Coventry City Centre

We decided to stay moored in the basin, which is very quiet at night and feels as safe as can be to leave for short periods. However, we had no reason to set out in a hurry so while Christine prepared for a day as a tourist, Mike tackled a couple of tasks with the boat.

Firstly he cleaned out the drain channels around the rear deck. The have not had much use as drainage in recent days (a couple of nights saw some downpours) a large amount of dead petals and leaves from the  vegetation alongside the canal had accumulated and needed clearing out. Once the deck board was lifted this did not take long but then Mike decided to test the drains themselves, one in each corner of the deck. Three emptied quickly but one was obviously blocked. Using our flexible drain cleaner from the top did not reach all the way and so Mike had to lean 'perilously' over the edge of the boat (why is it that the blockages are always on the off side?) and he eventually pushed the cleaner far enough up to receive a sudden rush of water as the drain cleared itself.

The other task was to check the prop via the weed hatch in case we had picked up anything on the way into the city. At one time this was a regular hazard, not just from natural weed (although with limited traffic it used to grow extensively at times) but also as a secondary waste disposal service. We did not feel anything suspicious but as the last part was rather shallow it was difficult to tell whether 'stuff' around the prop was adding to the drag. Surprisingly, once he gained access to the prop he found nothing attached whatsoever.

It was after 11 before we locked up the boat and set off, with the lofty footbridge over the city ring road. 24 steps up and then 45 down - not so difficult but coming back was rather more effort!

Not long and Mike had a problem with is phone camera so for a while we have no photos to include here. On the way through the shopping precincts we looked out for a possible lunch stop and noted a typical 'all you can eat' buffet that opens at mid day (on Saturday) This one, Smokin Hot seemed to offer a slightly different range of cuisine so we kept that as an option.

We continued through the various shopping areas - developed gradually over the 75 years since much of the city centre, including, famously, the cathedral, was damaged by bombing raids. Some of the architecture was innovative in its time and attracted international acclaim, later interventions have been piecemeal and have yet really to address the shortcomings of building materials in the immediate post war period. There is a large number of small and medium sized shops and stores and there was plenty of footfall (well, so it should be on weekend at the end of half term!) But, it is clear that the muddle of pedestrianised walking routes is coming to the end of its useful life and will need some careful imagination to avoid falling into decay and yet avoid the downside of large scale re-building. Few of the post war building hold much merit visually.

Christine was keen to visit the Guildhall, one of the few old buildings close to the cathedral that survived almost intact. Unfortunately when we arrived, a private event for international Rotary leaders was still continuing and even the tea room was not available, So we went a little further to the Herbert Museum where we were told that they had a small cafe. We enjoyed a good cup of coffee each.

After that we returned to the Guildhall which was now open to the public (not that many had  picked it up and we were for some time the only visitors, meant that we had good attention from a very knowledgeable guide.

The main feature is, of course, the guild hall itself. The stained glass, roof decorations and the world famous tapestry were removed for safe keeping before the bombing could damage them and are now back in their rightful places. Most important is the huge tapestry - apart from its size it is noted as being one of the largest that is still hanging in the place for which it was designed. It is protected by a transparent cover - hence the reflection of the lights in the photo. The colours are of course no longer as vibrant as the day they were woven but it remains a most impressive piece of skilled workmanship. (As you can see, the phone came back to life as we were coming to the end of our tour)

A number of other old rooms are open to visitors, including the main kitchen that at one time catered for the big events held in the hall. At one time, modern equipment was installed to comply with food hygiene rules but the most recent renovation removed that and today it better resembles the older way of catering. It seems that events now have to use outside caterers.

In the small Princes Room, Christine was especially attracted to this piece of carved furniture. In particular the people are in great detail with realistic facial expressions. 

Unusually, there were no interpretive boards about it so she asked one of the guides who explained that the lack of paperwork to trace its history means that much is guesswork. All that they can say with any certainty is that it is medieval.

Close to the Guildhall is another surviving old building (a pub, of course!) Although much restored, it dates back to circa 1583.

This weekend is MotoFest, an event for classic car enthusiasts and used many of the public spaces in the city centre, including in front of the new cathedral.

Christine would quite like a ride in this car - plenty of leg room in the back - but alas it was only a static display. (Of course, she would need a new chauffeur to go with it . . . )

There were numerous sports cars, including this open top Morgan - many a relationship amongst wealthy young men and ladies in search once featured in such a means of transport, although the destination was perhaps not the main thing. Elsewhere, the latest Jaguar racing car attracted a lot of attention.

