Off the Ashby towards Atherstone

Still suffering with my back which is annoying because I have a lot of work to do on the boat this summer. Just a small picture blog as my back complains if I sit in front of the laptop for too long.

 These mobile homes are on different levels and some have quite a slope down to the cut.

 The Yellow Rape carpets cover the fields in all directions.

 Not a sign of a fishing rod so I guess this guy is using the Coventry canal as a home.

Boot wharf in Nuneaton is always interesting with several boats out of the water.

 The CRT yard at Hartshill never changes

 Now back in my early days of boating that water was connected to the Coventry canal and there were about three or four boats in there. Now it is sealed off. My Nicholsons of early 2000 states marina but offers no name.

It is by bridge 35 and these cottages are opposite. If anyone reading this has any information please share it.

Good ideas and observatios along the cut.

Passing through Hawkesbury Junction we are now on the Coventry canal and are heading to Stoke Golding on the Ashby canal to collect two parcels. One is the new fuel pump that is coming from Amazon to a click and collect point that happens to be the small village post office. The other is for Jaq and will be arriving at the same post office via poste restante, very convenient.
A second reason for the Ashby trip is I have an appointment with a Chiropractor in Hinckley. After months of suffering Jaq has convinced me to give it a try and after some sleepless nights and pain pill swallowing I have agreed. 

At the top the Navigation pub as a closed wreck in 2012. Now with a side extension it has become a nice home.
In the 1881 census the landlord was a George Fife. He and wife Lucy had 5 children the eldest 13 and the youngest was a 1yr old named Cinderella, and i always thought unusual names was a 20th Century fashion of some 100 years later.

I saw the boater wash the dogs down alongside the boat and liked the idea. It`s housed in a fire extinguisher cupboard from Midland Chandlers.

This curved vacuum pipe reached up to suck all the leaves and debris out of the gutters. No ladders or scaffold needed and it all fits in a tiny van.

Anyone seen a CRT man standing on the towpath with radar gun in hand.

Just as far as Sutton Wharf this trip as the Ashby canal was not part of the plan.

All around us are new borns. Calves and lambs in the fields, ducklings and Moorhen chicks are everywhere. Even the Swans are now parading their cygnets. Plenty of pictures of new borns appear on blogs and we were in Warwick when we saw our first ducklings back in March. I hear-by claim a first in spotting this electricity pylon along the Ashby out with it`s young pylonette. If serious about pylons and their young you must join this club.

 

Now when you were kids hands up all those who were told Cows laid down because they were tired. You were wrongly informed. My Mum said it was a sign of rain and the Cows were laying down to keep their space dry before the rains came.

Canals and Collieries Sowe Common

These bridges cast at the Horsley Iron Works are quite a common site on the canals but this one now gracefully spans the River Sherbourne in Spon End Coventry.

Saying "now spans" indicates a past life and indeed previous to the 1980`s this bridge had spanned the Oxford canal for 150 years.
Below the bridge is pictured in 1955 at it`s original location. The picture was taken from the present day bridge 9 on the Nth. Oxford canal at Sowe common.

 Before the Canal was straightened in the 1830`s beneath the bridge was the original route. The present day route is to the right. Just under the bridge on the left boats were loaded with coal from Craven colliery that arrived by a horse tramway.

The same view I took recently from bridge 9. Now the M6 runs behind the trees but traces of the original route can still be found.

Below is a modern day map laid over an 1888 map. This link will take you to the page. When you get there scroll down and to the bottom left you will see a slider to adjust transparency. Have fun.

This map is dated 1886 and it`s hard to show clearly the area but with modern technology I can give you a link that enables you to see the whole area and zoom in, HERE.  Before you try the link let me guide you a little.

A is bridge 9. Below A is the Jolly Colliers pub just recently demolished to make way for flats. When you zoom in on the map link you will see the horse tramway that brought coal from Craven colliery by way of Woodway Lane. Outside the pub the tramway left the lane and served a large wharf adjacent to bridge 9 where the boats were loaded with Craven coal. The pub had stabling at the rear for boat horses. On the link map Craven Colliery is south of D on the above map. Craven became worked out by 1927 and the miners moved to Coventry colliery that closed in 1991.

B is where the pre 1830`s contour route exited the common next to the present day Wyken coal pit arm. 

C is The Boat Inn on Shilton Lane still doing business today. Immediately to the left of C a canal arm left the main line and turned south to Alexandra Colliery.
The 1850`s landlord of the Boat Inn on Shilton Lane was George Eburn and the bridge nearby was referred to as Eburns bridge. George sold pork, eggs and milk to the canal boaters. 
In 1896 Jacob Nelson took over and he reared cattle, sheep, pigs and horses. The Boat had always held the canal fishing rights and a day ticket gave you the right to fish for the day with a pint of ale with bread and cheese for lunch all for sixpence (6d.), older readers like yours truly will remember it called a tanner, about 2.5p in today`s decimal currency.

A lot of confusion occurs when this area is talked or read about. The above map is  1829 and part of a set that showed all the proposed straightening of the Oxford canal. On the map, below left, the Red line is the section shown bottom right on the map above. The original Wykin Old colliery is marked as "old shaft" on the 1888 map below left. 

The 1829 map above shows the original Wykin Colliery that closed leading to the opening of the Wyken colliery at the end of the present day arm. Note the different spellings of Wyken. I think this is just a map makers mistake. The miners referred to the Wyken arm colliery as "main" and the Alexandra colliery as Wyken. It just means you sometimes read something that makes no sense. Finding the old map does help  with the locations of the two Wyken collieries but you do have to be careful what you read as Wyken colliery might refer to Alexandra.  
As far as I can tell and there is a lot of conflicting information Wyken arm colliery closed in 1881 but bricks were manufactured in later years along the arm.
Alexandra colliery closed in 1919 and Craven in 1927.

