August 2026 - A poorly dog again, a very hot day and the closure of the Atherstone flight

Hopwas School Bridge (Birmingham & Fazeley Canal) – Tuesday 28^th July 2026
 
My day started at 5.30am with Rio waking me up making little mewing like noises, which usually means that he wants to get up on the bed, so I put him up but he carried on making noises.  There was only one thing for it, sandals on and take him out.  Yes, he did need to go out!!!
 
The plan was to go back to Hopwas for lunch at the Tame Otter then move on to somewhere nice and shady to sit out the very high temperatures forecast for Wednesday.

We got to Hopwas and went to the pub for a good lunch.  It wasn’t spectacular but the Tame Otter is one of a large chain of pubs.  On our way back to the boats, we decided that our spot was a nice shady one and the towpath was nice and wide so that we could sit out without taking up the whole of the path and annoying walkers and cyclists.

 
I think we all had a nice afternoon.  I caught up with lots of things while Richard, in fact, did very little but then, why not!  As we had eaten at lunchtime, it was sandwiches for dinner.
 
Earlier in the day we had passed Huddlesford Junction.  This is where the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal meets the original north-eastern limit of the Wyrley and Essington Canal (the stretch now known as the Lichfield Canal. Completed in 1797, the Wyrley and Essington Canal joined the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal here to transport coal from local mines to the wider waterways network. Toll cottages were built on-site to ensure passing commercial boaters paid their dues.  As commercial traffic dwindled, the Wyrley & Essington line was officially abandoned in 1954.  The Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust is actively working to reopen the route. Currently, only the first quarter-mile of the Lichfield Canal branch is in water, which serves as a private mooring basin for the Lichfield Cruising Club.
 
5 miles


Site of Bridge No 58 (Birmingham & Fazeley Canal/Coventry Canal) – Wednesday 29^th July 2026

 
Another early morning, but this time Rio was sick.  It was about 4.30am when he started making his little noises.  Richard put him on the bed, but it wasn’t long before he started again, so Richard took him out and Rio was promptly sick.  Both R & R came back to bed.  Half an hour later Rio started again, then he jumped off the bed and was sick in the saloon!  My turn to clear it up.  After that we all went back to sleep.  There must have been something around our mooring spot that Rio had eaten as it was after we moored there the other day that Rio was sick before.
 
We had planned to have a day off as the temperature was forecast to get to about 30°  However, we had toilet issues.  We were on our third and final cassette - apparently it was my fault as I had been trying to drink a lot of water to stop getting cramp at night (it did solve the problem).  Richard was worried we would have problems, so we moved on.  I rang three different places that might offer elsan emptying but they didn’t.  In the end, with the help of the torch Richard decided that we would be OK.  What a relief! 

 
Fazeley Junction looked so much better today as the sun was shining.  When we went through there the other day the sky was grey and it all looked very drab.

 
Up through the two Glascote locks and then we stopped to visit the Co-op local which is situated right beside the canal.  Finally, we found a lovely shady spot and sat out as it was 33° in the boat. 

One of the most famous historical finds in Staffordshire took place right by the canal. In 1943, two boatbuilders working at the boatyard alongside Glascote Locks dug up a heavy, twisted metal ring.  Unaware of what it was, they assumed it was an old iron coffin handle, washed it under a tap, and sent it off to their head office.  Decades later in the late 1960s, it was recognized as the Glascote Torc—an extraordinarily rare, solid gold Iron Age neck ornament dating back to around 50 BC. It is now one of the star exhibits at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery.

7 miles
2 locks

Atherstone Flight, Above Lock 6 (Coventry Canal) – Thursday 30^th 2026
 
We thought it would be very hot overnight but it wasn’t.  In fact, we haven’t struggled with heat at night since we left the marina, two weeks ago.
 
The plan for today was to use the services at the bottom of the Atherstone flight, go up 6 locks then stop for the night and it all went to plan EXCEPT that it rained!  In the first lock there were a few drops, drizzle arrived in the second lock.  By the third lock the rain was a bit more intense and the raincoats came out at the fourth lock.  As we came out of the sixth lock, the rain had stopped.  I know we need the rain but it could have waited until we had moored up!
 
At 2.31pm C&RT sent out this email. 
 
“Due to continued dry weather and the ongoing pressures on water resources across the network, we have taken the difficult decision to close the Atherstone Lock Flight to navigation from Tuesday 4 August until further notice.” 
 
This has given people four days to do the Atherstone flight which is going to cause some people a lot of problems, as they may not get there in time and, with the Wolverhampton flight also closed, movement from north to south/south to north could be very difficult.

It was my turn to cook, and I thought what I was cooking, Crispy Chicken with Cream Dijon Sauce) would be easy.  Actually, it wasn’t and it was fairly late before we ate.

5 miles

6 locks

3 of these photo was taken by Tracey and I have pinched them!!