Time was passing and we gradually headed back to Smokin Hot - we eventually sat down to eat just after 3 o'clock. The layout and operation was much the same as other buffet places we have been to in the past (all, we think when staying on the boat!). Here. the staff were very efficient and friendly. The food was well presented and a much greater variety that sometimes is the case. (In times when many eating places have been restricting their range of dishes to cut costs, this display was a welcome difference) Of course, this is not haute cuisine but it does 'what it says on the tin' and does it well. Some of the dishes were particularly tasty. We came away feel happily replete - no need for much else to eat this evening! (Mike was scheduled cook tonight so he was satisfied . . . ) Even the staff noted that we did not fit their usual customer age profile which is oriented more to young people and families with tweenage children. But they were pleased we had come and that we had enjoyed ourselves.

During the day a few boats left their moorings in the basin and we were surprised that it was not until quite late in the afternoon that the gaps were filled.

Coventry Basin

Today's Canals : Oxford, Coventry

We began the day by going through the Sutton Stop Lock. Only a tiny fall but it made all the difference to the Coventry Canal as it meant that the Oxford Canal could not steal its water, in fact the reverse was the case! As can be seen, the day was generally grey but noticeably warmer than the past week.

It can be a tricky manoeuvre from the lock onto the Coventry, under the elegant towpath bridge, especially if another boat is moored waiting to come up and also when turning right, as  most boats do. However, no-one was waiting today and we wanted to turn left - easier because the boat is naturally at the right angle for that turn. (This picture is from yesterday afternoon, in case yiu were thinking that our weather reporting was a tad unreliable!)

We called briefly at the services around the corner to empty the elsan and to dispose of rubbish. It seems unfortunate that CaRT have not posted instructions about using the new food waste bins. Is is apparent that a wide variation in assumptions is around, including adding cardboard and drinks cans! It is also  not clear whether 'real' food should be dumped in a bag or 'au naturel'.

Once through the chores we could start on or cruise down to Coventry Basin. We have gradual change over the years and now it is a pleasant, leafy route. There several designated mooring places (although at one almost all the rings have been removed, perhaps as the towpath edge is in need of repair) The canal was very clean, almost no floating rubbish. The immediate vegetation is now well matured and only a few gaps yield glimpses of what lies beyond the hedge. The Arena is barely visible, just the tops of the towers, whilst you would completely miss the two retail parks if you did not know beforehand where they are.

The first bridge has an interesting sculpture of fish and birds but it needs better sunshine to be more readily visible.

As we saw four year ago when we last came this way, Exhall Mooring Basin may still have bright shiny notices but nothing seems to have changed from its abandoned state. The CaRT Waterside Moorings web site says From once being an important transhipment site for goods being loaded from barges on to rail, Exhall Basin is now a thriving residential mooring site off the Coventry Canal. However it also say that there are no vacancies! It seems likely that it needs extensive dredging before it can be used again by boats. 

Under the M6 again, from a different viewpoint!

Alongside the canal, The Longford Engine has been a pub since 1772 and has had various engine related names although in 1984 it changed to Canal Boat and then back again 23 years later! Not found much about the origin of the name but as there were a number of very active coal mines nearby it could reflect the development of engines for that use.

Various attempts have been made to enhance the canalside environment on the way onto the city centre. This one is unlike anything else we have seen on a canal (more usually a former soft sofa dumped into the canal!) We did not stop to test out its comfort rating.

We have seen the area either side of the canal just south of Bridge 8 over the years and it now seems well developed. One of the waterside 4 bed properties is currently on the market at £300,000. (see)

At first we made good speed with no weed to slow us down and plenty of water. However, after Bridge  6 we found the going somewhat slower - still able to make over  2 mph in most places.

At the start of the 20C, the area to the west of the canal at Stoke Heath was open land. By mid century it was well developed with extensive industrial activity. We have not found what was here at first but Bates Timber took over part in 1992 and remains a family run business.

Another small amenity area.

Four years ago we noted that the conversion of this former Courtaulds mill was just completing and tenants for the office space were being sought. It now seems that Federal Express Europe are based here.

The vegetation growth means that even Cash's Hundred Houses can only be glimpsed in part and the full scale of the innovative approach to workers is difficult to see.

