Hartshill

Following the past two days of wet weather, today broke with blue sky and bright sunshine. Unusually for us we were awake at 7.30 am, and with a flight of eleven locks ahead decided to to get up. We were underway by 8 am, closely followed by another Hudson boat, nb Rhea. The water point at the base of the locks was busy so we carried on, and it was a decision that paid off. Not stopping put us at the front of the queue going up, and we benefited by meeting several boats descending, thereby having the locks turned in our favour. Our ascent of the Atherstone flight was pleasant in the warm weather, and at the top we were able to dispose of some accumulated rubbish. We are also pleased with how the new, larger sized Axiom propeller is performing. Beyond Atherstone, we had about a mile and a half cruise to our intended mooring spot at Hartshill. We met several oncoming boats, always at a bend or a bridge 'ole. The moorings at Hartshill were unusually empty, so we had our choice of spot, opting to stop just prior to the old British Waterways Yard. It was by now lunch time, and another reason for stopping here was its close proximity to Dobbies Garden World. During our repaint at Glascote our broom went adrift, so a replacement was needed, they also have a cafeteria. After lunch a snooze was the order of the day due to our early start.

BW yard Hartshill from side hatch

BW yard Hartshill viewing forward

Tomorrow with luck we will be back on the Ashby Canal for the second time this year.

• Totals 5 Miles 11 Locks
• Running total 123 Miles 41 Locks 5 Tunnels