Tuesday 1st – Sunday 6th July
July arrived in the same way that June left – hot, sweaty and without a cloud in the sky. Our objective tuesday was to reach “All Oaks Wood’ visitor moorings. The days cruise was very pleasant, mainly through countryside the main brush with the modern (frenetic) world being when we passed under the M6 motorway.
Despite the traffic rushing over it the M6 looks quite small and insignificant from a boat on the canal until you actually pass under it and view the forest of concrete columns that support it.
All Oaks Wood is a beautiful forest located near Brinklow in Warwickshire, extending around 500 acres, it’s known for its dense oak trees, hence the name. The woodland is a mixture of ancient and newly planted trees, creating a diverse and captivating landscape. It is a popular spot for nature lovers as the woods support a wide variety of birds, insects and small mammals. Sadly we found the weather rather hot so didn’t take a woodland walk, perhaps next time.
Wednesday morning saw us on our way at an unbelievable time of 8:00am, I can’t recall NB Fantasma ever moving this early before but figured that most boaters would start and stop early in this heatwave weather. We wanted to moor in Rugby to go shopping and Rugby seems to have bought a very large number of “Strictly No Mooring” signs. Our strategy paid off and as we approached the short section of Rugby Visitor Moorings a couple of boats were leaving and we were able to moor. Throughout the day if a boat left it’s space would be filled by another within a couple of minutes.
When we went shopping we found why these moorings are so popular, Tesco is around 100 yards away and a whole raft of shops from Matalan to Halfords not much further. The rest of the day was spent in retail therapy.
We would have liked to reach Braunston Thursday night but being such a popular place by the time we get there the chances of getting a couple of good mooring was very unlikely so moored a mile outside and went in Friday morning getting, after visiting the services and Midland Chandlers, good moorings on the main visitor moorings.
Friday night we had dinner out at The Admiral Nelson at lock number 3 click the pub name for our thoughts on the meal
We woke on Sunday morning to the sound of rain hammering on the roof. The rain fell all day gradually clearing in the late afternoon/early evening but although very heavy at times one day of rain (the forecast is for a return to sunshine tomorrow), will do nothing to alleviate the low water levels on the canals. We have received notification from CRT (Canal & River Trust) that virtually all the lock flights into and out of Birmingham are now operating on restricted hours. How far we will get now is anyones guess.
