Ashby Canal Archives - Wandering Bells

The last 2 days have involved more shopping, only 1 lock, but 3 different canals, and one of them was new to Heather.

We left our mooring between Hillmorton and Rugby yesterday, heading for the Tesco store near the canal in Rugby. It wasn’t nearly as exciting as toilet shopping, but necessary all the same.

The effects of the straightening of the North Oxford in the 1820s are very apparent around Rugby. There are several, now redundant, side branches whilst the mainline of the canal carries on in straight lines over embankments. After Rugby, several of these side branches are marked by these elegant iron bridges.

We eventually joined the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury Junction, and took the compulsory pictures of the junction bridge and the engine house. We turned north on the Coventry Canal for a short dash up to Marston Junction to join the Ashby Canal. Pippa has been trying out life as a roof-dog. Problem is this, she spends most of the time barking. Sometimes at people, sometimes at other dogs, but most of the time at nothing (or is that everything). At least on this part of the Coventry she could bark at something impressive – a gorilla in someone’s back garden.

I had experienced the Ashby last year when single-handed, this is Heather’s first new canal for several years. We didn’t go far. I had marked up our map last year, so I knew there were decent moorings after a couple of bridges.

This morning, we didn’t get going that early. Someone decided he would stay in bed a little longer. The rural and sometimes shallow nature of the Ashby soon becomes apparent. A big contrast to the Coventry Canal.

We refueled at Trinity Marina in Hinckley and we were then aiming for the Spinney Bank Farm Shop to get some Ashby Sausages. On the way we passed many moored boats. The Ashby seems to have more than its fair share of “interesting” boats. Last year I commented on the Black Pearl. This year we both noticed this boat, overflowing with well-tended vegetation, and complete with a dedicated kennel boat for the dog.

We pushed on to the farm shop, looking forward to the sausages. Disaster! They were sold out, cleaned out by some particularly hungry agricultural contractors yesterday. The sausages are handmade at the shop, but only once a week, on Wednesday, which is tomorrow. We resolved to stop in on the way back if we could.

We pushed on, past the Bosworth Battlefield and Market Bosworth. Having had a mainly sunny day, we were now being chased down by some very ominous dark clouds. And they chose to unload on us just as we were getting close to the battlefield. We were aiming to get to Shackerstone at the end of the canal to sample the Globe Inn for dinner. But we didn’t make it. I had forgotten how shallow parts of the Ashby can be. Shallow water really cuts down the speed you can do, so we ended up stopping near Congerstone, about 4 miles short.

Of course, the weather had now cleared up, so we were treated to a good sunset.

Let’s see if we can get some sausages tomorrow.

Another day that started with blue skies and puffy white clouds and ended with me getting wet. I was also looking forward to venturing onto my the first new waterway for Heron in quite a few years. We have chugged past the end of the Ashby at Marston Junction many times, but never sampled it’s 22 mile lock-free length. That was going to change today. But first we had to get off the Oxford Canal and onto the Coventry. Having taken pictures of Hawkesbury Junction yesterday, now it was time to pass through by boat. But first, I took advantage of a free water point just before the stop

lock to top up the water tank. There were no other boats around when I started, but by the time I finished, what another boater termed the “10 o’clock rush hour” had really started. Being a helpful boater, I quickly shuffled over to the other side of the canal to let a pair of boats onto the water point, and then went into the lock. I was rushing, so I left my hose-pipe adapter on the tap. Thanks to the boater on Harlequin for getting it back to me as I entered the lock.

I was swiftly through the stop-lock with the help of another single-handed boater, and then it was time to negotiate the 180 degree turn through the junction onto the north-bound Coventry Canal. Thankfully, the 10 o’clock rush hour was now over, so the way was clear. This was a good opportunity to get a much better picture of the Engine House. It’s an impressive remnant of the operational history of the Coventry Canal, but it really is a shame that there is no steam engine and pump inside. It was a real highlight of our time on the K&A to experience the steam pumping engines at Crofton. They were even able to take over from the modern electric pumps when they failed one year.

There were around 3 miles of Coventry Canal to negotiate in bright sunshine before getting to the excitement of the Ashby. I was now following another boat, but I was keeping my distance. I really cannot explain what was going on. The boat kept zig-zagging from one side of the canal. It was almost as if the steer was inexperienced and was over-correcting. But when he needed to pass boats coming the other way, he was fine. Perhaps he was having a problem with his rudder? I lost sight of him at Charity Dock. This stretch of moorings and a dry dock is based on a fairly sharp bend. As he disappeared round the bend, I was distracted by the eclectic garden decorations on the bank next to one of the moored boats. Shop dummies, posed sitting or dressed up as a ships captain are just the ones that I remember. Some say he has interesting tastes and that he lives on a narrowboat, all we know is he’s called the Stig!

Time for a prog-rock reference. Whilst passing the back garden of a house on the part of the Coventry, I was sure someone was watching me. Then I noticed who it was. Wot Gorilla? Points for the first commenter to tell me the band. (Is that a shameless attempt to get more comments?)

Shortly after this encounter with a large garden gorilla, we arrived at Marston Junction. If there is traffic around, making this sort of sharp turn can be a challenge. You often have an audience of walkers to view you bump other boats or the side of the canal entrance. Magically, Heron was the only boat around and there was no audience to see me execute an absolutely perfect turn. At least the sign confirmed that I was going the right way.

Sign confirmation - this is the right way — Sign confirmation – this is the right way

Marston Junction - looking back — Marston Junction – looking back

First impressions of the Ashby Canal? The Nicholson guide recommends only mooring where they have marked official moorings, suggesting that it is shallow and hard to moor anywhere else.

Perhaps things have improved since 2014 when the last revision was published, but I found it no better or worse than many other canals. Yes, there are obvious stretches where I would not try mooring, but there are significant stretches of easily accessible pilings, that are not marked on the guides. If you want shallow you should try the summit pound of the South Oxford in a busy dry summer. There are no locks and there frequent attractive accommodation bridges. Definitely rural and quiet, apart from being buzzed by a landing helicopter. If there is one canal that the Ashby reminds me of, that is the section of the Macclesfield from below Bosley locks to Scholar Green.

"There's a magical purple in the chrome of the exhaust of his Triumph motor bike" — “There’s a magical purple in the chrome of the exhaust of his Triumph motor bike”

One of the things that canal doesn’t have is close proximity to major industry. Only for a brief time, in Hinckley, the canal passes some well known names. Passing this one immediately had me humming “This Strange Engine“, and wondering if “There was a magical purple in the chrome of the exhaust of his Triumph motor bike” (yes – another tenuous link to a Marillion song).

North of Hinckley, the ominous dark cloud that had been following me for the previous 30 minutes, finally caught up. I spent the next 30 minutes trying teach the roof-dog the benefits of an umbrella. I’m not sure she was convinced. The rain stopped just in time for me to moor up in splendid isolation, but close enough to the farm shop that has been advertising itself since just after Marston Junction. Hope their bread is as good as their posters promise, because I need some.

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Magical Purple