A diversion to Coventry

Tuesday: 9.5 miles and 1 lock
Wednesday: 12 miles

The landscape continued to be a mixture of rural and industrial. This electricity station was the origin of the lines of pylons we have been seeing.

At Hawksbury junction there was a flood lock, it only took us down one foot but it was the first we had done in many miles. The CRT volunteer at the junction gave us good information about the Coventry basin. The 5 miles to the centre of Coventry took almost two hours. The canal was shallow and full of litter but not polluted. Some effort had been made to fancy it up, but it was by and large a fairly depressing experience.

Fancy ironwork on a footbridge

We arrived in the basin early afternoon and after a dog walk, had a very basic but also very cheap lunch at the café there. 

In Bishop's Street Basin, Coventry. 

We decided not to leave Scooby on his own in the boat. Robin went off to visit the Coventry Transport Museum which he really enjoyed. In the morning Jo visited the cathedrals; the ruined one and the modern one and had a look around the town. It was all a bit grim and brutal. By lunchtime we were ready to go again, back past Hawksbury junction and into more new territory. 

Approaching Hawksbury junction. 

It was mostly cloudy but warm and with glare and the odd bit of sun. There were fields of wheat being harvested to the east of us and the estates of Bedworth to the west. We passed Marston Junction for the Ashby canal. It looked nice but we haven't got time this year.

The way to Ashby-de-la-Zouche

As we got further north we began to meet hire-boats coming the other way. One at a bridge which made even Robin cross. It just didn't slow down but ploughed on into the bridgehole where Harold already was and causing us both to have to stop and sort it out. The other on a bend when, again, the driver didn't realise he needed to slow/stop till very late and it all got a bit messy. Its a busy canal  with hirers doing the Warwickshire ring. At 5pm we moored opposite a very tidy little boatyard at Wood Bridge. No BBCTV reception but plenty of WiFi.

The Atherstone flight tomorrow. Locks! What a treat!