Fradley Village

Today's Canal : Coventry (and Birmingham and Fazeley to be pedantic)

Very mixed weather today - a stiff breeze kept the temperature down for most of the day but the cloud came and went.

When we cast off this morning, the sky was very grey.

But only 20 minutes later we had this lovely view across the fields in bright sunshine.

Tamworth is gradually creeping to the west side - perhaps the canal will halt its progress (?) for a while. This small estate is the latest addition, nearly complete together with built in solar panels.

It looks as if the local farmer did not want to move, whilst all around was being developed. Only partially visible beyond the canal hedge, much of the farm seems all but derelict but is defiant with  several new estates all around, save for the small bit next to the canal

Lichfield TV Transmitter is a landmark for a great distance. Despite its 305 m height, it still tends to disappear in our photos! The station began transmission towards the end of 1955 to support the opening of the first commercial station, ITV. (Now better called ITV1 it did not need the number back then) The first tower, around a third of the height, was replaced by the current mast, and the old one was shipped to the Channel Islands. Recycling was in place in 1962!

Hopwas School Bridge is well named as the village school is adjoining, just off to the left of the picture. As all the children were out in the playground we thought it best to keep them, out of shot.

The next stretch borders dense woodlands with signs saying that it is a military firing range. KEEP OUT! Whittington Barracks is a mile to the north. On the opposite side of the canal the land falls steeply down to the River Tame, quite close at this point. The towpath has at some stage been substantially strengthened, hence the unusual concrete capping to the piling.

A boundary stone can be seen at Whittington. Strangely it has Coventry Canal inscribed to the right with an arrow to the left, whilst the left has Birmingham and Fazeley with the arrow to the right! As hinted by the title of this blog, the B&F company bailed out the Coventry when it fell into financial problems with the northern part still incomplete. However, they only gained ownership of half of the part between Fazeley and Fradley Junctions. Today, the whole norther section is known to most poeple as the Coventry (with, it seems, the exception of Google Maps that still uses the older nomenclature!)

Huddlesford Junction was the northern end of the Lichfield Canal, sadly mostly now closed although some good restoration is underway. The last short part is currently the base for the Lichfield Canal Club moorings.

The overseer or toll keeper here most have been a good posting, given the size of the house beside the junction.

Shortly after the junction, the canal and the busy dual A38 run alongside each other for half a mile. At the start is the well known Streethay Wharf. Despite its looks it only became a narrowboat yards about 20 years ago. before that it was a coal depot and before that involved in drying hops for the brewing industry.

The canal then loops away from the road until coming around to pass underneath before heading northwards through more rural territory and Fradley Junction. The former RAF Lichfield airfield lay to the west of the canal between the A38 and the Trent and Mersey Canal to the north. Built at the outset of the Second World War, it mainly provided a maintenance role but some operational flights did leave from here. It closed in 1958 and the site sold off in 1962. Initially, development focussed on industrial activities (many re-using the large hangers) but more recently a large number of new homes have been built.

We moored at Fradley Bridge 90, a useful ARMCO mooring, reasonably insulated from the A38 traffic noise. We stayed here overnight last September when, again, there was just one space available!

9.2 Miles - 0 Locks

Fazeley

Today's Canal : Coventry

The forecast for today only gave it as grey throughout but there were plenty of brighter spells and  blue sky. Mostly a fresh breeze kept us a bit cooler but it died down by mid afternoon and the temperature rose once again.

Overnight there were three other boats on the same stretch of mooring as ourselves but two of them, as you can see, left before we were anywhere near ready to  set off!

We went only a few minutes before reaching Grendon services where we not only made disposals but also filled the water tank as a washing load was due. This photo has not really worked. It was meant to be a lesson in what not to do when attaching a hose to a water point with good pressure. Mike attached the hose and turned on the valve full blast and almost immediately the connector disconnected and Mike discovered that the stand pipe was pointing directly at his nether regions!

We have not seen as large a plant pot as this before.

Grendon Dock was empty today - we usually see at least one boat in there.

Perhaps this was a second brood but the tiny ducklings seemed to be rather late in the year.

