Bosworth Battle site to Bosworth Battle site
Saturday 20th July
It is now almost 7 am and I have just posted blog 19,
telling you all that we’ll be turning around and heading back to Snarestone.
This is probably true because we still need to get to a town for shopping and,
since there are few places along the Ashby where this is possible, Snarestone
it will be.
The problem with this idea is that we don’t have any sun
this morning, well, not yet anyway. So, could the weathermen have it wrong?
Could we be seeing a lull in the heatwave, or am I being optimistic?
After almost two weeks without problems, Rusty decided to
have one of her turns this morning, just as I was getting up too. I don’t think
she’s suffering one of her tummy upsets, it’s just that she needed to go out a
wee bit earlier than usual. Wifey, being her usual stoical self, offered to
take her out for me, to which I readily acceded. Such an understanding woman
you would be hard pressed to find.
So, it’s off to Snarestone although, if there’s a space at
Shackerstone, we may stop there first and take our usual Sunday repast at the
local.
Sunday 21st July
How about that, we took all the trouble of turning around,
stopping off for shopping at Market Bosworth and carrying on to Shackerstone, only
to have the weather change to cloudy and cool. Not that I’m complaining, you
understand, it’s good to cool down but, had we known this would happen, we
probably would have carried on to Stoke Golding. As it is we’ll now have to
suffer an hour at The Rising Sun at lunchtime. Shame!!
Monday 22nd July
The sky started clearing yesterday evening, just as the sun
was going down and, since the weather people told us it was going to be hot and
humid today, I suppose the current overcast sky will clear again this morning.
I hope that makes sense!
This morning, after I’ve checked the weed hatch, we’ll be
off to Snarestone and the bus into Ashby. We had considered going into Nuneaton
instead, but that trip is over an hour and only allows us about 25 minutes
before the return trip.
I have a new art box, where I keep all my pastels and
pencils, but it doesn’t have a handle. I bought at The Works, for the princely
sum of £9.95, already crammed full of art materials, so it was cheap enough. It
measures 12” x 15” x 1¾”, with a cantilever action, giving me two levels for
pastels and pastel pencils, so an improvement on the previous one. Our trip into Ashby is for a brass handle and
other bits of shopping and, since we’ll have over 1½ hours there before the
return trip, we can have a good look around and enjoy a coffee at some point.
Unfortunately, by the time we return to this canal, that bus
will no longer be running, as the local council is cutting that service. All
these cutbacks are having a deleterious effect on local communities such as
this, which is a great shame.
We’ll probably only spend the one night at Snarestone then
start making our way back off this canal. In actual fact, if we could find
enough places where we could park the car, we wouldn’t mind spending the winter
here. The navigable length of the Ashby is about 22 miles and has no locks to
impede free travel. There are quite a few villages along the way and plenty of
moorings. Staying here would save us over £1,000 in mooring fees, so it’s worth
considering. Although, we would have to buy a generator or run the engine for
about 4 hours per day, all of which would eat into those savings. Horns of a
dilemma, I think you would call that.
Tuesday 23rd July
Yesterday morning, bright and early, we set off to
Snarestone and arrived at just after 9 am. We had plenty of time for taking
Rusty out, a cup of tea and then off to catch the bus into Ashby. That driver
is a disaster waiting to happen. He’d obviously been taking advantage of the
sunshine, because instead of concentrating on his driving, he was busy
scratching and picking at his loose skin.
On the way through Measham, he stopped besides another bus
and asked if they had any jobs going at his place and was rewarded with the
good news that there were. Sadly the number 7 bus is shortly to be discontinued
by Leicestershire District Council, so we’ll probably never know if he changed
jobs.
The rain that was promised by the weather people
materialised last night and came down like stair rods, with a smattering of
thunder and lightning to go with it. We were treated to more of the same during
the night but, thankfully, it stopped this morning and, after waiting for a
couple of boats to return from the other side of the tunnel, we made our way
through to the water point and rubbish disposal. We are now moored up for the
rest of the day, the weather has now brightened up and all’s well with the
world. We have yet to decide where we’re going tomorrow, but it won’t be too
far. Indeed, we may make our way back to Shackerstone and enjoy a midweek drink
at The Rising Sun, but Wifey doesn’t know about my sneaky plan yet.
Wednesday 24th July
Yesterday was very warm and humid and we had a wee drop of
rain but, after a lengthy chat with the lady running the little charity shop
near the water point, we settled in for the day.
Alan phoned me at some point but, after only a few minutes
chat the signal dropped. This is not unusual when we’re travelling around but,
what puzzles me is when the message comes up telling me I can only make
emergency calls, which is what happened in this case and, when Alan tried to
call me back he couldn’t get through.
There must be a really simple answer as to why this happens,
which I’m sure the O2 people will explain when I next call into one of their
stores. Similarly with the WiFi unit which, only this morning has given me so
much trouble, going on and then off, that the Three shop will be getting a
visit from me too. It’s quite possible that we’re at the extreme range of those
signals, but it really is most annoying.
So, think yourself lucky if you have a landline and high
speed broadband and, if you are thinking of retiring to life on a canal boat,
take the aforementioned stuff into account before you do so.
We’re probably off to Shackerstone this morning, hopefully
to that sheltered spot because today is supposed to be hot again.
Friday 26th July
Moved along to Shackerstone Wednesday morning and managed to
slot ourselves into a shady spot again. My cunning plan came to fruition and we
enjoyed a pub lunch at The Rising Sun. We had a couple of mixed platters of
breaded mushroom and such, which came on a wooden tray, no plate, just a wooden
tray, making them kind of messy when it came to sprinkling salt and pepper on
the food. However, a most enjoyable snack.
Yesterday we set off for Market Bosworth intending to do a
bit od shopping but, once again the fates were against us and, as soon as the
clouds became really threatening, we pulled in at Congerstone, only a mile away
from Shackerstone. In the event we didn’t get any rain at all, indeed the day
turned very warm and we ended up getting the chairs out to sit in the shade.
Today has dawned bright and sunny again, so we probably will
get to Market Bosworth. At least we do now know the bus times, so we can avoid
climbing that mile long hill.
Saturday 27th July
From Congerstone to Market Bosworth is about a mile, so we
set off just a wee bit later than normal so as to ensure finding a space. I
hadn’t realised that the bus from there goes at 9.40 and was about to make a
cup of tea, when Wifey spoiled my dream of an hour’s relaxation, before
climbing the hill to the bus stop.
Once we were in the town and had done our shopping, it was a
gentle amble down the hill and onto the boat, where we immediately set off
again, this time for the battle fields, a further two miles away.
Alan Oxley and his wife Chris are once again back in town,
so I expect to see a few more jokes winging their way to me via text. Since
they are based in Newcastle under Lyme and we’re on the Ashby canal heading
south, it’s rather doubtful that we’ll be able to meet up with them during this
summer visit. However, we are planning a bus trip to Nuneaton within the next
week, so it may still be possible.
Now, with nothing more to say about yesterday and, since we
are now back at the start point of this blog, this seems to be a good place at
which to post it.
So, cheers one and all and enjoy your weekend.
Dave, Sheila and Rusty.
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