The end is nigh....

....end of the navigable Ashby Canal that is.

Yesterday was a bright but chilly start to the day but by 11am the sun was out in all it’s glory and hung around until about 1pm when it clouded over again.

I got on my bike about 10am and set off in search of a shop at Market Bosworth, just about 3 miles away down two country lanes before passing behind the new marina and up the hill to the town, I was glad of the battery powered pedal assist. A quick purchase of a few bits in the Co-Op and back again to the boat, I will be stopping at Market Bosworth on the return journey so I didn’t look around or take any pictures.

After putting the bike away and having a rest and cuppa I walked into Congerstone, another very small village, just a few pics.

Memorial on the small green

'St Mary the Virgin', Congerstone's Church

Very pretty 'Gable Cottage'

'The Old Forge'

There was also a pub ‘The Horse and Jockey’ not very picturesque and closed on Monday and Tuesdays but I Googled it and it looks like a very nice Gastro pub, more restaurant than pub I think.

This morning was very chilly but again bright, so at 9:30 I set off towards Snarestone, open country for the first mile or so

Then passing Shakerstone, which again I will stop at on the return leg, a nice setting for the residential boats with a pretty pond to look out at.

Then it was through 2.5miles of Gopsall Wood, which is designated an SSSI, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, sign posts request that you travel slowly so you do not create a wash, try to keep to the centre of the channel and not dishcharge any grey water (sink or bath waste), hidden from the sunshine it was chilly but very nice, I only passed one other boat on the move today.

Entering the Wood

and leaving it behind.

Leaving the wood behind the final mile to the moorings before Snarestone Tunnel is again lovely open country and farmland.

My mooring for tonight

It is before the tunnel and current terminus because I heard there is a fuel boat on it’s way and I want to make sure I catch him, these moorings are 14day whereas after the tunnel they are 48hrs, so once I have fuelled up I will cruise the final stretch before winding and heading back.

I noticed this lady farm worker in the distance in the field opposite collecting pumpkins, this picture is on 64xzoom and I got her 1^st attempt clear and central, I like my camera, for those interested it’s not a fancy expensive one, it was £99 a Canon SX170IS, worth every penny.

"That's a good one, I'll keep that for Halloween"

Unfortunately when I started to moor up I was missing a mooring chain, at Congerstone I was on fixed ring at the stern and loose mooring chain at the bow, I must have forgotten it, karma I guess, earlier in the year I found a windlass, so some lucky boater will gain a nice shiny mooring chain.

And the downside to all this lovely rural landscape is a distinct lack of phone signal and a very erratic intermittent internet signal, uploading this post has taken just under 2 hours, but it passes the time !

Total today: 5 miles