Cruising the Coventry Canal - Part 1
Autumn is here and we have decided to move onto the Coventry Canal for winter. Since we bought Hang Loose in January 2019 we have spent every winter at Weston on Trent, so this year we are having a change.
The Coventry Canal was part of James Brindley’s plan to link the River Trent with the Thames at Oxford but it was the transportation of coal from the mines along the route that made it prosperous. The mines have now all closed but even as late as 1958 coal was still being transported.
There only 13 locks, 11 of which are the Atherstone flight and the 2 Glascote locks so it is a pretty gently and easy cruise through so much beautiful countryside and villages - not to mention a fair sprinkling of good pubs!
Although we have cruised this canal a couple of times before, we always felt there is so much more to explore. The first time we cruised it was when we were in a rush to get back to Derby and the second time was earlier this year just to get a better feel before making our winter canal.
We are also going to do the Ashby Canal while we are this way as this is probably the best time of year due to low water levels in the summer time.
We have been at Hopwas for 2 weeks in a very quiet spot as it was halloween and bonfire night and Tilly is really scared of the fireworks. We were almost opposite Hopwas woods - which is a military firing range and so not always open for the public to walk in. This ancient woodland covers 400 acres and we had a couple of lovely walks in there
There are 2 pubs close by - the one we like is The Red Lion. We had a lovely Sunday dinner in there and a nice pint or 2! We also walked back to Whittington which is a lovely village and there’s a great little pub there too called The Bell Inn.
Nearby is Tamworth which, between the eighth and tenth centuries, was the capital of the Kingdom of Mercia. King Offa lived here and then later so did Alfred the Great’s daughter. Later still Athelstan also lived here (as avid watchers of The Vikings series we love this history).
Moored at Fazeley last night after cruising from Hopwas and having a pump out in the marina. After walking to the Three Tuns with Bob and Rosemary for a couple of pints we strolled back to our boats for tea.
Tuesday 9th November
We walked with Tilly and Winston back to Hopwas 3 miles to get the car and drove to park it at Amington close to our next mooring. We then walked 3 miles back to Fazeley to Hang Loose and cruised to Amington.
The cruise today took us through the 2 Glascote locks which used to be overlooked by the Reliant car factory. Production stopped here in 1998 and is now replaced by a housing estate. At the top of the two locks is a boatyard that used to be a canal/railway interchange basin.
The weather was mild and cloudy. Tilly and Winston were really good - quite tired now after their 6 miles walking!
We are with Captain and the Lady and we had a walk to The Pretty Pigs for a pint.
Wednesday 10th November
We were on the move before 10am this morning and as soon as we got going it started to rain!. Our cruise today took us through Polesworth village to Atherstone and we moored below lock 9, which is a beautiful open stretch with lovely views.
Opposite the visitor moorings further up, there is a great little pub called The Kings head where we went for a pint with our good friends Bob and Rosemary and also met their lovely friends Steve and Moira - a very enjoyable evening and new friends made.
Atherstone locks is a flight of 11 locks that are quite spread out at the bottom but get closer as it reaches the town. The town of Atherstone has been a centre for hat making since the 17th century and once employed 3,000 people in its millinery factories and there is a derelict hat factory at the top of the flight. This factory was closed in 1999 and is now scheduled to be converted to canal side flats.
