Brolly up, Brolly down!

 We have been finding it easy to get up early since the clocks went back. So we were awake at 6.00am and set off at 7.30am.. The weather did look a bit iffy, but it looks bad all week, so we took a chance! It had got a lot colder and sure enough we soon got that horrid drizzle which seems to get you soaked through as we went through Hopwas Woods..

It soon turned to showers and it was one of those brolly up brolly down days, but it did make things very pretty as the sun shone through the water dripping off the autumn leaves.

We got through Hopwas and it was back into the trees again.

The wind had now got up a little and was making a blanket of leaves on the canal. There had to be plenty of in and out of gear movement, just to keep the prop clear.

We soon got to Fazeley Junction where we used the water tap. These guys were already waiting for the bar to open..

Del filled with water and Al popped to Tesco's here for some special things she liked..

We wanted to get some wood from the woodyard here, but they didn't have any bags, and also we were a bit reluctant to pay when there is quite a bit about.. We carried on over the aqueduct and then on to the locks at Glascote.

C&RT were cutting back the hedges here, but when asked if any wood was on offer we just got a blank look. Maybe they couldn't hear with their ear defenders on..

There are two locks in succession at Glascote, and they are easy locks to do..

We found a bit of wood in the middle lock where the guys hadn't picked it up yet. We then stopped again for food, but this time at the Co-Op as Al likes a few different things in here, and it is right next to the towpath..

This is a good supermarket and is always well stocked. We then carried on through Tamworth where everyone had made such a good effort on their gardens.

We did like these fellas!

We carried on to Alvecote marina which now seemed busy with most of its boats back in.

It was then back out into the woods again under the M42 and to Pooley Fields Heritage centre which has some lovely walks..

You then approach Polesworth, which was very quiet, maybe because the locks at Atherstone are closed till further notice..

We caught this fella scratching the back of his knee, handy to have four legs..

There is a tight section after that which is not easy to pass. Guess what happened next, yep we met someone, but we had inches to spare..

  We could see some rain coming, so while the sun was out we moored up in a great spot.. Just as we had set up the telly it poured down, great timing!