August 2026 - An announcement, a well known boat, a poorly Rio and chaos at Fradley Junction

Site of Swing Bridge No 50A (Coventry Canal) – Saturday 25^th July
 
We hadn’t been going long when we passed a boat called Dexter’s Star.  It is a very well known boat, as is their crew, Paul and Anthony who vlog under the name NarrowboatLife Unlocked.  They have over 42,000 subscribers which is pretty amazing.  Dexter's Star is an award-winning 58-foot serial electric hybrid narrowboat built by Elton Moss Boat Company in collaboration with Ortomarine., it won Favourite Boat in Show at the Crick Boat Show 2026.  The name Dexter’s Star honours their late dog Dexter.

 
We had the 11 Atherstone locks to do today, but first we needed to use the services at the top lock.  For once we found recycling bins.  We have been very good with our recycling on this trip, so many times it has had to go in the general waste bin as there is no recycling bin.
 

The nice lockies helped us down the first three locks then we were one our own, but we were only going down the first five before stopping and walking to Tesco.  It was only a short walk but my back was really hurting and I really struggled walking back with shopping bags, even though they weren’t very heavy.  Back at Mary H we put the shopping away and I rested my back for a bit.  We decided that we would moor somewhere on the flight, but the mooring really wasn’t inviting as it was hot and there was no shade.  This meant continuing through all the locks and then cruising on until we found a nice spot.  I lay down to rest my back until we pulled over.

OTM pulled out from inside us and wanted Mary H out of her way!!

Once upon a time I would have loved doing the Atherstone flight, it’s an easy flight and in nice surroundings, but my back started hurting after the third lock and it then became a chore. 
 
It was a very nice mooring until we realised that we were beside the railway, however it really didn’t bother us at all, thank goodness.  We had planned to have a barbecue but it was decided that, with the grass on the towpath being so dry, it was not a very good or ethical thing to do. 
 
Now for the big announcement.  We are putting Mary H on the market in September.  There are a number of reasons but the first is, as we now have the motorhome, we are hardly using Mary H.  This is her first outing since August last year.  Secondly my back really won’t stand up to pulling on ropes and pushing bows out.  Also, Richard’s knees are suffering too.  We had made the decision a few months ago but today proved that it is the right decision to make.  It is sad, but it’s time for pastures new and more explorations.  But, for the time being we are enjoying our cruise especially in the company of Steve, Tracey and Ted on Over the Moon.  We will miss our summer cruises with them but maybe we will be able to take the motorhome to join them somewhere on the system. 

I popped out of the boat quite late on and got this, what I think (!), is a lovely photo.  The colour of the field looks as if someone has touched it up!

 

6 miles
11 locks

Hopwas School Bridge (Coventry Canal/Birmingham & Fazeley Canal) – Sunday 26^th July 2026
 
Our first landmark today was the Samuel Barlow pub at Alvecote.  The name Samuel Barlow carries significant historical importance in British canal history.  Samuel Barlow was born into a boating family in 1846 and became Samuel Barlow set himself up as an owner-boatman carrying coal from local collieries around Tamworth and Warwickshire. He established his primary operating base at Glascote, near Tamworth, supplying coal via the Coventry and Birmingham & Fazeley canals to factories, gasworks, and depots. Following Samuel's death in 1894, his widow and sons continued to run and expand the carrying business.  By the 1950s, under Samuel Edwin Barlow (grandson of the founder), the company adapted into road haulage alongside canal carrying. As commercial canal traffic dwindled in the 1960s, parts of the operation evolved into the Blue Line Canal Carrying Company based at Braunston, famous for its distinctive blue, red, and white livery and decorative ropework.  It finally closed in October 1970.
 
Next was the two Glascote locks.  It was nice and easy as two boats were coming up.  Very strangely the first boat moors in Ventor Farm where OtM moors and the second one comes from our marina.  Weird! 

I’m not doing much steering at present as I had my cataracts operated on four weeks ago and until I can get new glasses, everything in the distance is a bit blurred and double!  (I am reading and can see the laptop screen which is about 2 feet away without any glasses – magic!) However I do the locks and relieve Richard when he needs to relieve himself!!  Today he was making lunch and I had to deal with a very sharp 90° turn followed by a narrow aqueduct.  I managed it very well, though I say it myself!

