Rugby to the old Bridge 26, North of Nuneaton.

Travelled 19.1 miles, worked 1 lock in a time of 7 hours 5 minutes.

Not as early start as we had thought, mainly be cause we laid in. But we still left our Rugby over night mooring at 8.25 on a bright morning with no wind.

Roy gave us a wave from his back cabin as we past by.

Does anyone know who Maurice was, we saw this lovely statue opposite the Rugby Wharf?

It was onward through Newbold and Newbold Tunnel.

Diesel prices seen to be quite high here, because at Debdale Marina on the Leicester Line at Foxton we paid 84 pence a litre, but everywhere up here are charging between 90p and 95 pence a litre. We are so glad we got our diesel when we did.

Just after Grimes Bridge we saw Alison and Ian on Gosty Hill, making their deliveries.

Ahead of us had been NB Rapide, The Beast Carrying Company, they had set off in front of near All Oaks Wood. But they pulled in at Ansty to moor up.Its a shame that no one empties the dog bins around here.

When ever we pass through here the bin is always full. Which is nice to see that dog owners are using it, but it would be useful if someone emptied it as well.

By 12.45 we were making the turn at Hawkesbury Junction.

We are now back on to the Coventry Canal. After leaving Hawkesbury Junction, we passed through Bedworth and on pass the junction to the Ashby Canal, we then passed through the land of the Allotment as I like to call it Nuneaton, we had no desire to moor in Nuneaton so kept going. As we approached Bridge 23 Tuttle Hill Bridge, which is right near an old quarry, the land is now being built on, so we will no longer be able to see the quarry from the canal, which is a real shame. My eyes were quickly taken off of the houses being built at the quarry as I spotted an huge obstruction in the centre of the canal.

The obstruction is a burnt out plastic cruiser, as we tried to pass it by we rode over something very substantial under the water, probably the rest of this boat. The orange buoys have BW aware tape around them, so clearly they know it is there, but we reckon that it has drifted from the bank having been set free and is now in the middle of the canal, which could be dangerous if boats meet in the bridge 'ole. Having found our way around that obstruction, as we got to the remains of Bridge No.26 something substantial wrapped itself around the prop, so Keith pulled into the towpath just after the bridge ‘ole, I stepped off the boat with the centre line. Whilst I held the boat, Keith tried to pull the offending item off of our prop, after quite a struggle with the boat pole, he managed to get a chunk of heavy duty plastic off, I then took over to give him a break and after several small chunks of heavy plastic sheeting later, the bulk of the sheeting finally gave way.

Not long after that adventure, we decided to moor up just around the corner, before Bridge No.27 and Springwood Haven Marina home of Valley Cruisers, I think we had both had enough for one day. We are far enough away from the railway not to be bothered by the trains, but we have lovely views across the fields from our galley windows. I have relit the back cabin stove, because it has become chilly. Our Curry dinner is now cooking and the smell is sublime. I hope we have a good TV signal, because I want to put my feet up and watch TV this evening. I will probably end up going to bed early, because I have a feeling I will have a problem keeping my eyes open.

Chat soon xx