Shiralee Cruise 2011 #23

Saturday 6th August and I can tell we are back on the canal system, the local ducks can see a light at our window and they are squawking for all they are worth. There’s also the difference in water quality, where the river is clear and the bottom is plain to see, the canal water is quite murky and horrid.

Unlike the Staffs and Worc and the Worc and Birmingham canals, this one is being cared for, but for how long I wonder. Soon after we moored up here, just below Lock 50 on the Stratford on Avon Canal, along came the maintenance crew, with their mower and strimmer and set to in clearing the tall grass and weeds.

From Stratford upon Avon yesterday, we travelled just two miles and took in six locks and, with a stop for water and rubbish disposal, the trip took only two hours. For the rest of the day we mostly relaxed, except that Wifey cleaned the starboard side of the boat, which she has been keen to do for some time. Now that we are back on the canal and the weather has cooled somewhat, without the sun shining on the side she wants to clean, the opportunity presented itself and off she went. No doubt when we get to Wootton Wawen on Monday, she’ll clean the other side.

For today though we’re off to Wilmcote, which will take us through another 11 locks and only 2 miles and where we will stay for the weekend. There are two pubs there, The Mary Arden Inn and The Mason’s Arms, neither of which have been crossed off the Nicholson Guide, so I assume we haven’t tried either. Something to look forward to there then.
Sunday 7th August and you could be forgiven for thinking winter is on its way. The days have chilled somewhat and the early mornings, when I’m up around 5 o/clock, can be decidedly cold. Having spent two hours cruising and another two hours charging the batteries, I was unable to get the heater running this morning. This is what we get for being considerate to other boaters and so, during these colder days I’ll have to run the engine to the later time of 8 pm.

Eleven locks we came through yesterday and all but the first one were in our favour, this one Sheila had to empty before we could start climbing. After that it was easy because, with plenty of boats coming down and these locks being close together, as one boat came out, we went in. This doesn’t happen often, but when it does it really makes life so much easier. Bearing in mind that all these boats were heading for Stratford and would probably try to get there the same day, some of them will have a problem finding a place to moor up.

We stopped here at Wilmcote about three years ago and, as we did yesterday, walked into the village to take a few photos. One of them was of Mary Arden House, although this is a misnomer since the house now used to demonstrate living conditions of the day, was built some five years after her death, if memory serves me.

Other than the two pubs mentioned, and the famous house, which attracts visitors in a tour bus, there is just a village shop; at which Sheila purchased two, very fat, sausage rolls; and a mobile Post Office. I’m not a lover of huge Inns and Hotels, so we’ll probably give the Mason’s Arms a try today, the Mary Arden Inn is a rather imposing edifice and sticks out like a sore thumb at the T/junction.

The promised rain reared its ugly head yesterday but, as I look out of the window, the sky is clear and bright and, with luck and a tail wind, we’ll see some sunshine today.

Monday 8th August.

We left Wilmcote at about 9 am and arrived at Wootton Mawan at 10:30, found a mooring spot, but only 24 hour, and settled in with a cuppa before walking across to the farm shop and on to the village shop, about ½ a mile away. We had hoped to pick up some doggy sausages at the pet centre, which is one of the 16 outlets within the bounds of the farm shop, but they don’t open on a Monday. So, having walked to the village shop and found none there either, we’ll wait until tomorrow morning.

Along with the boatyard, where they hire out under the Anglo-Welsh umbrella, and boast the oldest Saxon church in Warwickshire, Wootton Wawen is a peaceful little village that also boasts a Park Home site, but this is opposite the village shop and has no effect on us boaters.

After lunch Wifey finally managed to give the port side of the boat a clean, and so it goes, until next time. Pretty much like the Forth Bridge, you could say!

The rest of the day will be just as peaceful as are 90% of the rest of our days on the inland waterways.

Tuesday 9th August and the days are becoming shorter, so much so that it won’t be long before I’m getting up in the morning while it is still dark outside.

