Firstly, thank you to everyone who came to visit us at Shardlow. It was great to see you all and to share Daisy with you. The visitor’s page has now been updated with all of your pics!
We left Shardlow at 8am prompt yesterday to embark on our planned route – which started with a short spell on the River Trent and then on to the River Soar.
Our anchor and life rings were at the ready and I sensibly had my life jacket on. I have to say that I was very nervous about getting back on the River and did freak out a bit when I saw the daunting buoys in the distance. It was fine though, in fact it was beautiful. The River was calm and steady and it was great fun being out on such a large strip of water. Paul was careful to read the directions so that we didn’t go the wrong way and all was going well……
Until we arrived at Ratcliffe lock only to find it was padlocked and with two engineers in attendance. Aarrrggghhhh, one of the gate posts had eroded through and so it had to be repaired. Annoyingly, one of the engineers said that this should have been dealt with 4 years ago but the CRT, in a cost cutting exercise, chose not to deal it until it became an emergency. Now the lock would be out of action for at least a week, possibly six, in the height of summer. The lock is a crucial part of the route down South so will affect hundreds of people.
So, after a sulk and a mard, and a very nice salad, we decided to go back the way we had come, right back to Fradley junction, where we would pick up the Coventry canal that would eventually lead us to the Grand Union. Paul will do a map video later on 😀
On a positive, I did the reverse journey on the Rivers and it means we can put our anchor away again!!
At the end of a beautiful but frustrating day, we chilled with a beer and enjoyed the view.
Lots of love,
Jo & Paul xx
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