Ashby adventures

Now where were we last time.  Aah yes, Coventry.  Well we had a pleasant run out of there and now we're up the Ashby canal- in fact we're on our way back down it having turned round near the battlefield moorings.  The battle in question of course being the battle of Bosworth field at which Richard III, having failed to swap his kingdom for a horse,  met his come uppance at the hands of the smaller army of Henry Tudor thus ending the wars of the roses and starting the reign of the Tudors.

In typical fashion we now find out that the battle was not at Bosworth at all but a few miles further south around Dadlington and Sutton Cheyney.  It was reputedly all looked down upon by the villagers of Stoke Golding from their lofty church tower. on the hill.  As well as having the splendid George and Dragon pub, which serves astonishingly good ales, Stoke Golding also has this to brag about.  You pass it on the walk up to the pub.

Poor old Richard III of course, as we all now know, was carted off the Leicester and buried under a car park.  

As well as the pub  the village also has an Indian restaurant and there's a  farm shop near the canal and some decent moorings (with mooring rings) by the bridge leading up to Crown Hill.  What's not to like?

That's the Ashby Boats hire base you can see through the bridge.  They'll sell you an ice cream if you ask them nicely.

After having given the George and Dragon sufficient of our custom, we moved up to Sutton Wharf which looks like this

Gongoozlers galore and a cafe doing good home cooked lunches and teas.  They also have a CRT pontoon mooring a few yards further on which we took advantage of for  bit of R&R and a bit of gunnel touch up painting in the heat of the afternoon.

Then in the cool of the evening we tootled up to the battlefield winding hole, turned round and headed back to Stoke Golding for the night - which is where I am typing this.

Years ago, when we thought of the Ashby, we said 'Nah, no locks, it'd be boring'.   Well this is now our third time up here and we're warming to it.  Despite what people often say, there are plenty of good mooring spots - I would say at least every half hour you'd find one. And of course the open countryside is very seductive.  Turning into the Ashby from the Coventry canal, we were quickly struck by the increase in insect life, as demonstrated by the swallows swooping around the boat.  Lots of damselflies in the reeds too.  Being so remote and rural, the thing there is a shortage of is grocery outlets apart from Hinckley, the only half sizeable town on the canal.  Its a good thing the farm shops are near the canal.

Anyhow, we're now starting on our return trip having abandoned our early idea of heading for the Trent & Mersey.  Hot weather and short cruising days are why that is so, and we're completely content about it. Why rush about when you can take a leisurely pace and really take in the surroundings.  I got a bit of touch up painting done and I've read two novels this week -and I only read two or three a year normally so that's quite something.

I think tomorrow is going to be another hot one, so it'll be an early start and probably an early finish.  How far we get, we have no idea.

Toodle pip.