You can smell the hops !!!!!

Woke up to the central heating trying to work this morning but failed again...

The light rain was putting spots on the window, but the forecast was that it would brighten up at around 11.00am.

We left a message with Fernwood and then set about investigating the problem. After finding the bleed screws we managed to get rid of all the air in the system and hey presto the central heating burst into life, working better than before and less noisy.

We set off around 10.00am and the wind was still tricky. We approached Burton upon Trent and the first thing you noticed was the smell of hops in the air. As we slowly got to the town you could see the breweries of Coors, Bass, and Marston. We also noticed how clean the town was with no graffiti on walls and all the gardens we passed, people had looked after their patch by the canal, it was lovely to see. Marston had a museum which we will have to do one day when we pass here again.

We carried on up to Wellington village where we did our manual pumpout and topped up with water. The plan was to stop here as they had three pubs to choose from and we wanted to see the football in the evening on Sky Sports. When we phoned none of them were showing it, so we asked a local where we should go. "up to Findern, great pub and has all the football" he said.

So off we went, over a few aqueducts and on to Findern village. When we moored we noticed a great Indian restaurant with a bar, beach volleyball, sunbeds and a five a side football pitch. But we stuck to our recommendation and took the 10 minute walk into Findern. When we got to The Wheel Inn pub we knew we had made the right choice. It was a real pub with modern decor and it had a bloody great big 52" plasma on the wall for the football. When we checked out the specials board they had two 8oz Sirloins for £13.95 and a bottle of wine for free, thrown in. Was our luck in or what!

We then watched the football and the pub got busy. What a great game it was, with Chelsea getting kicked out the Champions league by ten men.

We staggered back down the thankfully lit footpath to Derwent6, and crashed out.

Derwent6 rolling on the river

Well no central heating this morning. We just had a lot of noises and a loss of pressure in the system and it shut down. We were expecting Fernwood to come out today so thought we had better get to a convenient spot for them to get to us, and they could look at the heating then. We left this morning to get water early at the swing bridge at Fradley Junction. The tap was so slow and we had time to get rid of the rubbish and clean the roof. We had a boat with a broken down engine bashing his way past us and we were doing our best to kick them off and another boat who couldn't hold it at the swing bridge ...more touching up to do.

We then made our way down the locks and they are very pretty with the small arches on exit. On going passed the moored boats at the bottom Chris on n.b Belle stuck his head out, so we moored along side and chatted for half an hour. We then made our way for another hundred metres and Jan from n.b Huff & Puff came to the stern and shouted. We moored along side and chatted again for another half an hour. It didn't look like we were going to do much cruising today.

We phoned Fernwood and found out they now wouldn't be with us today and told them about the central heating, someone would call us this afternoon to try some things, to put it right.

The wind had got up when we got to the village of Alrewas and we then hit our first river, the river Trent. The thing you notice first is the fast flowing current which turned the bow once you joined it, the second thing was how clear the water was, you could see the bottom of the river, but it was a great experience, and we now fancy more rivers.

We then got to Barton Turn and the canal follows the A38 for a couple of mile. At one point we were going faster then they were on the road. Nothing surprising there then.......

We ended up at Branston where the famous pickle was first made, where we have moored up just by the water park.

Ken called us back from Fernwood and told us which valves to turn and get pressure back in the central heating system. This we tried, and we now have pressure, but it seems like we have a air lock and it still shuts down, another call tomorrow.

The wind has got worse and we have had to strap down the aerial on the roof so we can watch the football tonight.

Fradley for a pint or two

We looked at the weather forecast and it said it would rain at about 11.00am, so we planned to set off early. As we were getting ready we could see it already starting to rain, so it was wet weather gear on and off we went.

We had some trouble getting off our mooring as the wind kept blowing us back in but we got off in the end. It was lovely through the little village of Whittington, looking at everyones pretty gardens on the way.

We then got to the point where the Birmingham and Frazley meets the Coventry and then on to Frazley it's self. The rain had held off all the way so we never needed the Nubrella.

We went past this poor person's boat wondering what had happened, BW were aware.....

We spotted a mooring just before the swingbridge as you approuch Frazley junction and it was a good job we did. It was packed with people out for the bank holiday Monday enjoying the locks and boats. Fradley has a couple of Cafe's and a good pub in which you can get some food and refreshments, so we went into The Swan Pub known locally as The Mucky Duck and grabbed a small bite to eat and a beer.

After that we walked down to see if we could see some friends, Chris and Stelle on n.b. belle and Jan and Graham on n.b. Huff & Puff, but no-one was in....we must have smelt bad or something... We will catch up next time we're through (and there will be a next time)

We then walked back to Derwent6 and crashed out for a couple of hours, watched a DVD and then it was back down the pub for session number two. Piston broke, we got back to the boat about 10.30pm.

We're really up the Junction

We moved on this morning after having overnight rain. The wind was blowing a gale but we could see it brightening up in the distance. We had to clear the prop again of someones shorts, before moving off though and yes, we are definitely picking up more things with this new prop.

We carried on through Polesworth, Alvecote and then onto Tamworth. The canal carried on along the hillside and went through some really pretty wooded areas and the towpaths were in tip top condition. We also passed Pooly Hall and it's beautiful grounds.

