beaten and retreated to the warmth of the boat.

And from discovering the red light, through carrying the batteries back to the boat, fitting them, clearing up the oil slick and marching to Sainbury's 3 miles away it absolutely pissed it down continually, never stopped for a second.

Mud hell was the towpath

And last night oh how we chortled and laughed about our day from hell but at least we have new power and 40 disposable nappies if we should need them.

The first town the GU passes directly through is Royal Leamington Spa. The moorings nearest the centre by bridge 40 are a tad grim but once into the centre this grandiose Victorian town with it's wide white bricked main street is a delight. Swathes of green parks surround the centre and the architecture especially the town hall and former spa baths are fine on the eye.

Sadly there were many empty or boarded up shops and the town centre was devoid of colour. Maybe a few baskets might break up the whiteness of the place though I suppose the council doesn't have money to splash out on a few flowers to gladden the eye of a passing dirty boater.

Onward westerly. And then. Disaster

HS2 crossing GU

Because we're getting the boat painted we have had to lose all the plants and top box this summer so the boat now looks very very bare. And because myself & a person who shall remain nameless botched up painting the roof 2 seasons ago and it is now peeling to buggery and looks a right f*ckin mess that I am quite ashamed of the state of the roof.

Every time we've entered a lock with a new boat the first thing I've done is steer the conversation to say we are en-route to a paint-shed and we're not a pair of skanky dirty boaters.

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