Polesworth to Grendon - Coventry Canal

Friday 22nd June

It was another sunny day and warm when we got up.  We had breakfast then set off up into the village to visit the Abbey.  There is a lovely old gatehouse and we walked up the drive to the Abbey Church.

It was founded in the 9th century by St. Modwen and King Egbert. The first abbess was Edgytha (daughter of King Egbert, now St. Editha).

Tunnel at Gatehouse

The Gatehouse

The site of the Abbey is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, although apart from the church and the gatehouse and the restored ruins of the cloister very little remains visible. The 12th-century Abbey church, now the parish church of St Editha, is a Grade II* listed building.   The 14^th Century gatehouse is both a Grade II listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It has recently been restored and renovated to provide apartments available for rent.

Info Board at Abbey

It was open so we went in and had a good look around.  There was a chap in the church moving pews around as there is a concert in the church on Saturday evening so Kev did his good deed for the day and helped him as they are heavy to move about on your own.

There is a sensory garden but unfortunately it was closed so we had a walk in the church yard and then back through the village to the boat.  There is a good hardware shop in the village and on the way past we bought a new mat for the front.

Lovely Reflection

We were going to stay here in Polesworth today as well but we discovered that there was a farm shop and tea room a bit further down the road at Grendon so we decided to move on so we could visit there tomorrow.

Our New Mat!!

It was a glorious afternoon as we set off along the canal and after a couple of miles we moored in a lovely sunny open spot near the bridge and the lane we need to walk up to the farm shop.

There are services near the bridge so in the afternoon we walked along there to get rid of rubbish that had been mounting up as there has not been many places along this stretch where we can get rid of it so it was good to finally dump it at the refuse point.

We then walked on along the canal to the bottom of Atherstone locks and walked up the first two, then sat on a bench and watched a boat go through the lock, we then walked back down, along the towpath and back to the boat.  We then chilled out for the rest of the day.

Moored at Grendon