Atherstone to Nuneaton

8th September

We left Atherstone in glorious sun this morning saying good bye to the lovely dog who had been keeping her eye on us during our stay. 

Everything started to look very familiar to us now we are back on waters we have traveled a few times before.

This stretch also bought back memories for us both as it was here we traveled when we very first hired a boat from Lime Farm Marina back in April 2011, that was the beginning of our narrowboat dream, which we made reality when we bought LJ in December the same year and finally moving permanently aboard April 2012 just a year after having fallen in love with the idea.

We passed by Hartshill where CRT appeared to being doing some work, they are such lovely buildings there and I'm sure a lot of history.

Hartshill Yard

Just a bit further along there was a stretch of about 500 feet where there were 'no mooring' signs, it was reserved for disabled anglers, I wonder how often it is used and if it really needed the whole stretch reserved, it didn't seem busy with boats there and the tow path was in good condition for a long way.

No mooring between bollard and the back of boat right in the distance

We stopped briefly to pop into Nuneaton and it was good to remember where certain shops were, we got some lunch and sat in the well maintain George Elliott Memorial Garden. We made another short move just past bridge 17 as that's the closest we can get to the Bermuda Industrial Park where James wants to visit the Axminster shop tomorrow.

One thing I have noticed being back down in the Midlands is that canal and locks all seem much better looked after than the North West where they seem very neglected.

Moored up near Bridge 17, Gypsy Lane 

7.5 miles 

Total 436.25 miles and 361 locks