TO NEWBOLD

Alrewas behind us we approach Fradley Jct. and turn left onto the Coventry Canal. As we pass Huddlesford Jct. just part of the Wyrley&Essington (Litchfield Canal) is still in water and is used only as moorings. The Litchfield canal trust whose vice president is David Suchet ( poirot) are very active in the restoration of this canal and clicking on the link here will provide some interesting reading of the restoration. I remember going up the M6 Toll road back in 2004/5 and passing under the empty aqueduct that was included in the road build to await the canals restoration. If you click the link scroll down and click on the aqueduct section it`s an interesting read of the government doing something good for a change.
On through Whittington for an o`night stop at the village of Hopwas passing the smartly dressed

gent resting against a post (pic above). Now if your reading this blog down in Somerset you might say it`s a Mommet or if you`re in bonny Scotland it would be a Tattie Bogle but we`ll settle for a scarecrow.
Hopwas was the scene of a new building scheme, just gather some twigs and local vegetation,

select a boat that hasn`t moved for a while and build. Lay some eggs raise the family and move on to another location next year, it could catch on so boaters don`t stay to long in one place.
Always nice to see some steam boats on the canal system the one below is Laplander and the second was one I spotted on the Nottingham canal a while back.



Now lock below that NB Valerie is rising in is not just any old lock, this is Atherstone top and where you will find Tony Ward not just lockie of the year and Honary Citizen of Atherstone Tony has now been made an MBE.
He has been at Atherstone for 8 years and with BW a total of 25yrs. Well done to you Tony for a nicely kept flight and for all the local information including Tony`s own weather forcasts posted on the garage door of the cottage.
On reaching Newbold, a suburb of Rugby, it was nice to get a visit from son Steve and Ozlem and below my grandson Teo seen here trying the slide in the Barley Mow pub where we all had a very nice meal. As I hadn`t seen them for a while it was also a chance to check on the growth of my latest g`child due to be launched late November. Congratulations to you both.