On the  northern edge of Polesworth we noticed these two properties for sale through the same agent. The details on their web site state that this was originally one house, built around 1810 by the Coventry Canal Company to house a foreman. By1835, the company was so successful that its staff expanded and this house was extended and converted into two cottages for lengthsmen. After nationalisation, BW continued to use the cottages for their staff and this continued well into 2000s. By then tied cottages were no longer in favour and we assume that the present disposal follows that trend. They are not large properties - the one on the left has three bedrooms whilst the other only two. Each bathroom is on the ground floor. The house on the right has an asking price of £250K but with extra outbuildings and a somewhat larger garden. Both come with reserved car parking. Look here if you want one!

The Coventry Canal is often overlooked in favour of its supposedly more picturesque competitors. However, as the canal vegetation develops there are some really pretty stretches and very little industrial outlook.

One of the abutments to the M42 bridge has this artwork. The unexplained sketch at one end is given sense by the cryptic label (please add the missing S) at the other end.

The remains of several bridges can just about be seen as we pass through Pooley - once a major coal mining area which finally came to an end in the 1950s. This one, and most of the others were simple accommodation bridges probably used by farmers to move stock around fields that were cut in two by the canal. Once the mining expanded they were no longer needed.

Alvecote Marina is home to a number of full size former working boats, converted or restored in many different ways. (One of the blogs on our list in the right hand column is or was based here but we cannot remember which!) The pontoons look rather narrow for such as ourselves and maybe even rather wonky!

At least we know the purpose for this former railway bridge - it joined the collieries at Amington and Glascote to the main line.

Marshwiggle Cottage near Amington has a plaque with the following information: CHARLOTTE BILL 'Lala'  1875 - 1964/ A regular visitor to this cottage. Royal Nurse Maid to Princess Mary and Prince John (the lost Prince).

There are just two locks at Glascote and Christine demonstrated her continued improvement by working both of them. We were fortunate on having boats coming up both of them so the top gates were left open for us. (Definitely for real and not posed - if it had been posed we might have managed a clearer picture!)

The River Tame at this point is really picturesque - the canal crosses it on a narrow aqueduct. Earlier, when it passes through some urban areas, such as Salford (Spaghetti) Junction it is sadly little better than a muddy ditch. According to Wikipedia, it is used by some migratory birds to help them navigate a ross the country. As it skirts Tamworth (which share the name) it joins up with the River Anker. It finally loses its identity when the longer River Trent joins it at Alrewas - which we plan to pass through in a few days time.

At Fazeley the junction is with the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal which runs (off to the right of the picture) from here directly into the heart of Birmingham. Originally, the next part of the Coventry fell into the ownership of the B and F when the Coventry canal Company was in financial difficulties. Today, the whole stretch is known as the Coventry Canal.

Our main aim today was to get beyond Fazeley Junction with the possibility of making it to Hopwas, about half an hour further on. However, it was by now rather hot and when Christine spotted a useful mooring about ten minutes later, we called a halt.

This turned out to be fortuitous as it gave Mike the opportunity to do a couple of overdue tasks. Earlier on this trip a tumbler fell off the back rook and smashed into smithereens on the rear deck. We swept up most of the remains at the time but knew that there were still some small, but sharp, bits left in the drain channels around the deck board. Time to sweep them out.

A check on the weed hatch was overdue so conscience took over and Mike tackled the unwelcome task. It was possible that something was causing a little more noise from the prop than normal. A modest amount of plastic came out - reluctantly - but felt ghat something was hanging on to more. And then a piece of wire, about the thickness of a coat hanger, poked out of the water but pulling on it changed nothing. So, Mike found a piece of blue rope (same thickness as traditional sash cords) and he made a loop in the part of the wire he could see, tied the rope to it and heaved. Rather to his surprise it came out with a jolt and a bit more plastic wrapped around it. Relief all round but a large cold drink was now on order. To be fair, we have had no other trouble with weed and rubbish on this trip so far.

The miscreants.

Bradley Green

Today's Canal : Coventry

Much of the day was bright and sunny with plenty of blue patches on the sky. By late afternoon, more cloud arrived and accompanied by quite a stiff breeze.

Opposite our overnight mooring was another entrant into the canal view mannequins displays. These were more realistic than most and when glimpsed accidentally through a half open bathroom window, could be rather startling! We also noted the ethnic diversity usually absent in other displays.

We had a zoom meeting (catch-up with a friend) at ten for the standard 45 minute free session. Zoom has made so much difference to the way in which we can keep in touch even when there are few opportunities for F2F chats.

