Wednesday 5^th September

Awoke to a lovely autumn mist lying low over the water and the sun coming up behind the trees. The mist was soon burnt off leaving another glorious sunny day.

We motored on through Polesworth; no boats were moored on the first stretch which is usually very busy with lurkers; we had seen a similar picture at Atherstone where there was only had one boat moored on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, again very unusual.

Just before the M42 bridge we passed the Pooley Fields Heritage Centre, an old mining area where I went with my walking group to learn to make walking sticks with antler handles.

* Heritage Centre

We only passed a couple of boats but as we turned the sharp corner just before Alvecote marina we encountered a Canal Time boat across the canal, they had not heard coming but quickly retrieved the boat allowing us to pass. At Alvecote marina we saw many of the old working boats which had passed over the last 2 days.

* Working Boats

We eventually caught up with a boat at Glascote locks but were soon through them and on to Fazeley where we moored up opposite Peel’s wharf.

After lunch we walked up to the Ventura Retail Park to get some provision from M & S and some polish for the boat. On route we called in to see Lottie one of our old neighbours who has moved over here. Phoenix was a little tired having walked to and around the shops and refused to walk back so we caught the bus back to Fazeley (all of about 3 stops).

Angela and Michael from Nb Levick joined us for tea and home made cake and we spent a good couple of hours chatting about our various canal exploits.