Burton Hastings To Market Bosworth.

Two strange questions on the Ashby.

Slipping gently away from the bank on a morning like this is always going to be good, the stillness was all over the air and almost tangible.

The Ashby is a "dead end" sort of a canal, being stuck out as a branch line from the main network, it is therefore an up to the end and back trip for the modern traveller.

Today, within an hour of each other, we were asked by two other boaters "Are you going anywhere nice?" How can you answer this?.....when we were asked this type of question on the Staffs and Worcs or the Shroppie we could say yes,... we are off to Leeds, that would always throw them. But here, all you can say is "to the end and back" where else can you go?

Straight through the hole if you please.







The Ashby is well known for being a shallow and resultingly slow canal. Dredging has been going on at certain locations along the way, in all that mud are some quite large Clam shells.

Freshwater Clams, Mussels and Crayfish? The shell fisherman inside of me is taking over.........






Mmmm...............








A rudder at the front? .......good thinking paddle man!


We have passed a fellow Blogger today as he called to us, but unfortunately we have no idea who it was as there was no name on his boat. If you are that man, give us the nod and we can add you to our Blog roll.



Until next time..............................









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Burton Hastings.

A lovely peaceful day in the country.................That is until I started the chainsaw of course.

Here's a few pictures from yesterday of the start of the Ashby, very rural and no locks whatsoever over its entire length. It looks like D will be so rusty when the stoppage season ends I'll have to deploy the WD40...!

Another hour with the chainsaw today and its starting to make a visible dent in the log pile, another hour or so should see it finished.
What a result we had falling over that lot.





Until next time............................









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Ansty To Burton Hastings.

Three canals and more logs than you can shake a stick at!

This is much more like it. No wind, rain, snow or ice and a temperature of ten degrees, its a heat wave........ Joice and rejoice!!








The first of the canals we were on today was the Oxford.
This is the stop lock at Sutton Stop/Hawkesbury Junction, whatever you want to call it, just before we did a complete U turn under that bridge ahead and joined the Coventry canal.

Before we arrived here we had the good fortune to come across a BW team chopping and trimming the trees along the towpath, we duly took full advantage of that piece of luck to the extent that we are now very low in the water.






These are the water point moorings just past the junction on to the Coventry, not much chance of a top up here then.





The mannequin at my favourite boatyard has had yet another change of clothes, what a place that is!




Another turn,





and we are on the third canal for today being the Ashby, or if you prefer, the Ashby De La Zouch Canal. Things do seem to have two names around here.





An hours chainsawing, in this glorious location, has set us up for quite a few days of log burning with the added bonus of loads more trunks still up on the roof ready to be cut.
It's all good.






Until next time........................







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