As we passed under the first bridge we could see a lady enthusiastically feeding the swans and ducks. She chatted to us last evening as she was walking along the towpath when we had just moored. It seems that this is very much her 'thing' but she also told us that she has had to put up a low wire fence by the water as sometimes, especially the swans, the birds can get a bit too boisterous!

It was only a few hundred metres, if that, to the top lock and a volunteer lockie was standing eagerly awaiting more traffic. (Yesterday they had 19 boats through, a bit down on their average for this time of the year.) However, we had to signal that we were not using the ,lo ck immediately as we needed to vist the rubbish and elsan facilities just above.

Eventually we did start down the flight - we were told that there were five volunteers on duty today and, indeed, we had assistance at each of the first five locks. So, we opted for Christine to help with the lock operation, to see how well she was mending.

You might well say to this photo, "What, no steerer?" If, dear reader, you look very closely - get out the magnifier or zoom tool - and you will see that Christine is down with the lockie at the bottom gates and then guess that Mike was actually holding the camera! If he is quick about it, there is just enough time to nip off the stern, take a picture and then pop back on again before the water level has dropped too far!

What, do we hear you say? You don't have a magnifier or was it that you could not be bothered to try? Well, you don't get away with it that easily so we have done the work for you and you can check what we meant!

The volunteers here today were an excellent team, all well trained and provided just the right amount of help, almost without having to ask about it. Here, one was giving directions about opening the bottom paddles to a crew member from a boat waiting below - he did seem to need them!

Lock 5 has a slightly different overflow.

Noon and we moored up below this lock - a well known place to stop to access the town shops. We walked down the main street to a non-Greggs independent bakery shop which we had heard was popular. (Actually, a Greggs has opened in the shop next door!)

Atherstone was once a major tanning area but then turned to hats. Originally this was  to take advantage of the slave trade when each new 'worker' was given a rough sort of headgear. When that trade was banned the factories moved on to making the fancier hats that by then were the fashion. That trade has now also gone the same way, just one or two derelict factories to be seen. Instead it seems to thrive on its location with several of the main logistics companies building units here.

Then back to Tesco, the main supermarket in town. (Well, there is also an Aldi but we don't talk about that) There have been few opportunities to stock up since we left Trinity Marina and it will be several days before another chance presents itself. Back to the boat with our plunder and it was time for lunch.

Mid afternoon and we thought that we would try and go through as much of the remainder of the Atherstone flight  (11 locks) as we could manage. Unusually, there are a number of mooring places in the flight, especially in the longer pounds. The bottom six locks are grouped into pairs close together.

There is to be a one day stoppage on Thursday to repair the top gate footboard. If you can look closely, the far support bracket has sheared right through and the board is leaning at quite an angle. With no easy access from one side of the lock to the other apart from over the top and bottom gates, it is rather hard to operate safely if one board fails.

A bright sunny afternoon and progress was helped by a steady stream of upcoming boats with which to swap locks.

The last footbridge before the bottom of the flight is called on older maps Whitley Bridge but it does seem to have had little purpose at least for the last century. Whilst it looks ornate, it has clumsy metal gates at either end to prevent access and should anyone be daft enough to climb over, there is no floor to the bridge!

We did not have firm plans for a mooring tonight as we were not sure how far we would make it down the flight. However, we had made it and could go on further but immediately below the locks is a good stretch of moorings with rings (but not labelled as an official time limited visitor mooring) There was plenty of room, including the very first set of rings. The next full set of boater services is at the next bridge and so it seemed sensible to give ourselves the opportunity for a top up stop tomorrow.

2.4 Miles - 11 Locks

Atherstone

Today's Canals - Ashby, Coventry

Again a change in the weather. Still cooler but bright sunshine for the most part with lots of pretty fluffy clouds.

We set off at 10 with the aim of reaching Atherstone tonight, ready to descend the 11 locks tomorrow. The distance, just over 10 miles, is a bit further than we have been doing in recent days, but hopefully (wait and see) we will make faster progress once we re-join the Coventry Canal.

Before long we were passing the final mile marker before Marston Junction. This one is easily visible but most could not be seen from a boat as the vegetation beside the towpath has grown so tall and dense! These are modern posts but retain the original distances to the navigable end at Moira. Today's limit is 22 miles.

