#coventrycanal

We have booked a grocery collection at the Aldi at Glascote near Tamworth so the first part of the journey takes us there, only about two hours cruising.

A fairly nondescript cruise but we moor above the Glascote Locks, just past the winding hole which shows some of the industrial heritage with the remains of the concrete sidings for the railway link which provided onward transport for items being bought down the canal.

Once moored up, after a spot of lunch we make our way to the Aldi. We frequently cause surprise when we arrive at the click and collect bay sans car and today is no exception with several people commenting on what an unusual way to shop - it seems perfectly sensible to us 😁

Groceries replenished, we are on our way again.

We pass over the River Tame on an aqueduct, with an opportunity to see the river on both sides:

The next significant point is passing through Fazeley Junction, where technically the canal becomes the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal, we go straight ahead, towards Fradley Junction.

There is a nostalgia moment when we spot another Louis & Joshua boat (they are the boat fitters who created Penelope and they are quite distinctive boats but sadly the firm are no longer in operation) this boat, “No More Mondays” is the mirror of Penelope, Number 81 (we are 18) and she is Red, Blue and Cream like Penelope. She was the first L&J boat we saw on the canal after we bought Penelope. The couple on board saw us as we passed, cue much waving by both parties!

We are fortunate to find a mooring at Hopwas - a very popular spot as there is a pub on either side of the canal and moorings right in the centre of the village. I think that the weather has put a lot of people off, the temperature is about 14 degrees and rain is threatening so definitely not the weather to sit in the pub garden!

Apart from the distant sound of trains there is little noise other than bird song although the number of boats passing in both directions is considerable!

The weather forecast for Sunday is not good so we make the decision to stay put for a day and set out again on Monday.

Martin wants to do a number of jobs on Penelope and we are well ahead of schedule so we opt to stay where we are, it is a good spot to moor, deep enough at the towpath edge, Armco to tie up to and wide enough that passing boats don’t have to squeeze past. It is opposite a new estate of houses but there is very little movement and it is almost tranquil, well, apart from the dogs in the stables in the field next door who appear to be guarding the place and set up barking at regular interval

Apart from the canal the other notable feature of Polesworth is the River Anker which dictates the shape of the village with its wide flood plain. To get to the village we stroll up the tow path and then cut across the Abbey Park, a pleasant park with plenty of space for picnics as well as a large skate park which is providing entertainment for a goodly number of young people each time we pass!

I have a near insect miss as we walk through the trees, the caterpillars had made these ‘nests’ in the willow trees and I shuddered to think how near I was to walking into this!

Across the River Anker the Benedictine Nunnery of St Editha can be seen, first established in the 9th Century, to revere a Saxon princess, the current parish church was built in the 12th century and later a gatehouse was built in the 14th century.

The first day of a four day holiday and the first priority is to stop at the services to top up with water and get rid of rubbish as we are entering a section of the canal where there is very little in the way of CRT service points!

It looks like being a sunny and warm day and the pause at the top of the locks is very pleasant. The volunteer lock keepers at Atherstone clearly take a pride in their patch and the garden areas and towpath areas are very tidy!

Like Hillmorton, this flight is pretty busy although we are the first boat to travel down the flight from the top and the Volly Lockies do the first lock and send me on to lock number two where we meet our first boat coming up - A hire boat with a family of 8 people aboard so they were very helpful with operating that lock for me and we had plenty of time to chat as the lock filled - always a bonus of being the lock monkey!

The first five locks are shady thanks to the trees lining the canal:

When we drew level with the railway I hop off the boat and make a rush round to the Co-Op to buy milk to keep us supplied with cups of the tea during the day!

The next 6 locks are more open it we are fortunate in meeting boats coming the other way at almost every lock which helps water efficiency and provides an opportunity to chat - it is absolutely amazing how much you can learn about someone in the 10-15 minutes it takes to fill/empty the lock and allow the boats to change places!

I took the opportunity to walk between each lock as they are so close together and it is a joy to see the flowers blooming in the hedgerows, there were plenty of dog roses, and ideal flower to celebrate the start of June.

Once we leave the lock flight behind it is only a couple of hours cruising before we reach Polesworth. We are expecting rain so stop for lunch, the rain doesn’t materialise but we decide to stay put for the remainder of the day.

This was our travels today: