Streethay to Hopwas.

Travelled 4.4 miles, worked no locks in a time of 1 hour 50 minutes.

Short jaunt today after a lovely few days at Streethay.

We left at 9.10 am, on what was a chillier start, but on the plus side the sun was out.

We passed by Kings Orchard Marina, which although it is not finished it is now open.

Approaching Huddlesford Junction.

Lichfield Cruising Club.

Willington the home of the Poly Tunnels.

We passed by Hopwas Hays Woods, which is home to firing ranges, it is also known for its Witchcraft, which was supposed to have taken place in 1984.  Hopwas our mooring for the day. Normally the 48 hour moorings are full, so we decided as there was one empty space we would take advantage of it. We had thought of heading to Fazeley.

After Tomato Soup for lunch, we headed out for a walk around the village and down towards Coton.

Either side of the road bridge is The Tame Otter and The Red Lion.

We turned turned right opposite The Tame Otter and walked towards Coton.

We walked over the River Tame road bridge, with views over the flood plain.

One of the first things we noticed was the new flood defences. These were begun in October 2012 and officially opened in June 2013, offering the village of Coton some protection. The scheme consists of new flood embankments to the north of Coton Lane, new brick clad walls around the Fox Inn roundabout, and new flood walls along Lichfield Road. Improvement works on the culvert in Coton Lane and the Severn Trent Water surface water drainage chamber on Lichfield Road have also been carried out. I bet the residents can rest easier in their beds now.

The Fox Inn on the roundabout. We then walked a little bit further into the village and rain began to fall, so we took shelter in a bush shelter, before heading back into Hopwas.

We walked up over the canal bridge and headed towards the church.

St. Chads is a grade II listed church and very quirky. The church was designed by the Chester architect John Douglas and built in 1881.

It is a picturesque little church and very peaceful.

Unlike many churches these days, this one was open, so we went inside to have a look at a pretty place of worship. The church and grounds are so well kept.

For such a small community a lot of men died in the great war, these included Major W Northey D S O. Who died from his injuries in October 1914 and is buried in Boulogne Cemetery. If you have the time please read the story of his life it is fascinating. I find it so sad that we lost so many men in both wars and yet wars still take place, nothing has ever been really learnt.

Walking back down the hill to School Lane I spotted the plaque above the school house.

A charming house with a wonderful tale to tell.

We walked back down School Lane past Thomas Barnes School named after the gentleman who set it up. Thomas Barnes came from such humble beginnings and yet made something of his life and then gave back to the village that saved his life. Thomas is said to have been abandoned as a baby, he was discovered in a barn by some villagers. They were said to have given him his name. He was educated and cared for by the village, His life took him on to being a  successful London merchant.  He wanted to give something back to those who had helped him thus the building of  the school house. The plaque reads. “This house was built at the charge of Mr Thomas Barnes native of this place and a citizen of London in the year of our Lord 1717 for the dwelling of a person to teach the children of this village to read English’. What a wonderful thing to do.

Of course the school has undergone many changes over the years and today it has its very own climbing wall. Hopwas is a delightful village and well worth a wander around and of course if the mood should take you a pint and a meal in one of its pubs.

Yet more painting.

The end is in sight I feel, especially as today I managed to get such a lot done.

Firstly I got on with rubbing down the front deck and the back counter, Keith did some rewiring in the engine room, whilst it was cleared out. He wanted to get some cabling inside the trunk which he had added, so it is all sorted now and much tidier.

With the front deck rubbed down I painted the first coat of Red/Brown Epifanes paint, it is the first time I have used this paint and I am pretty pleased with the results. Mind you at over £50 a tin I should be .

Keith had finished in the engine room, so I gave the floor a second coat of paint early so it would have all day to dry. I then painted the back counter. By the time all of that was done, it was lunch time and some much needed cheese on toast was made and a coffee. All this painting makes me hungry. I discovered today what gave me a dreadful headache yesterday, it was the paint I used in the engine room, because after doing the second coat today I ended up with another headache. I had both the engine room doors open so there was plenty of ventilation, but still I got a headache .

After lunch I touched up the paint work on the pigeon box  and on the bow, so it is all looking tickety boo for five minutes. I can now see the end of the tunnel as far as the paint work goes for this year. Last year with the weather being so poor, I hardly got anything done, so it has been a matter of catching up.

Busy, Busy, Busy.

Wednesday.

having moored up earlier, there was no time like the present to get on with some jobs. With us being moored up for a few days so that I can get some jobs done on the boat, it was time to set to work and the first thing to get my attention was the bow locker cover. The white paint had been cracking for a few months and the old paint was showing through, so I scrapped away all the loose paint and gave it a good old going over with a wire brush.

Then I rubbed it down.

First coat of primer/undercoat.

The hinges then got a coat of red undercoat. That was it for the day as I waited for the paint to dry.

Thursday.

We were up a little earlier than of late in order to make a start on the boat jobs. First on the list for the day, was the stern fenders.

Keith and I then took our old stern fenders off, because they have seen better days. They have lasted 6 years so they have paid for themselves. Before doing any more work, I made us a coffee and got the chairs out, so we could relax for five minutes in the sunshine. There were plenty of boats on the move, so I was kind of glad we were stationary.

 

With the fenders off, I then got on with painting the first white gloss coat to the bow locker. By the time this was done it was time for some lunch, I made us some hotdogs and a coffee, which were enjoyed in the sunshine.

