Shackerstone

Thursday 24/8, as planned we departed Snarestone. We have enjoyed our stay at the top of the Ashby Canal, and during our time there, we met several of the members of the Ashby Canal Association. The aim of the association is to maintain, and ultimately complete the link, between the current terminus of the canal at Snarestone, and its historic terminus at Moira. The first step to this restoration is to reach the town of Measham, just under three miles away. It is hoped that with fundraising efforts by the association, and some money from lottery funds, this first step could be achieved in three to five years. So, having enjoyed several weeks on this canal, we have decided to become members of the association and support the restoration efforts. Whilst filling the tank with water we had breakfast, then forty minutes later set off for the crooked tunnel. An hour later we arrived at Shackerstone, and were amazed to find that the spot we had vacated a few days earlier was empty. We slipped into our spot, and after securing the boat made our way to the pub for refreshments. On Friday we walked along the canal to the next village, Congerstone. The canal towpath was by now starting to fill with trading boats, in advance of the Shackerstone festival next weekend. In Congerstone we did our bit supporting local business, by having lunch at the Horse and Jockey P.H. The food was very good and the pub is dog friendly. The weather over the past few days has been very warm and sunny, and unusually for a bank holiday weekend is going to remain good. Today it was back to the Rising Sun P.H for a Sunday roast, which we can thoroughly recommend. Tomorrow we plan to head off for Market Bosworth or beyond.

• Totals 3 Miles 1 Tunnel 
• Running total 153 Miles 41 Locks 7 Tunnels