Date: Sun, 3 Sep 2000 22:04:12 +0100 From: Ann Harvey Reply-To: Canals To: Canals Subject: Amos's August trip - Part 4 [ The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] SATURDAY 19 AUGUST We left at 8.45 am in cloudy but quite pleasant weather. Mooring under the trees last night made us think that it was raining when we were still in bed, but it was only the trees dripping on the roof. The morning turned sunny and the trip was very enjoyable. Hillmorton paired locks are very pleasant. One was set in our favour, so I set the other for Penny at the same time as I worked Amos through, and left the gates open for her, unaware that they had stopped for water. We met a couple of boats coming down so there was not too much work. When we reached Braunston we turned round at the junction and were moored up by 1.00 pm. We walked up the towpath and across the bridge to the hotel/pub and sat in the hot sunshine on the outside deck overlooking the canal. Having refreshed ourselves we walked down to Mid Swin to buy a replacement witch^Òs hat, which had been knocked off and holed previously. Ken also bought some screws to attach it to the chimney via a piece of ball chain that we^Òd been given for the purpose by our marina neighbours, so that we don^Òt lose this one. After a sandwich for lunch we took the afternoon off. Ken and Pat did a few odd jobs (like fixing the witch^Òs hat) before walking along the towpath to Braunston Marina. We walked round there for a while before returning to the boats for a meal. After our meal we went back to the pub, The Mill, and spent a pleasant evening, then returned to Amos for a nightcap. Before going out however, I phoned the Bell and Barge to ask for our discount to be refunded to my card. I have to call in tomorrow on our way through to produce the reciept, and we will get a refund. SUNDAY 20 AUGUST I woke up to a bright and sunny morning and when I^Òd woken everyone else we set off at 8.25 am. It was a really lovely cruise on this winding canal. We stopped at the bottom of Hillmorton locks to take on water again and moored up again on the park moorings at Rugby in about the same spot as previously. We went to the Bell and Barge and the Assistant Manager willingly gave me a full refund on all our meals. We were very pleased at that, as we had only been asking for the discount to be refunded. We made another visit to Tesco to get what we^Òd forgotten on Friday and then had lunch in the sunshine on the picnic table. Another planning meeting and we^Òre off again, headed for Brinklow again or possibly Ansty. A feature of this trip has been the thick duckweed that carpets this canal, We never lost it for long, but it thinned out just before Rugby. On this return trip we met it again just before bridge 40, after the little tunnel. We arrived at Ansty bank about 5.45 pm and moored in front of nb Ann ^Ö Artist Afloat. We are about a foot from the bank which shelves all along this stretch. We sat on the front deck in the hot sunshine to eat our meal, but were driven inside by a wasp. Afterwards we took our tea outside again and sat reading. It was very hot and sunny ^Ö then a large drop of water fell on my newspaper, then another on my arm. I suspected a bird flying overhead was responsible but when I looked up a small black cloud was just overhead. Soon the large drops of rain sent us inside again, but the sun still shone brightly and it was very hot. As we watched this phenomenon a lovely rainbow appeared. The raindrops bounced like tennis balls on the green carpet of duckweed, sending fountains four inches high. The sunset was incredible as well, after the short sharp rainshower was over. Later we walked to the canalside pub, the Rose and Castle (another foody pub) and had a few drinks followed by a few more on Amos. MONDAY 21 AUGUST We set off at 10.00 from Ansty after a full breakfast. At 8.00 am the mist was thick over the fields on the other side, but it felt warm. By the time we set off it was a ^Ñsoft^Ò sort of morning with hazy sunshine and no wind. The sun soon came out and it was warm and glorious weather. We topped up with water at Hawkesbury junction, and were told that the duckweed had been there since June last year and was caused by a boat ramming the stop planks on the River Swift, causing this river to flow into the canal, bringing the duckweed with it. We paused at Valley Cruisers for an ice cream, and a pumpout for Koinonia ^Ö a hefty £12. Our loo will last till Compton. We moored at Atherstone at 5.00 pm at more or less the same place as we had on the outward journey. It is still sunny and warm and we plan to eat out tonight at the King^Òs Head. We had good meals and drinks here and would recommend this place. Later we retired to Koinonia for nightcaps, and it was annother good evening. ---