And so we arrived at the terminal basin. We had been told by a departing boater earlier that there were a couple of spaces free (plenty just outside the basin as well) which proved to be the case and we pulled in to what turned out to be the same spot as four years ago! (see)

The crew of a local fire service were just completing a training exercise - to get a new recruit a tick in the box 'pumping from open water'. The team leader was very chatty as his colleagues completed packing away. Earlier in the day they had to attend a house fire where over enthusiastic cooking nearly led to a disaster.

This fingerpost is a bit odd - shows three different directions but there is only one route out!

5.9 Miles - 1 Lock 

Hawkesbury Junctioon

Today's Canal : Oxford

Another lock free day, although when we set off we were not committed to that - we might find ourselves having to pass through Sutton Stop to find a mooring. 

Before setting off, Mike walked back to Grime's Bridge, Christine visited it last evening. It carries a farm track, used also by moorers just ahead of where we moored. but it appears that someone has reshaped the handrail on one side resulting in the colourful decoration! No structural damage though.

From the bridge it is possible to see most of the mooring - we were the last one in the picture but another boat came along after us and moored right in front.

nI good time we prepared to set off and Mike attempted to cast off at the bow first. The rope came out of the chain around the armco with no bother but then the chain itself proved another matter. Unwittingly, yesterday Mike put the chain down through a gap where two sections of armco meet, leaving a very short gap. The construction of the armco seems to have a slot at the end close to the bottom, This was enough for a link in the chain to catch on and then passing boats had pulled it tight, locked into place by another link. 

Mike pushed, pulled, talked to it nicely an even gave it stern (or was it bow?) instruction but no movement. He decided to see if removing the ring from one end would help but no. Desperate not to give in and leave the whole thing where it was, he started to hacksaw through one of the chains but he only made limited progress when suddenly it all came free! (Like all the best Chinese ring puzzles of our childhood) We were at least half an hour later leaving than we expected! Sorry, too busy, no pix.

15 minutes later we made our first encounter of the day with motorway - her we passed under the M6, later we will go beneath the M69 and finally run very close alongside the M6 again.

Shortly after the motorway we then came to the very high level Nettle Hill Bridge. This carries a private road to Mobbs Wood Farm where there are several businesses, including a children's party venue, a recording studio and a guitar maker.

For some while the electrified railway line followed the route originally taken by the canal - although this was the line of the straightened canal from about 1820. We were surprised to see very little traffic - perhaps just one freight train carrying a long line of containers. We managed to find a noticed that stated engineering works were expected to close some of the line around here with replacement buses instead, for passengers. But how then did one freight train make it through?

Approaching Ansty we passed through the golf course, mostly on our left but with some holes on the right. It seems to be a very open club with prices accordingly. Not that we have any experience of these matters, you understand, but full membership is £82.50 pcm which, to our untutored ears, seems quite reasonable.

Here an underpass allows golfers, with our without their buggies, to transit from one side to the other. It looks from old maps that this is where the old line ran before the straightening.

Ansty Hall was bult in the 17C as country home for a wealthy family. It remained with descendants of the family until 1965. More recently it has been converted to a 4 star hotel and in 2023 it was acquired by the Exclusive Hotels group.

We paused at Ansty to replenish our rather empty water tank. The tap has a good flow and we were complete sooner than expected.

By now the rather grey start to the day had given way to much brighter weather, plenty of sun and blue sky but a stiff, if warm, breeze, which stayed throughout the afternoon.

This time the motorway was the M69.

This bridge, along with several others, has indented into the concrete the identity of OCC 1941. Started in 1769 The Oxford Canal Company remained profitable until nationalisation in 1948 and was still part of important freight traffic for a few years after that. 

We continued on towards Hawkesbury and found a mooring at the start of the 7 day Visitor section above Sutton Stop lock. There was no space closer. We cannot be seen from the lock - we are just around the corner in the far distance. Althiugh a designated mooting there is nothing to assist tying up so this was the first time in some while that we had to get out the pins and  hammer! Time for lunch.

We eventually stayed put - moorings around the junction just onto the Coventry Canal were all full and we would have had to take a short diversion up to Bedworth and back to find something. There has been plenty of spaces a few minutes before we arrived at the junction but we took a chance as we did have Plan B.

Late afternoon we both, separately, took a walk around the junction with various historical buildings still preserved.

Christine took a look at the well known Greyhound Pub - she discovered that it was taken over by a new landlord quite recently had seemed to have a reasonable menu. Tempted though she was for this evening, alas they were fully booked! Just have to put up with Mike's pork stir fry.

