One of the aims of this cruise was to go down the Ashby Canal. Tilly May has passed the junction on a number of occasions but in each case circumstances contrived for us to pass it by. Saturday we moored at Dadlington and on Sunday we motored to the end, winded and moored at Shackerstone for a meal in The Rising Sun pub. The Ashby is a meandering, narrow, and shallow canal with a complex rural character. It is flanked in places by some very old woods, and much of the land looks like it is or was part of a large country estate characterised by huge pasture land and acres of arable fields.
The return passage down the Ashby was fraught with problems: extremely shallow areas, a family in front of us who had just picked up their first hire boat (travelling at just over tick-over) and dredgers.
The plan is to be home for Saturday evening which means we need to be in Fradley for Thursday evening. To this end we pushed along to more just north of Nuneaton. The last time we came through Nuneaton it was cold and hailing. At the time I said it was a dump and even the rats had moved out. I thought that my recollections were tainted by the weather, so this time I look through sunshine and fresh eyes. Nuneaton is still a dump that even the rats have moved out. On to the Atherstone flight today.
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| Jan leaning out the side hatch of TM |
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| Spot walking in the Leicestershire countryside |
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| The Ashby Canal |
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| Leicestershire from the Ashby Canal |
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