We carried on into Tamworth which just goes around the outskirts of the town. It passes loads of people's back garden and if you're a nosey git like both of us you can look at everyone's going's on. We then reached Gascote locks which were already full and made it easy to get through. We then crossed the River Tame aqueduct with great views of the river which we followed for the next four miles.

We then got to Frazley Junction which appeared to be very busy and we would have spent more time here, but we had no places to moor. The BW information centre was well done and seemed worth a look.

We then went back out into the countryside and saw our first baby geese on the grass banks. This then took us onto Hopwas, this was a area with pubs on both sides of the canal and was very busy. There were loads of people out walking today as this must be a popular spot with some lovely woods and lots of wildlife.

We then had that feeling that we needed to moor up, so found a nice spot with a great TV signal and the best 3G+ signal we have had so far on the system. The wind was still blowing hard and the sun was trying to come out, but it still felt quite cold. We decided to have dinner early today and chilled watching the boats go by. It still hasn't been that busy even though it's a bank holiday.

Meal deals

We had Julia down from Fernwood to take away our sofa cushions as they were sagging a lot and needed some more infill. Hopefully they will be bringing them back on Tuesday or Wednesday next week, so more about that later......

We left this morning at about 11.00am and made our way up to Atherstone. The canal was very pretty winding it's way along the hillside until it came to the top lock... we moored up and then walked along to the locks to suss them out and meet Alan, a really friendly lock keeper. He had been awarded a MBE for his services and you could see why. The locks were in tip top condition and he had added his little bits and pieces to them to make them interesting.

We first went into the town of Atherstone and we really liked it. It has a 18th century feel about it, with some good shops. It was a shame that some of these shops were closing down or gone already, but on looking we found a real gold mine of a cafe.

They did a full English breakfast for £4.25 and I mean a full English. Blimey! we could hardly eat it all, but a least we were full for the day (or so we thought)

We made our way back to Derwent6 and set off down through the locks, they were all set against us and were really slow filling and a bit difficult in places, but we had plenty of time...where were all the other boats? This is a bank holiday weekend isn't it, why is it so quiet.... The locks take you back into the countryside and the smell of the bright yellow rape fields remind us of why we're both doing this. We decided to moor in the middle of nowhere, as we just felt we had done enough for the day.

We sat out in the cratch and thought we would try out the four pubs in Polesworth as we fancied a bit of live entertainment and the Nicholson guide said two of them should have it on Saturday nights. It was about a mile walk from where we were moored, so out come the walking boots again and off we trudged.

Well the first one had Karaoke, the second, third and forth had none, but we did have a beer in all of them....while we were in the second one it was attached to a Balti restaurant and having a beer outside, the smell from this restaurant was just to much to ask. Well the plan was to take a curry away with us (as they did take away as well), but when we looked inside we thought we would give it a go in the restaurant. Good Choice!!! the food was fantastic and it was dirt cheap.Today we had two meals, and both came to under £40.00, we were so stuffed that we were glad of the walk back to Derwent6. We just got back before dark and we just needed our bed....

It's all new territory

First we had to take the hire car back before setting off this morning.

We made our way to the end of the Ashby canal, but not before passing Pete on n.b. pickles-no2. It was a quick hello as we tried to avoid each other and we then got to Marston Junction....but for the first time we turned right and headed north on the Coventry canal.

Up to this point we had already travelled the canals we have been on, and we were very familiar with where we were, but now we are in unfamiliar territory and it's really exciting.

You just get a buzz about what is round the next corner, and check out all the good moorings for next time. You just want to explore every village and town you go through and walk every footpath you see to find out where it goes. We spotted our first cygnets just before we got to the next town.

As we got towards Nuneaton there was a bit of graffiti on the walls of bridges, and there was the odd sofa in the canal, but you didn't get the feeling of threat. The moorings were aright at bridge 19A and we would have left Derwent6 to explore the town...however we didn't and moved on through the old coal quarry's which have now blended into the landscape where the grass has grown over them. This northern section of the Coventry canal is very pretty and has some stunning views, it also has some nice wooded sections as well.

The sun had been out all day and we decided to moor at a place called Hartshill. Hartshill has got a old BW builders yard which contains a 19th century carpenters workshop and a blacksmiths forge. Once moored, we lifted up the cratch covers and grabbed a beer just as the clouds came over and yes, you guessed it.....it rained.

Good job we didn't do the brasses today... It was only a sharp shower, so we drunk up and thought we would have a walk into the village. We walked from bridge 33 and it came out in somebody's garden, but it was a easy walk. It has two pubs, a lovely church, a post office, shop and a castle, yes! a castle, all be it nearly down to it's foundations, and you can't go and look round it as the grounds have been closed to the public.

What we couldn't understand was that we felt uncomfortable leaving Derwent6 at Hartshill and we didn't feel this at Nuneaton. There were a lot of people hanging around the canal as there wasn't much else to do and also they all had some form of alcohol in their hand, so we made our way back.

Al cooked some lovely thick pork chops purchased from the butchers in Market Bosworth, and we sat in the cratch with a candle......they were delicious.

In the evening we just done a bit of reading and we may just have a early night.... zzzzzzzzzz