Into Atherstone I go

The wind had settled but the sky was dark when I awoke this morning and it didn’t look great, around 9am it began to rain quite heavily and I was contemplating staying put, I prepared everything and got myself ready just in case and about 10am it brightened enough for me to cast off towards Atherstone.

Once again it was a nice cruise through open countryside.

Passing Nelly a tidy cute little boat with a scruffy garden area.

And only one other boat on the move before reaching the outskirts of Atherstone after about half an hour.

I was approaching bridge 41 just before the first of the Atherstone locks, there is 11 in all, when I noticed this boat in front of me, I had no idea where he came from and thought how unlucky I was to have to follow him down the flight but as luck would have it he stopped on the services to take on water.

Appearing boat on services to the left.

So the first lock for almost two months was against me, all normal though,  these locks are slow to fill and fast to empty and as I was just leaving the lock the chap from the other boat walked along and closed the gates for me, that was nice of him and I had remembered how to go through a lock J

A straight forward descent through the first two locks but when I got into lock 3 I could see a high viz jacket ahead and assumed it was another boat coming up.

Entering Lock 3, under the blue tarpaulin is my smokeless fuel, hopefully safe.

When I left lock 3 I was happy to discover it was in fact a couple of volunteers so I stayed on the boat while they assisted me through, sadly they then walked off behind me to help another boat following me down.

Me hovering as the volunteers rest while waiting for the lock to fill

I wanted to moor up after lock 5 which gives easy access then to the town center and was pleased to see there were plenty of moorings available.

Lock 5 and former lock keepers cottage.

Having got moored and sorted just before lock 6, I went for a walk into town, Atherstone is still very much my type of town, mostly filled with a variety of small shops although there is an Aldi and a Co-Op, no large complex to get angry and frustrated in, just a very pleasant walk, cobbled side streets, Church, many pubs and a lovely Victorian Railway Station, the only disappointment was that the butchers in Market Street was closed and I needed bacon, so I had to pop into Aldi.

High Street

Market Square

Market Street

The Old Swan, nearly tempted me but not quite.

The Albert Hall has changed a bit !

Atherstone Railway Station

I want to drain my coolant and refill the system with antifreeze/coolant added so was on the lookout for a small drill operated pump to pump it out of the skin tank rather than cracking open a hose joint and a small DIY shop in town had one, “ideal for draining garden ponds, tanks, cisterns and domestic heating systems” it said on the packaging, so when I got back to the boat I rigged up the hoses and drill and tried to pump water from my washing up bowl on the floor into the sink, not a hope, a pathetic waste of money, even when I put the bowl higher than the sink it still did not have the strength to move the water, so if you need once of these devices, don’t buy the one made by “Marksman quality tools”.

Tonights mooring

Total Today: 3 miles : 5 Locks

Today is a landmark day, one year ago I became the owner of Quinquireme and we have learnt to tolerate each other over the last twelve months, I think we are now friends and I hope we remain that way !!!!

 I will celebrate in the best way possible with a small brandy later this evening while listening to this.........www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaN8jxAFtDY