Atherstone

Tuesday:  Leaving at 7:30, we didn't make Fradley until 9:45, emphasising the wisdom of stopping where we had the night previously.  This section of the journey is typically characterised by long cruising hours and there is little skill that can be brought to bear to hasten the journey, unlike lock transits.  One is at the mercy really of the state of dredging, for when the canal is shallow progress can be very slow as we can testify from the upper Llangollen.  There are a few locks, however, as Glascote and the Atherstone flight.  The locks on the Coventry seem very slow filling and lock 2 on the Atherstone flight, near the top, was very slow indeed.  So slow that I had to get a baulk of timber to lever the top gate open as I was alone.  Pat was ahead chasing a previous boat and preparing the next lock.  We had taken water at Fazeley, a slow water point, so much so that Pat had had time to do the shopping and the tank was still not full.  Much of this canal is semi urban, passing so many back gardens.  These are always interesting, some are beautiful exhibits of gardening skills, other full of gnomes while others, rubbish tips.  Passing a section of the canal in a shallow cutting which looked as if it was or had been the local landfill site, we came across a BW crew cleaning it up from a workboat.  After 11 and a half hours cruising we had reached Atherstone Top Lock, and moored up for the night and enjoyed one of Pat's fabulous Shepherd's Pies.