Bridge 50B (poo farm)

After a couple of days in Atherstone, it was time to move on. I untied the boat and headed for the top lock of the Atherstone Locks, eleven in all. Just before them however, Is the Elsan, water and rubish disposal. I managed to do all except for the Elsan, which was out of order. All this is located on the right of the photo below. While I was waiting for the water to fill, one of the volunteer lock keepers arrived and I chatted to him for a short while until the tank was full. Steve, I think his name was. Terrible for names, me.

 

Here’s the top lock cottage with Steve setting off to operate the lower gate paddles while I stayed on the boat. He kindly assisted me on the first five locks down the flight as this is what they do when they have more than two ‘volly lockys’ on duty, the other two remaining at the top lock. These people don’t get paid and they do this for the love of canals and also for exercise.

 

Something I would never do and that is to step across the gap to open the other gate. I’ve thought about it and looked, and then, naaah!! Too dangerous for me. One false step and I fall and get wet or possibly hit the boat on the way down. Ouch…

 

A quick look behind as apparently I’m being followed by a classic work boat. No sign yet…

Below is the A5 bridge at Atherstone which is just after where Steve left me and I was on my own for the rest of the 6 locks in the flight. I was going to stop here and let the classic boat past me as they were mob-handed and catching me up.

 

However, there was a boat coming towards me who said that the lock should be in my favour as he had just come out of it. He had a lovely wee doggie that was running up and down the roof…

 

The only problem was that when I was nearing the lock, a hire boat had arrived at the bottom of it and sent a couple of their crew up to empty the lock for themselves without looking to see if any other boat was about to descend, meaning me. This kind of thing is normally frowned upon due to wastage of water. However, as they were hire boaters, they probably hadn’t even been told about these things before being sent off on their way in control, or not,  of a 15 ton, waterbound, 4mph missile.

Anyway, I’m not going to rant on about it but after another hour or so, and letting the classic boat pass me by, I completed the Atherstone flight and was actually feeling quite knackered. So I decided to pull over and moor up at the next nice spot.

 

Some people have all the money…

 

On the way was this unusual railway bridge. Unusual in that they are normally very wide and don’t constrict the canal as it passes under.

 

And, just around the corner I spotted this lovely spot just under a nice large oak tree. Wonderful.

I even had the company of a couple of geese of the more unusual variety and they were reasonably quite compared to Canada geese.

There was a smell around here which I thought may have been something I had trodden in, but after a short while I looked back down towards the railway line and spotted a sewerage farm. Great. It actually wasn’t that bad really as I got used to it and was far better when I closed the boat doors.