Also note the dotted line from Wykin heading for Bedworth. This was proposed as part of the straightening but abandoned when different tolls were agreed between the Oxford and Coventry canal companies for transit through Hawkesbury junction. 

As I have mentioned Hawkesbury junction look at the map above of the proposed canal straightening. Notice how the Oxford is shown running parallel to the Coventry on the left of the map. It did this for about a mile as far as Longford Bridge (10). It opened here in 1777 and was moved to the present Hawkesbury site in 1803.

 Above a 1959 view. To the right behind the Blue dredger is the present day Wyken arm bridge. To the left is the bridge over the original route of the Oxford, B on above map.

The same view today.

This is the site of Eburns bridge a brick hump back taking Shilton lane over the canal. The canal flowed beneath my feet and into the trees across the road. C on the map, the Boat Inn is just a few yards to the right.

Standing in the canal bed looking towards the location of the bridge on Shilton lane.

This is the place the canal after leaving the  main loop crossed back across Deedmore road beneath another brick bridge. Behind me Dutton road industrial site. I am looking towards Alexandra Colliery which is south of point D on the map. From here to the site of the colliery, about three quarters of a mile, is open space as the area of the colliery was used as a domestic rubbish tip by the council in the 1950/60`s. and has been left as open space.

The Shilton lane bridge was just about 100 yards to the left.

Deedmore road bridge

The Boat Inn. From here to the left you can walk and within two minutes find the two bridge crossings and stand in the old canal bed.

Here is a link to the set of about 19 old maps referring to the 1830`s Oxford canal straightening. Mostly the watery Red colour is the proposed straightening.

Link to Boat Inn.

Link to Jolly Colliers.

Lovely Narrowboat For Sale!!

No Problem crossing the tidal wash!

   Sue and Vic, owners of NB No Problem have decided to sell their beloved narrowboat and move to a wide beam. Having eaten several marvelous dinners aboard No Problem over the years, drinking wine, laughing in good company and having had a walk through of their boat I can tell you it is a fine floating home. The interior is finished in warm pine, and offers a loads of space for storage and family visits. 
   The engine is suitable for canals, rivers, or tidal river crossings to access the Ribble link, and travel across tidal estuaries such as the Boston wash. Take a look HERE. This could be your next home, at a very reasonable price too! 
   The link above will take you to Sue and Vic's website with extensive picture gallery and a link to the Apollo Duck sale details. You can also view a decade of thier blogs cruising aboard this lovely boat. Anyone considering life afloat should seriously contemplate buying this narrowboat. It is all set up for continuously cruising.

This Twee Marina Appears to be Complete!

I took the first picture in December 2012. Surely this isn`t a CRT approved development, or perhaps it is.

As you can see there is room for two boats and the edging is far superior to some in this area. Assuming this has been done with full permission of CRT what do you think? 

© NB Oakfield, 2015

By now you might be thinking there's something familiar with this boat in a field. Perhaps the one you are thinking of is this boat, on the right pictured on the blog of NB Oakfield. It has been on the South Oxford dating back to 2015 so perhaps someone has cruised the North Oxford canal and copied the idea with a modification for exit and entrance. It would be interesting to know the full story behind these two sites.

We were moored up at Hawksbury Junction, waiting for the lousy weather to pass. The weather gods threw everything at us: pounding rain, gale force winds, and lashing hail with thinder and lightening punctuated by slim bands of sunshine for three days in a row. While moored there we encountered several boaters. 

The first was Logan on NB Sleepy Jean. He is a doctor-in-training who lives on a narrowboat. Jaq first met Logan in Warwick when she broke the ice and moved the boat last January before her knee surgery while I was in Warwick Hospital. We were pleased to pass his blue boat on our way to Hawksbury Junction. Logan and his room mate Kate move their boat to a new area whenever their hospital

Me and Logan come in from the hail.

rotations change. 

A few days later Logan was out jogging and caught up with us. After a stoveside natter to warm up, he was off again in the hail! Logan was kind enough to offer me a ride and some assistance collecting a rather large item from B & M. Keep an eye out for his boat and give him a wave. It is great to have someone from the younger generation joining the boater's community.

David and Lisa, two of our favorite boaters and bloggers!

Saturday morning dawned crisp and bright. The worst of the weather was supossed to have past so we thought we would make a break for it after breakfast. As Jaq was poaching eggs, a familiar boat appeared in the window. It was David and Lisa on What A Lark! We hadn't seen them for over two years, when we first made their acquaintance at Windsor during our truncated summer cruise on the Thames. We threw on some clothes and had a cuppa on their lovely boat, catching up, reminiscing, and sharing tips on places to see and good mooring spots. We hope our paths cross again later in summer. 

We finally got ourselves organized, cruised off to fill up with water, dump the rubbish before leaving Hawksbury while the weather was in our favour. The best laid plans...while Jaq walked over to a nearby shop for a Saturday paper, I got to nattering with a very nice couple walking their dogs along the towpath. They are thinking about getting a boat, and stopped to ask a few questins, as you do. Before long the four of us talked non-stop until the water tank filled and longer! By the time we said goodbye, the weather had changed again so we set off in our reindeer (for those who are not "in" the know, check out the lower paragraphs of Jaq's blog post on her blog So This is Love, for a clue!) while the weather pummeled us until we were blue with cold! Still, for us a bad day of boating beats a great day at nearly anything else!!