Yesterday Vera donned her life jacket with handy handle for lifting her out of the water if she falls/jumps into the canal and we set off across page 10, map 4 of J. M. Pearson & Son Ltd. Canal Companion guide to the Warwickshire Ring (Warwickshire ring | Canal boating | Canal & River Trust). This page promised 5 miles, 23 locks, 5 hours cruising. Oddly some of the distance measurements are given in furlongs, which I had to Google. I was reminded that a furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and U.S. customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, 10 chains or approximately 201 metres.
We were joined by Hilary's brother Martin, and later, his partner Helen who are in our family bubble. With his help we set off at 11:00 and raced through the locks as we seemed to be the only narrowboat on the move and reached Hatton top lock 46 at 14:00 hrs. Here we found facilities to empty our toilet cassette, dispose of rubbish and fill our water tank.
We took in the enticing aroma of hot baps from the Hatton Lock Café and Martin called in to get us coffee and hot pork rolls and a sausage cob for Hilary. We passed an interesting dragonfly sculpture at Hatton.
This attractive and eye catching stainless steel sculpture by Gideon Petersen is in a side pond above Lock 42 on the Grand Union Canal, opposite the British Waterways Depot.
After lunch we had a lockless cruise up to bridge 58 and stopped just before Shrewley Tunnel which is 433 yards long and open for two way traffic. It opened in 1799 and became part of the Grand Union Canal in 1929.
On Saturday (13/03/21) morning we walked up to Shrewley Post Office and Store for provisions and spent some time relaxing on The Duke. After lunch we put on our headlight for the first time and set off through Shrewley Tunnel.
It was very cold with some icy showers as we cruised the short distance to bridge 63 where we filled up with water, just being beaten to it by the only other narrowboat that seemed to be moving today. They were on their way to Nottingham to see their daughter who was at university there. We moored up for the night and got the diesel stove burning. Sadly the Tom o' the Woods pub was closed due to coronavirus.
Katrina here: Vera doesn't look totally delighted with her new fashion wear. I feel that she was probably more delighted by the lovely day's outing. Looks like a much better day for all. M.R. Robbins is definitely a useful addition to the team. As we have discovered in the past. What a shame we can't track you via our J.M. Pearson Guide. Unfortunately - even if they weren't locked in an inaccessible storage unit - they don't cover your current canal.