Monday 14th October - Snarestone Terminus to Snarestone Tunnel Southern Portal
Coming through Snarestone Tunnel and you can see how wonky it is, very strange as it is only 250yds long. It also is much lower at the northern portal than at the southern.
We also had a problem with the top drawer in the kitchen, the drawer front fell off on one side and we could see where the screw was and where it fitted on the front but couldn't see how to get to the head of the screw. A quick picture to our son-in-law, a talented joiner who also fits kitchens and the problem was solved. The drawer is now fixed!
We walked through the village of Snarestone and out to Lodge Farmshop where we stocked up on fresh produce for the next few days.
Another boat coming through the tunnel, you can see the headlight shining in the distance. They moored up soon after the tunnel and it was several hours before they turned the headlight off.When we were moored at the terminus, only a short distance away, we had perfect Wi-Fi, but here we have no Wi-Fi and no phone signal! Very strange!
0.5 miles, 0 locks, 30mins
Tuesday 15th October - Snarestone to Market Bosworth
A gentle cruise back to Market Bosworth where we moored in exactly the ame place as before but facing the other way. Dave did most of the driving and I cleared all the floors to give them a good hoover and then a wash, a job well done!
Once moored up, Dave walked into the village to get his hair cut, but the barbers was closed and would be open tomorrow. However the zero waste shop was open so he decided it was worth going back in tomorrow.
5.75 miles, 0 locks, 2hrs 12mins
Wednesday 16th October - Market Bosworth
A pretty miserable day, wet and windy so decided to stay in Market Bosworth, Dave went back into the village where he had a shave and haircut and visited the NextGen - The Refill Station and restocked our cleaning materials. The lady was saying that there doesn’t seem to be much interest in eco-friendly products in Market Bosworth, she has even tried the Marina and that doesn’t appear interested either. So, if you are in this area please support the shop, a local business supporting the environment.
Thursday 17th October - Market Bosworth to Duck’s Corner, Stoke Golding
A much nicer day, bright sunshine and a warm breeze, so we set off for Sutton Cheney Wharf stopping to top up with water just outside Market Bosworth.
A beautiful blue sky with fair weather clouds, a very pleasant cruise and an ideal opportunity to tidy up the inside of the boat.
We moored on the visitor moorings and after changing into suitable footwear (it was very muddy in places) we set off for Bosworth Battlefield heritage Centre.
The walk took us through Ambion Wood, a beautiful stretch of footpath through a mixed woodland, very still and peaceful.
We had a wander around the Heritage Centre and found this amazing sculpture. The sculpture entitled 'Piecing together the Past' is about the archaeology and putting together the clues from the past that come together rather like a jigsaw. It portrays both Richard III and Henry VII on a two sided coin. The coin is held in a large, solid oak frame and takes centre stage in the courtyard at the Battlefield centre. The artist is Stephen Broadbent.
We left the Heritage Centre and headed back towards the canal passing this well on the way. This plaque suggests that King Richard III drank from this well before the Battle of Bosworth and his subsequent death.
We carried on down towards the canal following the course of the old railway, the same one we visited at Shackerstone, but it has been turned into a pleasant greenway through the trees.
Walking back along the other side of the canal we passed our mooring, and Ella sitting in the sunshine, below the trees gradually changing their leaf colour.
We stopped at Sutton Wharf for our lunch, a busy spot midway on the walk from the Heritage Centre. Whilst we were there a coach load of elderly tourists arrived having already visited the Heritage Centre, and settled down for afternoon refreshments. Wonderful! We returned to the boat and after disposing of any rubbish we moved onto Duck’s Corner, Stoke Golding where we moored up for the night.
We went for a walk into the village and found this majestic looking church. It is possible to just make out the band of lighter stone just above the parapet on the tower. The spire was taken down to this level in World War II so that Wellington Bombers could land safely at RAF Nuneaton / Lindsey. It was rebuilt in 1947.
This plaque mounted on a brick pillar at the entrance to the aptly named ‘Crown Hill Bungalow. on Station Road, commemorates the Coronation of King Henry Vll the first of the Tudor Monarchs, on Crown Hill, following The Battle of Bosworth Field, on 22nd August 1485.
This is the original Hall’s Sock factory. The Hall family have been selling socks from Leicestershire since 1882. The first Hall’s factory was built in 1882 in the rural farming community of Stoke Golding, Leicestershire. It employed just 16 people and had a monthly turnover of £32 4s 4d. The original goal for John Hall was to provide warm, long-lasting hose for the farming community in which he was brought up. The first socks he produced were pure Scottish wool, grey half-hose. These were recorded in 1892 as costing 2s 7d for 2 dozen pairs. John was renowned for his honesty and integrity and became known as Honest John (which is where the HJ comes from). It is now residential accommodation.
5.5 miles, 0 locks, 2hr 24mins
Friday 18th October - Stoke Golding to Hinckley
We woke to a very foggy morning and waited at our mooring until the fog had lifted and we had a pleasant sunny morning. In front of us was a hire boat which needed to be back by early this morning so they left in the fog!
This was the Marina where the hire boat had come from, we passed it on the outside. The couple had enjoyed their time on the boat, wishing only that the weather had been better.
Beautiful colours on the trees now, the autumn colours really coming into their own.
3.5 miles, 0 locks, 1hr 48mins
Saturday 19th October - Hinckley to Hawkesbury Junction
We left Hinckley and pulled into the water point to top up water and dispose of rubbish. When I got back from the bins I noticed a peculiar eggy smell, we decided to carry on and do a complete engine check when we got to Hawkesbury Junction.
Once we arrived we did a check and couldn't see anything amiss and the smell had gone, so we decided to do another check tomorrow morning. We met up with friends, Di and Mark, and went to The Greyhound Inn for a late lunch and a long catch up. It was wonderful to see them again!
8.5 miles, 0 locks, 3hrs 12mins
Sunday 20th October - Hawkesbury Junction
Today we are staying in Hawkesbury Junction as the weather is meant to be pretty bad, catching the end of Storm Ashley. We put the engine on to top up the batteries mid morning and the smell came back even worse. We shut everything down and called RCR, who were most helpful and we eventually spoke to an engineer who talked us through how to isolate the domestic and engine batteries. Half an hour later an engineer arrived, found the offending battery, isolated it but couldn’t remove as it was too hot to lift out of its tray. Abi was very helpful and assured us that we would be safe to carry on and have the battery removed when Simon Pollard replaces the complete bank of batteries with new ones. Poor Dave couldn’t eat his egg mayonnaise for lunch, the smell was so bad!
An eventful end to this week!
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