As you all know, prior to leaving Mercia in April, we had a full service carried out on the engine, and we reduced our domestic battery count from six to four. Perhaps we should have included a more powerful alternator because, having had a few chilly mornings of late, and even though the engine has been run for at least 4 ½ hours during the day, we still don’t have enough power in the morning to run the heater.

Yesterday morning, having benefited from the same amount of charge hours as this morning, the heater ran for 1 ½ hours, no problem, but today; possibly because we watched more TV last night; no such luck. I suppose this means more expense when we return to Mercia, a higher A/h alternator wouldn’t go amiss.

I’m not sure where we’re off to today, or even if we’ll be going anywhere at all. Hopefully, after we’ve been to the shops again, we’ll be able to move along and under the bridge, where the moorings do not have a time limit of 24 hours on them, we can then stay another day if we like, or even two, should the weather be bad or we’re just feeling lazy. Whatever happens, I will have to run the engine for at least five hours and take it to the maximum time allowed of 8 pm.

Wednesday 10th August and we’re at Lowsonford on the Stratford on Avon canal, it’s raining and I have no Internet service here. Wonderful! Just when I really would like to get online and check something out on eBay, no Internet.

Our radio is mounted inside a cupboard in our cosy, but diminutive lounge. The wiring for said radio runs behind the timber innards of the boat and, apart from the speaker leads, we have no idea where they run to, or how they get there. Anyway, we have been experiencing a few problems with this unit that has culminated in the CD player not working. Having tried cleaning the lens with the appropriate lens cleaning disc, without success, we are now in the market for a new radio/cd player.
Not knowing what plugs come with newer units, and not wishing to tear the boat apart in order to rewire to a different model, I thought I might see if I can find the same one on eBay. However, since it is probably more than five years old, I don’t hold out much hope of success. So, until we move on from here to somewhere where I can get online, I won’t be able to check eBay out. Ergo, I am not a happy bunny.

Today we had planned to stay here for another day because, just for a change, we thought we might enjoy a pub lunch. The Fleur de Lys is directly opposite our moorings and has a huge garden with furniture and parasols. It also has a sign facing the canal which states, right at the bottom, ‘Mooring for patrons, please ask before mooring’. With luck you could probably squeeze one boat in, but the problem as I see it is, how do you ask if you may moor up if you don’t have their telephone number? The result is that any boaters wishing to use the pub simply moor up opposite, as we have, and walk over the bridge and along the road, as we did on our last visit.

Thursday 11th August.

About two miles and nine locks away lies Kingswood Junction, which will take us south onto the Grand Union Canal. This morning, assuming this wind drops a wee bit we’ll be heading that way, but stopping about three locks short. Staying on this canal overnight will give us the opportunity to pay a visit to the shop that lies just a couple of locks past the junction.

Yesterday we dropped in on the Fleur de Lys, fully intending to take a pub lunch. There are a couple of signs at the entrance to this establishment inviting us older folks to partake of a main meal and enjoy a 25% discount and that, on Lady’s Night the lady can expect a 50% discount. This pub also specialises in pies of several descriptions. Indeed, the canal-side hoarding boasts, right at the top, ‘The Home of Pies’.

We settled down to study the menu and the first thing to catch my eye was the Fish and Chips. £10.50? I know food prices are rising but, even with the discount, we would be spending over £15 on our meals alone. What’s more, they have the effrontery to charge £2.05p for a slice of Bread and Butter. Just what planet are these people on?

We settled for a bag of crisps and a packet of Mini-Cheddars then later, for our evening meal, we had a Spanish Omelette, made with four eggs, sliced Chorizzo Sausage, onion and tomatoes. I kind of exceeded the recommended amount of innards when preparing, hence the four eggs, and even they didn’t completely cover the filling. Nice though!

