Market Bosworth.

Hi,

This week we are at Market Bosworth which is about 15 miles up the Ashby Canal from Marston Junction,where the Ashby canal leaves the Coventry Canal.We are here with some friends John and Sheila on their boat Water Ratz. We haven’t seen them since the end of October last year when we parted company on the Nottingham Canal,in of all places,Nottingham.A month or so after that they went away to India for four months and then,when they got back,they spent the next few months cruising on some of the Southern Canals.They’ve detoured up here before heading back to Nottingham and then jetting off to Sri Lanka for a few months.What a life hey?

We finally left our mooring near Congerstone last Wednesday,after being there 11 days.All the little jobs that we had wanted to do for our daughter were done so we thought we would go up to the end of the Ashby canal just past Snarestone,and see what remains of the last 8 miles of canal that were closed due to mining subsidence.There’s a very active Ashby Canal Association that is working towards reopening these lost miles and it was our pleasure to meet some of the members of the ACA.There are some lovely moorings at the end of the navigation so we spent a couple of days there and on the Wednesday night we took a walk to the nearest pub,The Globe,a friendly place,well worth the walk.On Thursday we walked along a short stretch of the old line of the canal which has been filled in but is earmarked for restoration in the near future.

 

That’s us moored at the end of the navigation,nice quiet moorings,with the ACA shop etc. in the background,it was here,and the Globe,that we met some of the ACA members who made us more than welcome,so much so that we joined the Association ourselves.The old Hinckley Pumping Station which is at the end of navigation.This was built in the 1890s to pump fresh water to Hinckley,the pumps were originally steam driven,but there’s little of them left and the building is now a private house.

 

The shaft for the flywheel still in place on the side of the building,it is still possible to see a small part of the flywheel through one of the house windows.The two beams from the pumping engine,these have been bought by one of the ACA members who is to have them mounted on a plinth as a feature alongside the canal.

 

Lisa at the very end of the navigation and a view along the line of the old canal back towards the pumping station.This has all been backfilled with waste from the coalmines to a height well above the original towpath.

 

A private mooring on land that is part of the Manor of Snarestone,I can’t find anything about this feature but it’s obvious what it was used for.The approach to Snarestone Tunnel,The Globe pub is above the tunnel.

 

A few wood sculptures in a garden as we walked into Market Bosworth and Lisa with,not a doggy bag,but a few Blackberries that we picked on our way back to the canal.They went into a lovely crumble for tea

On Friday we left there and made our way here to Market Bosworth,to do a bit of shopping,before moving on to Hinckley,where we had arranged to meet up with the crew of Water Ratz.We spent the weekend there,catching up with all the adventures they’d had in India,and then cruised back here,to Market Bosworth,this afternoon.

Right,that’s all for this week folks.Since our last blog we have done 0 Locks and 30 Miles,giving us a grand total of 480 Locks and 713 Miles since we set of last October.It’ll soon be a year.Take care everyone.