POLESWORTH
It was an "Eleven-Lock Day". Knowing that we
were going to have a challenging day, we shoved off from Nuneaton at 7:30 am. It was
pleasantly sunny but very cold. I had doubled my gloves but found it impossible
to take photos! Taking my gloves off and getting my camera out and set to shot was clumsy and time
consuming, and I missed some worthy shots. Frustrating.
Acres of lush green meadows
An old Boat Yard
It had been a while since my last lock experience so getting back into the groove was far from smooth. We had one boat ahead of us all along and only one other boat coming in the opposite direction on one of the locks, so it went quite smoothly as far as timing.
Ahead of us was a young woman on her own handling her boat and the lock. Once-in-a-while a path walker would stop and help her with a gate. Our timing was such that I was able to get to the lock to close the last gates for her, so she didn’t have to tie up and walk back up to do it. She was very grateful.
At our last lock she thoughtfully did tie
up and walked up to help me. She was able to manage the first gate that was a struggle
and together we were able to make good time getting through the operations. I
was so exhausted by that time. Her help was such a gift.
She had purchased the boat in July, had
some work done on it and now is cruising home to Manchester where she will continue
the renovations. Today her plan was to get it through the locks, tie up, then
walk or Uber back to her car and then drive one and a half hours back home to
Manchester. We were both “knackered” so
I don’t know where she was finding the energy to do all that. Ah, but she is young.
Her dad was going to join her for the rest
of the journey. On the canal she was figuring at least 5 weeks getting the boat
home, and she was going to be driving back home each day of cruising because
there are no facilities on the boat yet. Her boat was aptly named “Achievement”. We
were so impressed by this young woman.
Just about 2 minutes after we moored our boat, the skies opened up. It had actually been warm for a good part of the day so our timing was perfection. I was so spent by the end of our 6 hour journey that I immediately plopped myself down on my chair and promptly fell asleep. I was awakened by the scrumptious smells of a lamb chop dinner prepared by my own personal chef. Glad I purchased an upgrade.
We finally had the chance to enjoy our
cheeses we purchased in Market Bosworth before dinner. The Stilton Blue Cheese
is one of our favorites and the selection of cheddars are amazing, too. We are finding the inexpensive wines we
purchased to be way too sweet. I have had some delicious wines in pubs mainly Merlot and Malbec. David bought cartons
of sangria and added slices of banana, orange and apple which made
all the difference.
Our guidebooks have been worth their weight
in gold. We spend time in the evening or early morning each day planning out
our next trip and what we hope to find along the way. Boater’s service stops as
well as water stations are clearly marked. Every bridge is numbered so we can
keep track of where we are. The books also offer information about each of the
towns and cities, as well as shopping, boat yard and pub locations. David used
these before we left to map out our itinerary. We have stuck to most of it, but
canal closures have changed our timeline and planned destinations a bit.
David sinking down in the lock
I was beyond tired last night so did not blog. I enjoy doing the locks now, but they do take a lot out of me especially if there are several in a row. No time to recharge. I know that I get nervous when there are others about while I am operating the lock. I got my wrench attached to the paddle incorrectly twice yesterday while another boater tried to gently remind me to turn it around. Anyone I have encountered at the locks has been helpful, but all are rather seasoned boaters. I know they must look at me with great curiosity.
Weather is supposed to be rough today with showers and winds, so we took off for our hour’s jaunt at sunrise this morning. We have found a comfortable spot in Polesworth and are just relaxing before heading to town to explore and run errands. We have plenty of time to reach Birmingham where we are leaving our boat while we travel to Galway, Edinburgh and Munich for 10 days beginning early December .We are looking forward to seeing friends and family and exploring Munich where we have never been.
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