Freedom of the Cut 2019 - 14

More Serendipity.

Thursday 25^th July

I was now on a mission to get back to Suttons at a reasonable time to get a good mooring, which at the latest was about midday. If I arrived much after 3pm then most of the decent moorings would be occupied. Again it was very hot and forecast to be the hottest July day on record. Although my shoulders were a bit sore from the sun yesterday, I had to remove my tee shirt again in the afternoon for a short while, because the cooling breeze disappeared when there were trees around.

Stopping off at Spinney Bank Farm Shop was difficult, as I had no option but to moor alongside working boat Corolla for a short period. My stern line was around the backend rail, centre line around a cross beam and ditto with the bow line. Fortunately the guy from Papercourt Lock on the Wey was there too, so assisted with the centre line to hold the boat in. All this palaver for a pot of cream and when I got to the shop there was no one to serve me, so I left the money on the counter.

Onwards towards Marston Junction, although I wanted to stop earlier if possible so as to give more time tomorrow to reach Suttons. Luckily there were moorings at Bulkington, where there was also a pub, which I walked to later. It was a Marston’s house and if you were reading this earlier, you will know what I think of them, but the beer was OK. Getting back, I had to do something with all the meat in the fridge, which had been there too long, so I rustled up a casserole with the few vegetables that were left and had to cook it in the oven for 90mins – all done in this heatwave! In the meantime the cooling fan was blasting warm air through the cabin to try and keep me cool.

Friday 26^th July

Although I was up early, there was no point leaving before 11am, so some time was spent writing this and surfing the net.

The turn at Marston was done to perfection, considering there was a gongoozler watching from the bridge. I had passed another boat on a corner very slowly and thought I recognised the steerer, and on giving it further thought, I think it was Snowy who works or used to work at Alvecote Marina. I was shortly back at Suttons and there was one space on the Coventry side of the turn, but I took a chance and winded in the turn, before reversing to the services to dump a load of rubbish and bottles. The previous dump was now closed and was relocated inside the building with a locked door to negotiate. I had left the Watermate key on board, but another boater loaned me his. It would appear that the previous site had been extensively used by fly tippers and the new system was supposed to prevent that.

The day so far was much cooler that the last two, which was a relief, but at that point it started to rain – just a little, but enough to get any books under cover and close the slide. Luckily it did not last long.

I returned to the watepoint where the tap was broken off, so had to use a pair of pliers to turn it on. The mooring space was still vacant, but I was not sure Stronghold would quite fit, however after leaving the tap a plastic cruiser was about to pull out of his space and there was no doubt that my boat would fit in there; I was home and dry now with time to spare to do some odd jobs around the boat.

I had a quick pint of mild in the pub and asked at the bar If I could plug in my PC, the reply being, “Yes, if you can find a socket.” Well I did find one and settled down in the corner. Shortly afterwards another one of the bar staff, who may be the shift manager told me that it was not allowed as the wiring was so old, but I reckon they plug in a 2kw vacuum cleaner there in there for the morning cleaning session, so it really is being very petty.

Returning later for the meal, we had lots to talk about and had a very good meal with plenty to eat as usual. The restaurant was full, as were the bars and patio at the front, so a very compatible atmosphere. We will probably repeat it again when I return from more northern climes.

With Toody in The Greyhound.

Gongoozlers Terrace at the front of The Greyhound.

Saturday 27^th/Sunday 28^th July

These two days were spent almost entirely inside sheltering from the rain. There was no shortage of things to do and keep me occupied as well as a couple of short trips to the pub. There were people cruising of course, but either they were hire boaters who had to make the most of their time on board, or they were on a tight schedule to get somewhere………finally they could just be nuts, like I used to be.

Monday 29^th July

At last the rain cleared and it was time to move on with the aim of Atherstone at the end of the day. It was nowhere near as hot as last week being a comfortable 25ºC. It was easy boating with surprisingly few boats about in the 4.5 hours it took me, although I did stop at The Anchor moorings in Hartshill for coffee and some lunch, avoiding the temptation to have a beer there.

I can remember when there were 

millions of these along the railway lines.

