Fab four on the Coventry

It was way back in the previous century that the four of us had a fabulous time getting a narrowboat from Bugbrooke to Newbury.  Now Terry, Myra, Chas n Ann are travelling on the Coventry canal.  It is well served by towns and villages for supplies.  Property along the canal has well kept gardens to admire and there are plenty of quiet places to stop with a hard edge and cut grass.  The waterway meanders round the contours of the land and round the edges of towns.

Mooring near Pooley
When we had got to Polesworth we stopped for a while and did some shopping.  Just a walk across the playing fields and the river Anker to get there.  All very clean, tidy and freshly painted the shops were doing quite well.  Warm sunny days have changed to cold grey days and we now at least have an elected Prime Minister.
We continued up the hill to Atherstone with a boat in front and some coming down.  The boat in front stopped short of the top lock having picked up some barbed wire wrapped round the prop.  “What was that doing in the canal?”  Because it was an old boat with no weed hatch, a boat hook was needed to pull the wire off.  The lock keeper came down to help and one man was in the water with cutters.  Mean while we passed and went up to get water.
We spent a few hours walking round the Historic Town Trail with thirty features of interest.  The town is known for its hat making industry in the 1930’s but with the Roman Watling Street passing through it clearly has a longer history dating from Anglo Saxon times.