Lunch enjoyed it was back to work. With the stern clear, I got on with painting the blue and later in the day the red.

It is all looking lovely and fresh now. The bow locker cover was dry so I managed to get a coat of red gloss on the hinges and so now it is looking lovely.

Paint work done for the day, I got on with cleaning the brass and then polished the towpath side of the cabin. A very busy old day for me and I was feeling pooped, so a nice hot shower was called for.

Whilst we were busy with the boat jobs we did have some entertainment, with a plane taking off from the field opposite. The plane later returned to the strip. Earlier on a microlite took off but never returned.

Friday.

Over night we had some rain, but by the time we were up the sun was out, so Paddy enjoyed his run along the towpath. After breakfast, I wiped down the paint work I did yesterday to get rid of the droplets of rain. I needed to get a final coat on so drying the paint work off and the help of the sun soon got the surfaces dry enough for me to put the final gloss coats on the stern and bow.

I am pretty happy with the way they have both gone, although it is not a professional job, so no one should look to close. As my Nan would have said “A blind man would be glad to see it”. Whilst that all dried, I turned my attention to the engine room floor, which had not been painted for a good three years, so I emptied the engine room of its bits of bobs, got down to scrubbing the floor with the wire brush and I used a scrapper to get rid of larger loose paint. After rubbing the floor down, I gave it its first coat of red deck paint.

Whilst I left the floor to dry, I looked out of the engine room door and looming large was the cloud of doom. Yes there was a hunking great black cloud heading my way and I was fearful of it raining on my nice new paint work. I stood on the towpath and begged the cloud not to cry all over the wet paint and I was heard because there was no more than a few drops of rain as the cloud of doom passed over head, phew was I ever so grateful.

With all the painting done for the day, after lunch I got on with sweeping the saloon chimney ready for Winter. Keith did have to give me a hand because I could not unblock the chimeny, there appeared to be a mass half way down the chimney which would not give way, to we used a large crowbar to see if that would shift it, Keith even used a sledgehammer on it as well. I used a flue brush from the other direction and eventually hey presto we were through and a large amount of soot fell into the fire place. I then had the lovely job of cleaning up the mess. To get rid of the smell of soot, Keith lit a Joss Stick, with the smell of white musk wafting through the boat, a much nicer smell than soot. Chimney swept, I moved some coal in the hold, to free up some space at the bow, so that we can get to our wood store when the time comes. I also need to find some empty oil cans ready for an engine oil change, which is due to take place very soon, we like to change the oil every 200 hours on both the engine and the generator.

After all that I have done over the past couple of days I am feeling ever so slightly shattered, but very happy with the work achieved so far.

On that note I wish you a very good weekend, mine will be spent doing more painting.

Back on the Coventry.

Travelled 5.85 miles, worked 5 locks in a time of 3 hours 40 minutes.

We left Alrewas at 8.50 am after a pretty quiet evening. It was only disturbed by the boat in front of us, who started up his engine at 8 pm and ran it for an hour, despite their being signs along the moorings asking for boaters to be considerate to the home owners. Maybe the gentleman needs to read considerate boating. Anyway we set off for the first lock of the day Bagnall Lock with a boat in front of us and one behind.

 

The boat in front were in the lock when we arrived, they were having trouble keeping the bottom gates closed because the balance of the gates meant they kept opening on their own, they were also trying to handle two dogs which were on the lock side. Now I have said this before, dogs should remain on the boat when at locks, I see no reason for having your dog or dogs running around at a lock. The woman told me that the smaller of the dogs tended to wander off at locks, so she found it hard to handle the dog and work the lock. Well to me it is not rocket science, keep the dog on the boat. I helped them up through the lock and they went on their way. Came up through the lock with the help of another boater who was behind us. The bottom gates are a pain, but there are ways to keep the gates shut, you just need to know them.

Goodbye to Alrewas. Onward to Common Lock and yet another dog worrying around the lock grrrrrrr. The owner made the dog sit and told me I made her sit because otherwise you will find her up behind you without you knowing. Now to me that is then going to be a trip hazard. I do not want to spend my time watching other peoples dogs, I prefer to concentrate on working my lock. I did say to the lady about keeping her dog on the boat, but she reckoned the dog cries when she leaves the boat. I can see a day when there is going to be a dreadful accident at a lock with a dog, we all know that locks can be dangerous and the terrible accident a couple of weeks ago on the Buckby flight reminded us all how dangerous locks can be and yet there was no dog involved. You need eyes in the back of your head, if you want to work a lock and control your dog. Sorry but you cannot do both.

Hunts Lock.

We stopped above Huts Lock to empty the cassette and get rid of rubbish, the water point was taken so we left that until we turned at the junction.

Heading for Keepers Lock.

Fradley Junction.

In Keepers Lock.

Whilst I closed the gate at Keepers Lock, Keith turned Hadar left at the junction, which bought us back on to the Coventry Canal. I then legged it to open the footbridge, so Keith could get through.

We moored on the water point to fill up with water.

There were a lot of boaters on the move today as we made our way past Streethay Wharf.

We moored up just past Streethay Wharf. Opposite us is a riding school and I can see a plane sitting in the field, hope I see that go up. Moored up, lunch was made and eaten and so now it is time to think about what jobs to get done today.