A vacant mooring in Atherstone was like hen’s teeth and some guy on the towpath said that the empty space I could see was taken by a boat gone up to the locks to wind his boat. I found out later that this guy frequents the towpath and is the equivalent of the village idiot, shouting out untruths to passing boaters. Luckily another boat was just leaving as I came alongside, but another one was following  and chaos ensued until he reversed to leave room. There was also a moored Tupperware boat on the offside to complicate things even further!

Shortly after I had secured the boat, October Morn came in behind and being only 36ft long, just squeezed in. I helped the lady moor up, for which she was most appreciative and we had quite a chat about things, one of which was that she was brought up I Surrey and knew of my home mooring. Another woman passed later and asked if the boat really was from The Wey, where she was born and bred!

After a shower, I hit the bright lights of Atherstone and looked in The New Swan, where I knew they served Church End Ales, but they only had Goat’s Milk on tap, so I moved on to The Angel Ale House in the market square where I came last year. Not only is it a CAMRA recommended pub, but it has been North Warwickshire Pub of the Year five times recently. Being a member, I got a 20% discount and there was a 1^st class section of beers on handpump, most of which I was unfamiliar with. This is also the only pub I had ever experienced with a selection of vinyl records available to play.

The Angel Alehouse in Market Square.

The bar with record deck to the right.

Tuesday 30^th July

There was more shopping to do today and I badly need a haircut, the last one being in Braunston more than a month ago. October Morn left this morning, but not until we had another long conversation about home moorings and I learned a few things from her.

I have had mixed feelings about moving from The Wey to Rugby Wharf ever since I had a temporary mooring there a couple of weeks ago. The biggest disadvantage of course is that it will take more than twice as long to drive to from home; the other consideration is that to get out on a cruise each year, I have to pass through The Thames and up the Grand Union to get to anywhere interesting, with appropriate licences for each. The National Trust who own the Wey Navigation put up their mooring prices every year without fail and are extremely fussy about the rules of navigation and how boats are moored on their navigation. Rugby Wharf on the other hand is offline, so no disturbance from passing boats, apart from hire boats moving to and from the end of the arm occasionally; mooring fees are half that of NT for the same facilities and there is more bankside available to me; there is a boatyard at the end of the arm, who understand narrow boats, showers and guaranteed parking spaces; shopping at the local Tesco and The Steam Turbine pub (Greedy King and Hungry Horse), but the beer is OK; I can easily get to Rugby Station for trains home; the site is also secure at night now since a few break-ins, which is better than my mooring down south. Finally, I have already made a new friend with Mick on nb Ragamuffin. Having now typed out this list, I think there are more pros than cons in my favour of moving.  

Rain was forecast again today, although sporadic and began at lunchtime, but again there were several boats on the move in it. Nb Tramper No.2 came past late morning and managed to stop opposite while we had a shouted conversation – funny really how we seem to meet up by chance almost every year ever since we met up in Sawley some years ago. My mate Colin bought their original boat several years ago and still has it at Stoke Golding.

Wednesday 31^st July

It really was time to get a haircut this morning as well as a bit more shopping. As I walked into town, I passed a guy who struck a chord so turned and shouted his name twice, at which he turned and was not sure who I was. I reminded him that we met at Ricky Festival earlier this year and it then all fitted into place. His name is Eric Naylor and we stood there and reminisced over the festival, as well as other things and it turned out that he lived in Atherstone. I mentioned that I had been to The Angel Alehouse where he normally goes too, so it is strange that I have not seen him in there. The outcome was that we would meet there about 5pm – I look forward to it.

And what a good evening it was too, with good company, conversation and first class beer. It was so enjoyable that we agreed to meet up and lead each other astray again tomorrow in the Church End Brewery, where Eric was prepared to drive.

Thursday 1^st August

There was a knock on my boat this morning whilst I was inconveniently on the pot! It could only be Eric taking his dog Daisy for a walk along the towpath. The arrangements had to be changed for this evening for Eric and we would go to the brewery tomorrow lunchtime instead. In the meantime the Angel was still on for later. I had plans to shift moorings further down below Lock 5 for a change of scene and also these moorings were supposed to be only for 48hrs, although there did not appear to be any CRT notices anywhere along the stretch, as I mentioned in the blog for 2018.