Monsters over the hill

May 28^th; Hillmorton to All Oaks Wood

We were woken by an early boat and the sun streaming through the ventilation grilles on the rear doors.  It had been very quiet overnight, sheltered from most of the noise from the railway, but by 8 the builders on the massive housing development had arrived, and the diggers were competing with the larks for our attention.

But for now the weather was good and we started on the overdue cleaning of the outside of the boat.  I’d already swept the roof and cleaned the flue, so I got my scrubbing brush and set to on the roof while Dave started the port side.  I’d finished my task and got the bits and pieces back on the roof, and gone in to make coffee while Dave prepared to start the waxing.  But the rain arrived so that was that and in he came for elevenses.

When the rain stopped we decided to move.  The diggers were still growling and rattling about and occasionally lifted their arms above the great spoil bank which shields the canal from the raw earth and noise beyond.

I don’t know whether the spoil banks were deliberately seeded with a wild flower mix, or if the seed bank in the soil has burst into life, but the banks were covered in wild flowers.

As we approached the pleasant mooring we had used last year, at the Clifton end of the golf course, we saw that the bank works taking place last year ….

 …..had morphed into a gigantic road bridge, so wide that it must be intended for a dual carriageway.

It must be tough for the locals in the houses which once had a pleasant view of canal and golf course.

We needed a Tesco visit, so when we got to the start of the moorings at Brownsover we pulled in straight away in case the moorings further up were full.  I trotted up to the park and bingo! two spaces on the towpath side, so having forgotten to take my phone I had to jog all the way back to get Dave to move up.  So we had a much shorter trek back with a laden trolley and two heavy bags.  After lunch, with more rain, we pushed across to the water point to finish topping up the water and get rid of the soot from the flue.

It’s quite noisy here so we moved on.  The stretch past Newbold tunnel was green loveliness, a welcome relief from the busy roads around Rugby.

The afternoon was warm and quite sunny, and we arrived at the lovely All Oaks Wood moorings for yet another stroke of good fortune – we had to use mooring pins and were in the dappled shade of an oak tree rather than full sun, but as it’s often difficult to get in here at all we weren’t complaining.  And now we’ve got lovely shiny brasses too.

7 miles, no locks, Newbold Tunnel, little swing bridge at Stretton Stop, heavy shopping and shiny brasses.