 
We came to the junction of the Coventry Canal with the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal.  When we first came passed the junction there was a rather dilapidated British Waterways yard.  Now there are some lovely flats.  Having said in previous blogs that the Coventry Canal Company had stop locks at the junctions of the Oxford and Ashby Canals, I was surprised to notice that there wasn’t or never had been a stop locks at the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal Junction.  Research shows that the Coventry Canal ran out of money in 1771, so the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal Company stepped in to build the 5.5-mile section north from Fazeley Junction to Whittington Brook. Because the Coventry Canal Company never bought this section back, it legally remains part of the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal to this day.  So even being tight fisted over stop locks, they still went bust!

We cruised on to Hopwas and pulled over just north of the village. 
 
It was my turn to cook and I did a paella.  I had found a paella pan in the cupboard which I thought would do 4 people but I ended up using the frying pan as well.  Even though I say it myself, it was good!
 
Rio had been off colour all day and then he started being sick and was sick on and off all evening.  When it was bedtime, he slunk off into the bedroom wanting to get up on the bed which is most unusual for him, as he prefers to sleep on an armchair.  Normally he is up on a chair waiting for his bedtime biscuits.  He slept on the bed all night, but he was very good and we didn’t really realise he was there. 
 
I thought that Hopwas was a strange name, so I looked it up.  Recorded as Opewas in the Domesday Book, the name derives from the Old English hop (an enclosure or sheltered valley) and was (a marshy place). Held directly by King William, the survey recorded 13 households, 30 acres of meadow, a watermill, and a royal woodland.  In 1235, King Henry III granted permission to the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield Cathedral to quarry stone in the forest at Hopwas for the construction and maintenance of the cathedral.  One other little fact – in 1277, due to frequent ambushes on travellers, King Edward I ordered the undergrowth in Hopwas Wood to be cleared to eliminate hideouts used by robbers and outlaws.  We were moored in the woods so I was glad there were no highway men around anymore.

9 miles

2 locks

King’s Orchard Bridge No 85 (Birmingham & Fazeley Canal/Trent & Mersey Canal/Birmingham & Fazeley Canal) – Monday 27^th July 2026

 
Rio seemed to be back to normal this morning thank goodness.
 
We made a decision last night that, as things are only going to get worse on the canals with no significant rainfall in the offing, and the last thing we want is to get stuck away from our home marinas, we had to come up with a new plan.  We decided to go up to Fradley Junction, turn round and head back up the Atherstone flight and finally up the Hillmorton locks when we would be safe.  OtM still had the Calcutt flight to do but, so far, I gather the Grand Union Canal isn’t doing too badly for water.  It is very sad especially with it being our last outing on Mary H, but it is what it is.  We had to cut our trip short last year through lack of water too, but in 2024 we got stuck on the South Oxford due to too much water!  Crazy weather.

When we got to Fradley junction it was total chaos.  A day boat was moored on the water point and had been abandoned, another boat with an angry crew and four boats trying to get through the swing bridge and then trying to turn to go through the locks and having to queue.  Thank goodness by the time we actually got onto the Trent and Mersey Canal things had calmed down and we were able to turn round and head back down the way we had come.  There were two water points so both boats were able to fill up.

Back in the 19^th century, the junction and the locks were busy with boats carrying coal, pottery, timber, and agricultural goods which passed through day and night.  Both canal companies erected cottages, maintenance yards, and red-brick workshops for lock keepers, lengthsmen, and maintenance crews.  Central to the junction is the Swan Inn.  It dates back to around 1770, this iconic pub served boatmen for generations and remains the centrepiece of the wharf.  It is affectionately nicknamed "The Mucky Duck".

 
We wanted somewhere to stop but there were C&RT “No Mooring” signs everywhere where it was possible to moor.  Apparently, this is in force for a week while they put more stones down on the tow path.

 

We finally found somewhere, thank goodness.  There was road noise, but I hoped that maybe the wind would change direction and it would quieten down – it didn’t!  Tracey cooked fajitas for dinner which were scrummy.
 
11 miles