It was a sunny morning but rather breezy as we set off, we
went under Bridge 27 and stopped at Springwood Haven Marina to fill up with
diesel and get some gas. It was a good
price for the diesel and gas and the people there were very friendly. It is a really nice marina, not very big, but
has a nice feel to it.
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| CRT Hartshill Yard |
We chugged on along the canal past the CRT Hartshill
Yard. Part of the yard contains a 19th-C
carpenters’ workshop and blacksmiths’ forge.
There is also a splendid clock tower.
The canal then continues towards Mancetter, leaving the quarry belt and
moving into open rolling countryside backed by thick woods to the west, it is a
really attractive part of this canal. We
chugged on and soon we were at Atherstone and moored up at the visitor moorings
after Bridge 40.
We went for a walk into the town to see where the railway
station was as we are catching the train to Birmingham tomorrow as there is a
floating market there, the station is about a 10 minute walk through the town
from the canal.
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| Atherstone Main Street |
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| Atherstone Market Place |
Atherstone has a nice selection of shops with an Aldi and a
big Co-op. The town dates from medieval
times and is largely unspoilt by modern development. St Mary’s church, which was founded in 1365,
stands at the heart of the town in the Market Place surrounded by a range of
buildings reflecting 500 years of domestic architecture. They hold markets here
regularly and there is one on Saturday, so we will have a wander around that.
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| Town Stocks |
We had a wander around the shops and went for a coffee in
one of the independent cafes dotted around the town. Along the main street is a building called
Old Bank House, it was a merchant’s house with a walled garden to the rear in
which are sited the town stocks dated 1809.
We did some shopping then walked back to the boat via the
first five locks of the Atherstone flight.
We have these locks to look forward to in a few days when we leave here,
but they are single locks and not very deep so easy to work and shouldn’t take
too long to get through.
We are staying here a couple of days now and off to
Birmingham tomorrow to see the floating market, so looking forward to that,
hope the sun shines again then!!
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| Moored at Atherstone |
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