For most of yesterday Wifey was keeping an eye on three Moorhen chicks, one of which was being cared for by another juvenile, whilst the others were attended to by two adult birds. Later in the afternoon after we returned from the pub, I spotted a ginger tom slinking away with a little black bundle in its mouth, heralding the demise of one moorhen chick. Since that event we have been keeping our eye out for the other chicks, who seem to be conspicuous by their absence. Maybe they have moved along, but I rather suspect pussy has feasted rather well.

This is one of those rare places where we have been unable to access the Internet on this years cruise. This situation is unlikely to continue though as we’ll soon be heading towards Rugby and other such places, including Coventry, a city we missed on our last trip in this direction. Having spoken to other boaters at Mercia and Pillings Lock, it seems Coventry Basin has been smartened up and is well worth a visit.

Friday 12th August and, despite misgivings about the weather, we finally decided to move on yesterday morning, albeit rather later than normal. We are now moored up between locks 25 and 24, about half a mile short of Kingswood Junction with the Grand Union. We’re here until tomorrow morning when, I think, we’ll be heading for the top of Hatton Locks for the weekend.
Although we only had six locks to go through, we met a good few boaters going down to Stratford. No doubt this was because we left Lowsonford late. Two of the boaters we spoke to were only out for a week but, because they were either on a friend’s boat, or were handing over to someone at the other end, they could travel that much further in their week away. One lot were on a Time-Share boat, much like holiday apartments in Spain and such, which is also a popular way of boating. (No, I don’t believe they have Time-Share boats in Spain!)

As it turned out the weather was pretty fair for most of the way, waiting until we were almost through the last lock before reminding us who’s in charge.

Back at Lowsonford, just above the lock, there was moored a ‘butty’, which had a Patrol Notice on it. Obviously the owner had outstayed his welcome and had been told to move along. Without an engine installed this is no mean task but, later in the day just as we were returning from the pub, there were two people, 1 male and 1 female, hauling the ‘butty’ by hand, which included getting it safely past ours and other boats.

Yesterday, on our way to our current moorings, we came across that ’butty’ and, no doubt because the owners were a bit peeved at being told to move, there it was moored on the bollards specifically set aside for those people using the lock. It takes all sorts!

I haven’t been able to access the Internet for the past two days, only the eighth time since leaving Mercia. That’s an awful lot of stops where we have been successful, which state of affairs I’m quite chuffed about. Hopefully we’ll have as much success next year.

Saturday 13th August and I am hurting! What is more, at 05.15 it’s still dark out there, but that’s because of the heavy cloud and the rain that goes with it. So, why am I hurting? Well, about half a mile from these moorings, is the Village Shop at Kingswood, which is where we planned to walk to yesterday morning. Indeed, we did take that walk but, just as we reached the first lock, we found a lone boater trying to go through. Unfortunately for him, having had quite a few boats go down the locks before him – he was going up – the water level had dropped, restricting his movement into the lock. We therefore decided to give him a hand through the remaining four locks to the junction.

This assistance for a fellow boater, whose name by the way, is Brian, slowed us down somewhat and put more strain on my calf muscles than I would have liked. Once Brian had turned onto the Grand Union we continued on up the Stratford, looking for the sign for the aforementioned shop. The sign told us to turn right over the road bridge, which we took to mean the bridge that stood another two locks up.

The upshot of this was, that instead of walking only half a mile to and from said shop, we probably covered a mile or more there and, upon realising we should have left the canal at the first lock, just a half mile back. The combined effort of opening and closing lock gates and the longer walk, saw me limping for the last few hundred yards. I was never more pleased to see Shiralee in all her glory. Not to mention the cup of coffee that followed.

This morning we’ll be leaving the Stratford on Avon for the Grand Union canal, via Kingswood Junction. I don’t remember how reception of the Internet was down there but, since we are heading for some pretty big towns; the first of which will be Warwick, which we are hoping to bus into; reception should be pretty good.

On that note then, I will now post. Have a good weekend.

Dave, Sheila and Rusty.