Hawksbury Junction 2.

On Saturday evening the fireworks began just before dusk as we are surrounded by fairly flat land here we could hear them for miles around. They sounded just like popcorn, with an occasional whistle thrown in. Sunday we ventured along into the Greyhound for a delicious, melt in the mouth roast beef dinner, with four fresh vegetables, tasty roast potatoes and huge scrunchy Yorkshire pudding. 

As it was a dull damp day on Monday we caught the bus into Coventry arriving in time for coffee at Wetherspoons ‘The Flying Standard’.

IKEA was a long walk over to the other side of the city where we bought a bowl to replace the one we broke. There are several open spaces and a market among the large variety of shops here, so plenty of browsing was done en route. Hundreds of Pigeons were strutting about, picking at scraps of food and showering themselves in the fountains.

We passed this lovely red sandstone church on our way to Spon Street.

 

Many of the lovely old timber framed buildings here are medieval. The ‘Old Windmill’ is a sixteenth century building and has all it’s timber framing hidden under white plaster.

Some stand in their original position and some were moved here from other parts of Coventry in the 1970s-80s.

   

The lane leading off to the right is called ‘Watch Close’ and gives a clue as to what they used to make here in the past. All of these buildings have been restored and stand within a conservation area. With so much of interest to see we didn’t notice how gloomy the weather was and enjoyed our day out. On our return journey the bus was packed, with people standing too. 

We were pleased to hear the good news that our friend John (nb Phoenix) has been the recipient of a successful liver transplant. Amazingly he was only in hospital for sixteen days and is feeling much better already.

Around the Junction.

On my usual stroll around I heard a harsh whistle and saw the Steam Tunnel Tug “Hasty” coming along the Coventry canal. Notice how the large chimney has to be lowered whilst going under the bridge.

Being steam driven the engine was running very quietly and with a whoosh of water it slowly turned into the basin.

Gliding underneath the bridge she gently drew over to moor outside the Greyhound. How about this for a lovely tug then Dave?

The shapely iron bridge was cast by the Britannia Foundry in Derby in 1837.

   

The boiler on the left had a fire door with Robey, Lincoln on it. The engine was a Sissons made in Gloucester. This is a replica of a 1922 tug and was built at Brinklow. If you want to learn more have a look at their website  www.tunneltug.org.uk

Hawksbury Junction.

Iain and Alison arrived to fill us up with diesel before we left Bedworth. We were not surprised to see that Caleb had made himself at home and that Boson doesn’t mind sharing his bed with him. Here they are on rooftop lookout duties together. We were so pleased to see them, they provide a brilliant service for permanent moorers and continuous cruisers alike. After a long catch-up chat it began to rain quite heavily, but Iain had so much to tell us I got the umbrella out to keep us all dry on the stern of the boat. Eventually we gave them a freshly baked Ginger Cake as their resources on board are rather minimal. The diesel and bags of coal take up much of their boat space.

On arrival at Hawkesbury we spent quite a while filling with water as we were on empty and we had two bags of rubbish. Luckily there is a recycling facility here so we could also get rid of all the stuff we have been saving for that as well.  It is quite a way from the last services which were way back at Atherstone. The moorings here were full, but luckily we were able to pull the boat back onto one of the last vacant mooring. This evening there are boats moored overnight on all the water tap moorings too!

   

J. Sinclair was the engineer of this fine cast iron bridge which spans the junction. The Engine House, which contained a beam engine, pumped water from a deep well into the canal from 1837-1913.

There are numerous paths and footbridges all around the junction area. It is a great shame that the engine house lies empty,useless and lost with all the new housing surrounding it.

The greyhound Inn was doing a roaring trade, well it is Guy Fawkes Night isn’t it?

And so to Bedworth.

En route we passed this lovely turnover Bridge No 18 which the towpath crosses and leads back along to the disused Griff Arm.

Then we passed the entrance to the Ashby Canal to our left.

  Underneath B 15 we found a nice quiet spot to moor on a long straight stretch opposite a school playing field.

The signals were good here and it wasn’t too far to walk into Bedworth either.

   

It was dull on Thursday morning when we walked up into the busy town and there was only one thing worth photographing. The ornate redbrick Almshouses which had to be viewed from a distance in respect of the residents privacy. From Bedworth trains run to Coventry or Nuneaton and there was a bus station next to which a new Tesco is in the process of being built. There are many charity shops so we were able to buy some books ready for our winter reading by the fire in the evenings. It was quite a distance to Homebase where Bottle bought a tool that he wanted. We walked back in the rain and I spent the afternoon cooking Ginger Cakes. Baking cakes is one of my favourite occupations on a dark wet day.

The leaves are falling fairly quickly now and wrapping themselves around the propeller when we are on the move. So we have to stop frequently, slow down, then gently go into reverse gear and that usually gets rid of them. We have run over some underwater obstacles during our summer voyage because the water has been low. I think one must have been a large sunken tree trunk which was the equivalent to a car going over a speed hump in slow motion for us, it was a bit scary at the time!

Nuneaton.

   

Apparently Nuneaton is the most central town in England and Chilvers Coton is famous for George Elliot whose statue sits in the shopping centre. The route from the canal has a well marked footpath running through the park. There are masses of shops large and small, Bottle liked the Iron Mongers and popped in for a couple of tools he needed. Wednesday is market day and what a huge one it is too, masses of stalls selling all sorts. We had a choice of two Wetherspoons here, so we chose the William White, better known as, ‘shut that door’ comedian  Larry Grayson. So after our first visit to Nuneaton we rather like it and may return sometime.

This is Boot Wharf.

 

They have a massive crane as you can see here.