Transmitter

Coming up from Fazeley to Hopwas, this aerial is a constant off to the west, towering into the air.

I've never yet found it on the map, and don't know what it is. Which is annoying! To the north of Hopwas there is a military firing range, so I have wondered if the aerial is a military item. If anyone knows, I'd love to hear!

Arwen

It's a long time since we added a boat to our list of Tolkien-themed names. But today, coming through Glascote to Fazeley, we encountered Arwen – we already had Arwen Evenstar.

Not quite as fair as the original, I fear. If you want to see the entire list, which now numbers 27, click the link, or this link.

The rest of today's journey was marked by edifices of a non-Elvish nature. The M42 – we must have traversed this section many times without realising there was a canal underneath.

Alvecote marina – I don't think Elves would have produced anything quite so utilitarian.

…and the aqueduct over the River Tame.

We're tied up on the visitor moorings at Fazeley. This place has some happy memories for us, but it's more like the factories of Orthanc than the Shire.

Rain, repairs and roses

The Met Office website promised some serious rain for today. We have some time in hand, so considered staying put on our Atherstone mooring. However, by noon it looked as though the threat might have been overstated, so we took off down the remaining 6 locks of the Atherstone flight.

There were engineers mending something on the top gate of the first lock. They didn't seem to be at all worried by boats coming through as they worked.

A little lower down the flight, my best beloved spotted this wild rose in splendid bloom.

The rain returned. By the bottom of the flight we were pretty wet. By the time we'd filled up the water tank at a convenient service point we were soaked. By the time we passed Bridge 49 we were saturated, so we pulled in where canal-side trees promised some shelter from the wind.

We even have signal for accessing the outside world. But we're glad to be inside.

Farewell to the Ashby

There are some canals we have quite cheerfully visited on more than one occasion. The Shroppie (Shropshire Union) is a case in point, along with its side-arms to Middlewich and Llangollen. We have always relished timing a visit to Audlem for the weekend, so we can join in with the folk session at the Shroppie Fly. But while it's been good to cruise the Ashby, I don't think we'll be in a hurry to go back. No locks, and not a massive amount of interest along the way. The site of the Battle of Bosworth ("a horse – my kingdom for a horse") was just a bit too far to walk, and the food at the one pub we patronised was about OK, but not really worth the price ticket. Anyway, we finally reached the end of our return journey this morning.

We'd rung Streethay Wharf before setting out, as we needed to know whether they could fit in a radiator system check. So at Marston Junction through the bridge we turned right to re--trace our steps up the Coventry Canal. Four days or so to cover what would take you half an hour or less in the car. But having the radiators working properly will mean we can be more flexible with the timing of the repair to the solid fuel burner's chimney.

Pumping it out

Last night we had an early bird meal (2 for £9) at the Brewer's Fayre restaurant opposite where we were moored. It was good value and we didn't mind having to get in before 6 p.m. The building is rather fancy, with a high, sloping vault over tables that look onto the canal. From where I was sitting I could see, just down the wharf a little, another sloping construction that, from behind, looked as though it might be a huge solar panel or a placard of some sort.

It turned out to be the roof of the pump-out station! Since we knew the tank was nearly full, we pulled across in the morning and availed ourselves of the facilities. Then it was dodge-a-shower time as we headed back towards the start of this cul-de-sac canal.

Finding a good-enough mooring, we had lunch in the sun, then under a few drops of rain, then in the sun again. I thought it was worth while trying to get the next coat of primer on the front locker. Half-way through the clouds started playing silly games again, so I had to improvise.

That's me, painting under the tarpaulin, photo courtesy of my best beloved. When we bought our solar panel, some years ago, I had discovered the value to the intrepid boater of car-roof magnets. You may be able to spot two of them, holding down the two ends of the tarpaulin, while I work underneath. Now that's something you can't do on a Sea Otter!

Dovecote

This was certainly a first! Approaching Hinckley from the north this morning, we looked, and blinked, and blinked again.

Yes, it really was a group of doves, on a cover over the stern of this boat.

I know that pigeons are trained to know their home, and return to it. But how do you teach them that home is a cover over the stern of a narrowboat? Wonders will never cease.

And what do you do with the doo-poo?

Donkey

Coming south from Congerstone, we came past a field with some donkeys, though there weren't quite as many as when we were going north. Not sure whether or not it is a donkey sanctuary.

It was a suitable metaphor for the way I'd got grounded five minutes earlier. We had passed a sign for a farm shop "just a minute away", so I was trying to get into the side to stop. Unfortunately the canal is so shallow here that you certainly grind to halt, but not at all in the position you want to be. I managed to get off the front, but no amount of pulling on the bow or centre lines had any effect. I tried to pole the front off, without success. In the end I took the pole to the stern, and managed to push it into slightly deeper water, where I could reverse out. Carefully, because we were in danger of hitting the shallows on the other side of the canal.

It was 10 minutes of unwanted activity, and we never even made it to the farm shop. Donkey indeed!