Moored next to the lock was nb Yarwood, built in 2012 - inspired by traditional designs (not a replica!). The original owners published an interesting blog of its construction and then their voyages on board. However, they sold the boat in 2017 and the new owners have not revealed their travels! (They may have sold again recently) No-one was aboard so we could not discover anything more . . . Boat still looks very handsome.

6.0 Miles - 0 Locks

Grimes Bridge

Today's Canal : Oxford 

For the most part, today's weather was forecast to be wet or dull, with perhaps some sunny spells mid afternoon. Our other constraint on plans for the day was the way in which much of the north Oxford towpath edge was built. Although a few stretches of more modern piling, mostly it is laid with thin flat stones laid at an angle to the vertical, sloping down, in from the top towards the bottom of the canal. Whilst this technique has lasted well, it does mean that mooring options are limited as it usually prevents boats from coming close enough to the bank to moor without continually scraping the bottom. North of Stretton Stop, there is almost nothing before Hawkesbury apart from four boats' length at Grimes Bridge 26. We made this our aim for a lunch stop and then see how we managed.

As Mike was preparing the boat for setting off, he started to chat to a couple on the boat that came into the space behind us as soon as the overnight boat moved onto the water point (space here at Elliot's Field is very much at a premium!) Although they are now very much leisure boaters (they live in Rugby and were awaiting the arrival of a grand daughter for a day out) he was quick to tell Mike that he was born on the canal at Brentford and moved onto his parent's working pair at the age of 5 days. 

The family were amongst the last that worked full time in commercial carrying in the 'traditional' style. (In practice this family live aboard style, which always forms the basis of depictions of canal life in film, tv and illustration, only became the norm quite late in the life of working boats as a way of reducing cost in the competition with rail and then road transport) He was put to steering from as early as he can remember - as soon as he could see over the top, and if not yet tall enough then he would have a box to stand on. The final route that he remembers doing regularly was to collect coal from Bedworth to take into London. Today, not only has that trade disappeared but there is almost no trace of the collieries at Bedworth. We were able to share some experiences  - turned out that he also knew Jack Monk a little.

Not long after we set off, the promised rain arrived, drizzle at first but it then turned into a real downpour.

Armada Boat Hire, Lime Farm Marine (Still showing its offers from 2018!) and Brinklow Marina all close together shortly after Newbold Tunnel.

The cottage alongside Hungerfield Bridge 35 was at one time (on the circa 1900 OS map) the Boat Inn. There were very few houses anywhere near her so it must have survived largely on boat trade.

After the rain cleared we had some good blue sky - for a while!

Whilst the main bank repair at Easenhall Cutting has been made, for some reason no agreement has yet been reached on how to re-instate the towpath. At each end of the closed section there is a strong metal gate - which clearly has not deterred walkers who are unable to read the warning notice!

Part way along the closed section was a recently fallen large branch - we were warned about it by another boater a little earlier. Since we were meeting a steady stream of oncoming boats, we assumed that it would be passable and indeed that was the case although an over hanging tree on the off side added to the navigational hazard.

We were just coming in to the landing before Stretton Stop to open the small swing footbridge when one of the boatyard staff kindly swung it out of our way so no need to stop. (They do have a long pole and hook to pull it back again so we did not even have to jump off to close it)

Grimes Bridge was now fast approaching but would there be room to moor on the piling? As we came though bridge, on a bend, we could see at least one boat moored so we were a bit apprehensive. By the time we arrived there we could see just enough room at the far end of the piling - this place can only accommodate 3 or 4 boats before the bank again reverts to unmoorable edging. (Just to prove our assumptions wrong, late afternoon another boat manged to squeeze in ahead of us!)

After lunch we reviewed our schedule options - we are manging quite well on a rather reduced daily timetable. We are booked into Trinity at Hinkley from Friday next week. Christine expressed a preference to go down to Coventry so that we can visit the cathedral on Sunday. Last time we went to Coventry, the basin moorings were all bookable on line (system worked well) but it seems to have been discontinued so we shall have to take pot luck, presumably the take up did not justify it. We suspect that the small hire fleet that was the operating from part of the basin has now moved away.

The upshot of our debate was to stay put here for the night - a bit noisy from the M6 about a mile away but there is no escaping that all the way to Hawkesbury, but otherwise a pleasant rural location.

7.5 Miles - 0 Locks