We chugged down to bridge 5 on the Ashbury Canal and moored up for the night on Friday (17/09/2021). A short walk took us to the Chetwynd Arms. It was closed and the 2 chaps sitting outside said it opened at 5pm and that was why they were sitting here dying of thirst. It was 14:55 and we were relieved when they said “only joking, it opens at 3pm” and they had Pipers Chorizo crisps.
Vera checked out the towpath at yet another new place.
The Chetwynd Arms was in Whitestone. On the other side of the bridge was Bulkington which is a large village and former civil parish in the Nuneaton and Bedworth district of Warwickshire. The Corner House was located here on the other side of bridge 5.
Steve and Vera met a trio with a chocolate Labrador. They applauded our canal cruise and said that they planned to do a similar trip in a motor home when they retired.
On Saturday (18/09/2021) morning Steve and Vera walked to a Costcutter in Whitestone/Nuneaton to get The Telegraph. Someone had been having fun over night as the the steps here leading up onto bridge 5 (we were moored on the other side of the bridge) was littered with used condoms that weren’t there yesterday.
We set off into mist on the canal and it was difficult to see if it was the sun or the moon in front of us.
The Ashbury Canal was the distribution network of its day and Hinckley boasted two unloading points for coal and the Hinckley Arm by Bridge 16 is thought to have been dug independently and connected to the town by tramway.
Our Pearson Guide says “Emigrants embarked here for Liverpool, on their way to a new life in Australia in the 1930’s. The Moira Coal Wharf at Bridge 17 is the location now of Trinity Marina with it’s adjoining Brewers Fayre and Premier Inn with punters shovelling food into their mouths where there predecessors shovelled coal”.
Hinckley is also the home of the Triumph Motorcycle Works. One of Steve’s inspirations for travel started here in 1973. Collecting a Triumph Tiger 100 from the factory Ted Simon began a journey around the world. At the end of it he concluded that the breakdowns were the journey rather than the travelling.
The ‘Transworld Trumpet’ is one of the most celebrated motorcycles in existence. In 1973 Ted Simon embarked on an epic ‘round the world’ journey, covering 50,000 miles in four years. He has since written two superb books on his fascinating adventures ‘Jupiter’s Travels’ and its sequel ‘Riding High’. See https://jupitalia.com/ for more information.
This is bridge 21. We would moor up next to the Farm Shop advertised here at Bridge 23 on our way back on Sunday.
We passed these miniature ponies in a field opposite the farm shop.
Vera and Steve walked along the overgrown tow path for a bit while Hilary steered the boat. Vera kept lagging behind, wanting to get back on the boat.
This teddy urged us to slow down as we made our way through Stoke Golding.
The narrowboat Diligence took this advice a little too seriously and caused Hilary some frustration with it’s slow progress in front of us. It eventually let us overtake.
We discovered that our friend Ian used to start off at the Rising Sun in Shackerstone (or Shackers as he referred to it) on Friday nights before going out on the town by taxi. He was keen to meet us there on Saturday evening. Steve and Vera checked it out and found out that it was an agreeable dog-friendly pub popular with paddle boarders.
We returned there in the evening with Annie and Ian who had come from an afternoon having cream tea on the heritage railway at Loughborough.
On Sunday (19/09/2021) we went under Bridge 53 and turned around in the 70 foot winding hole to make our way back along the Ashby Canal towards Hawkesbury Junction and the Coventry Canal.
Late afternoon we moored up by the farm shop at Bridge 23 but it was closed.
Steve and Vera walked back to Bridge 25 where there was another farm shop and passed the fledgling Market Bosworth Brewery which was also closed.
Tomlinson’s Farm Shop was open until 15:00 and Steve was able to buy some provisions. https://www.tomlinsonsfarmshop.co.uk.
We had to move along a few hundred yards to get signal for wifi and moored opposite the miniature pony field which was also home to a load of Canada geese.
We finished watching the Capitano series and watched Vigil live on BBC before going to bed.
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