Thursday the 20^th; after spending a couple of days here at Hawkesbury Junction where I managed to get the back end and the cockpit glossed and finished painting, we set off this morning for Mount Judd at Nuneaton.

Leaving at 10.00 to do the one shallow lock and under the bridge and onto the Coventry Canal where we topped up the water tank and did the other necessary jobs, and oh boy was the tap slow. Whilst here we met Angela and Ray off NB Rendezvous who had been down to Boston this summer and who moor at Crick, we had a good chat whilst the water tank slowly filled, before setting off again.

Angela and Ray chatting to Sally

 

The weather was overcast and quite cold, with odd spells of drizzle, so we were pleased to have our central heating bypass which kept the inside of the boat nice and cosy, (thanks Alex of NB Steelaway for the idea). Leaving Hawkesbury we soon passed the Charity Boat Yard with all its manikins and other items of amusement, on passed Marsden Junction where the Ashby meets the Coventry.

 Charity Boat Yard

 Little black whippet

Could this be Mr Ray Smith?

 

It wasn’t long before we were on the outskirts of Nuneaton and passing all of the allotments which line the south bank, some of which looked very well attended and were filled with produce. As we passed through we remembered where we were moored the year before last, and where we made our telephone call to buy Socks from South Blue the breeders. Should we have made the call “well YES” as he is turning into a very well behaved part of the family. We also spotted the Ashby NB Carlton, which we hired and gave us the layout which we have today on our boat.

Carlton

Running out of the town we got our first view of Mount Judd and with a couple of miles to go Sally made a very welcome mug of tea as it was cold stood on the back. We found our planned spot, moored up, and go straight on with lighting the stove and settling down for the rest of the day. Almost as soon as we had pulled over, Gypsy went out for her first scout around ready for later tonight.

 Mount Judd in the background

See, the fire is going

Since I last wrote the Blog, Graham has let me know that he can confirm that there was no damage to the front of my boat when we were moored together at Rugby and on the day that we parted just before the accident, so that is good news for my claim against Rose Narrow Boats. We have also received two e-mails from other folk who have given us some good advice, so to Verity and Bob we thank you as it has given us other information to look out for.

Isn't she beautiful !!!