Hawkesbury Junction

Today's Canal : Coventry

We were ready to depart this morning in good time with our first stop planned to be just before the bridge at the start of the basin. Here we wanted to empty two elsan cassettes and also dispose of some rubbish. But the we were pipped to the post by a boat from the other arm which had just reversed out and also stopped at the service block. We had to wait until they moved on - the water points are just outside the basin so we did not expect them to be there for very long. As the above photos show, it was a bright, sunny morning.

Once we too had finished with the services we moved under the narrow Drapers Field Bridge to call at a water point (there are three here!) This was an essential stop as we were by now down to a perilously low level in our tank.

It was after 10.30 by the time were ready to start the day's cruise properly. Very soon we passed once  more the electric wharf, Coventry's first power station, opening in 1895 at Sandy lane. It was gradually expanded, mainly to meet the needs of the many munitions factories during WW1. In 1898, the company had 100 customers and supplied just under 80 MWh in the whole year. The new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station will generate that much power in under 2 seconds. Sandy Lane closed in 1976.

We managed a slightly better view of Cash's Hundred Houses than on Friday.

As we passed under bridge 5a, just after the Stoke Heath basin, we saw a strange decoration on the top but did not work out what it meant.

We planned to stop at Bridge 6 to make a quick visit to Aldi but alas the mooring rings there have all been sawn off. Instead we continued to Bridge 8. After tying up, Mike walked to Tesco. He was delighted that the entrance to the retail park was only about 150m from the mooring but that was soon dispelled when he realised that it was more than that just to cross the bus station beside the store. There were no signs to the entrance but a local pointed Mike in the right direction. In the end he had to walk the length of one side of the store and much of the next before he could get inside. As this is a large Tesco Extra, it took some time to even find where the food section was located ¬(actually almost back to the bus station, if only there was an entrance at that end!) Overall, it is clear that pedestrians and bus passengers are not really thought about as car customers arriving by car get by far the better access!

When he returned to the boat he was greeted by a subdued Christine who had just realised that she had missed putting yoghurts on the list she sent Mike to get - only enough left for today. Tough, he was not walking back . . . 

After a good lunch break we set off once more. As we passed under Bridge 10, Christine spotted a Nisa convenience shop beside the canal. So Mike pulled alongside and held the boat on the centre line whilst Christine popped to the shop and bought the full range of yoghurt flavours on offer (three!). Her trip took about one eighth of Mike's to Tesco. 

As he waited, Mike worked out that the decoration, also on this bridge, was actually a depiction of the canal route from Hawkesbury into Coventry Basin.

Before leaving, Mike made a quick dash up to the top of the bridge and discovered the legend Coventry Canal Towpath Trail.

Before long we passed Hawkesbury Junction and though the narrow Gauging Stop.

Here, working boats would be measured and their freeboard compared with a table issued to each toll stop for each registered boat. This was used to work out the a unt of cargo being carried. The toll collector would, of course, have had to look under the sheets to see what type of cargo was on board - most canal companies had different tolls for different cargoes.

6.1 Miles - 0 Locks