Coventry to Whitestone, on the Ashby Canal.

Hi Folks.

Coventry to Whitestone 8.8miles in 3 hours 20 minutes.

We left our mooring in Coventry basin at 9.20am, first port of call was the sanitary station, we then headed off into the wide blue yonder, actually it was neither wide or blue, but hey a girl can but dream.

We headed out of the basin and said goodbye to Coventry for now. Having enjoyed our visit, it did make me think about the impression Coventry gives people visiting. If you look past the rubbish, graffiti which in some instances is racist and the sad looking industrial buildings which are no longer in use, Coventry is a thriving city, but this is only because people are working hard to make it so. The blitz spirit seems to have continued in much of the city.

It was not long before we were back at Hawkesbury and the rubbish gathering in plastic bags hung on fences and over bollards.

It seems that this is Coventry's answer to rubbish bins. It is so unsightly. It was just as well we did not want to use the water point or the sanitary station because there were four boats moored up and none showing any sign of moving.

Whilst on the move we had some warmed through Sausage Rolls and Coffee, this kept us nice and warm inside, because the weather was getting increasingly drab, after what had been a promising start.

We turned on to the Ashby Canal at  Marston junction, which we haven’t been on since our first year on Hadar in 2008. There was enough space for us to pull into the 48hr moorings at Whitestone Bridge No.5 and enough deep water. All moored up at 12.40pm I made us some lunch, which included some home made Lemon Drizzle cake and a coffee. After checking e-mails, we put on our walking shoes and headed off to explore.

When we got up on to the road bridge, we found out that we were actually moored between two places, Whitestone and Bulkington.

Whitestone takes its name from "The White Stone", a former milestone or guide post. The stone can still be seen by at the junction of Lutterworth Road, Bulkington Lane and Golf Drive, in front of the area's main shopping parade. There are a few shops in Whitestone, these include a Spar, Nisa, LLoyds chemists, Martin, and a petrol station. We gave walking up there a miss, but did walk towards Bulkington, but only found houses and more houses. Having walked about a mile we decided to turn around and walk back to the boat. According to a good site which tells you about the Ashby Canal, there are no shops, you have to walk up to Whitestone for them. We are staying here for the evening and will move off tomorrow to find a mooring for the weekend. Chat soon xx