Under the final railway bridge over the Ashby - this is the electrified main line, although this is part of the three track section. By the way, it is strange that we did not see anything moving on the Battlefield Steam Railway. It runs four services on Saturdays and Sundays in June and we were close to the line at several places.

As we were about to leave the Ashby Canal at Marston Junction we could see that a boat was just arriving along the Coventry so we had to pause to let it pass. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a rather slow boat which we had to follow patiently for some time.

The occupiers of this house seem to have joined the fashion for displaying strange models to passing boaters - and towpath walkers, perhaps. Charity Dock no longer has the claim of uniqueness! But it is still perhaps the largest collection.

By now we had two further boats dawdling behind us. The next one to us was clearly getting very frustrated - yes, we had to drop into neutral at frequent intervals to avoid seeming to hassle the boat in front. Then this boat came right up behind us and demanded to know is we were intending to moor any time soon! They complained that they had had to follow on behind the same boat for some distance yesterday. We pointed out that there was little we could do to go any faster so please be patient!

Eventually when there was room to do so, we pulled to one side to let them pass us (look - they are not there but the next one was soon gto catch up!), with the comment that they could hassle the boat ahead if they wanted to. Which they did!

A little later the boat at the front that they had enough of the experience and let the hassler go by - kindly they also let us pass as well although we did not expect them to do so. There are not many places where it is safe to do this and not run the risk of being firmly grounded.

As we suspected, the  boat now leading was not actually much faster and were continually behind them, again often on tick over and occasional neutral - let's hope that they did not feel that our presence was a problem. They certainly made no move to let us pass.

The mandatory photo. we would not have bothered this time but the sky was bright blue and we needed something to distract us! Sorry about that but please don't tell it's passe.

We called at Boot Wharf as they are supposed to sell diesel and we have called here several times in the past. Whilst a member of staff confirmed that they did sell it, when the boss came out he made it clear that he really did not want to make the effort! So we continued on, knowing that we were not about to run out and also that Springwood Haven was not far ahead.

We arrived at Springwood Haven, now part of the ABC empire and they were very happy to serve us. They have a smallish chandlery shop and Mike looked for a couple of items but alas not in stock. When we had finished we moved across to the opposite bank for a rather late lunch.

Just after setting off once again we passed this sunken boat. Any boat in this condition is a sad sight but this one may have been here for a while as its licence was dated 2021. At least it was not in the way other than taking up good mooring space.

Approaching Hartshill, Christine checked the water tank and concluded that we could leave it until first thing tomorrow. (There is also water at the top lock and shortly after the bottom lock) However, as we were just passed the water point she revised her judgement and we had to reverse back a boat length. At least it was quite a fast flow.

Althiugh this maintenance depot is now little used it is still possible to recognise that at one time this was a busy place and that the buildings were quite splendid. The notice about the bridge weight capacity notice dates from 1892.

As the tank was filling we saw this cast iron post. Not sure what it was for - there is another, shorter post at the apex of the entrance that would more likely to have been a strapping post. Sometimes posts like this were used as part of a wheel making/mending service but this is in the wrong place for that. If you know more, please make a comment below!

When the tank was full we realised that the top of our plastic box for stowing the hose has disappeared, presumably with a string gust of wind as it was nowhere to be seen. It was in place in the photo but obviously not firmly enough!

Just as we were resuming progress Mike spotted the lid  blow towards the bridge and right on the opposite side. We did manage to retrieve it but it was a bit of a faff and fortunately no other boat wanted to pass under the bridge as we were doing so.

The rest of the afternoon was very pleasant as we made our way towards Mancetter and Atherstone.

The main base for Rothen (the principal engineering contractor to CaRT) is at Mancetter. When we passed last autumn they were constructing a new set of on-line moorings. Only one space is now vacant!

Just a little further and they have this large floating digger. As this is a narrow canal we were not sure what it is for - perhaps ready to be craned out to be delivered to a broad canal where it can do something useful. At the moment it does rather extend into the main channel.

We were not sure what we might find for mooring above the Atherstone Locks as we have generally found the visitor moorings quite busy but there is also a known informal mooring on the Armco just before at the last bridge. Luckily there was just one space free - the visitor moorings were all taken.

Tomorrow brings a big change. We will have to remember how to work locks! It is some time since we did very much. The last one was back at Hawkesbury Junction, Sutton Stop, at the end of May. The last flight of locks at Napton was 24th May.

10.9 Miles - 0 Locks