The meeting of the bloggers at Hartshill..

Atherstone to Hartshill, Coventry Canal, 2 miles 0 locks

It was lunchtime by the time we had pulled the pins at Atherstone today, the weather was really lovely, in fact for one moment I wondered if spring had come round already!…

Well you can forgive me when I say that when you look at the piccy above… these 9 youngsters will need some spring like weather to survive me thinks.. I hope they will be OK tonight, the temperature at the moment is below 0 here in Hartshill.

Only two miles today then, but a very pleasant and pretty two miles that is between Atherstone and the small village of Hartshill.  Tree lined in many places and in others ‘hills’ that have been grassed over from old mining slag heaps..

I am always pleased to see the true countryside ‘put back’ after the resources from the earth have been taken.. along the River Nene it has been done quickly and beautifully after the extraction of sand and gravel, plentiful in that area.  I wish they would do something about the next town that we will shortly be cruising through, Nuneaton.  Here the slag heaps have been left to grow weeds with no care or thought to put back the scaring of the landscape for the future enjoyment of all.

We arrived at the visitor moorings at Hartshill, just a couple of spots left here today, it was full to be sure.. and within 3 minutes of arriving NB Moore2Life came into view from the other direction and moored on the only mooring left behind us.. Molly, their energetic mutt remembered me OK.. going mental with her greeting to the point of totally covering me in mud!!.. Once Lucy had done much the same to Annie, it was time for the humans to greet each other… it is nice to be back in their company, and hopefully we will stay together for the rest of the winter months..

A knock on the door this evening just after dark.. “Would you be interested in some life insurance?” said the voice as I went to open the front cover… “Heh, I know who THAT is”  thought I!!…  Andrew Denny!

Lovely to see him on his way back to Norfolk after having Granny Buttons hauled out of the water for a blackening of her bottom at Streethay Wharf, not that far away from here.. Enquiring whether Moore2Life was also here.. “Yep”, and I introduced him to Chas and Ann.. tea and biscuits all round then!

Website of the Month, no less, for Granny Buttons in the December issue of Waterways World.. great stuff.  First time I think that a blog has been made website of the month.. I spose a blog is a website?