Day 12 - Atherstone to Hawkesbury Junction

We left Atherstone at 09:55 and soon came to Atherstone locks, which were staffed by cheery Canal & River Trust volunteers. CRT volunteers were easily recognised, not so much by their CRT jackets, but by the orange life-jackets they all wore and walkie-talkies that were clipped to them.

Out of Atherstone there were sections where the canal passed fields of crops,

and places where trees hung over the canal.

We reached Hawkesbury Junction and moored on the other side of this footbridge (above) by the tow path at 16:05 and had time to explore before it got dark. The Engine House (above) was first used in 1821 by a Newcomen engine which pumped water from an underground stream to feed the canal. The stream had dried by 1913 when the Engine House fell into disuse.

Dan had made our dinner booking at The Greyhound a couple of minutes stroll from our mooring.

I thought this might be a touristy place, but the bar was packed with locals and the restaurant area was busy and with well trained professional staff. The food menu was encompassing but the wine list was dire with just four reds. The only information given for three of the was the grape variety and country, the fourth was shown as Rioja Crianza, Spain. Rioja is a reliable choice, being bottled in the country of origin. The others could be bulk shipped plonk given a fancy label by the importer or fine estate wines but there was no way of telling from the list. A strange thing on the list was an 'orange' wine from France.

I chose Vegetable Balti, served with a garlic and coriander rice, vegetable samosa, onion bhaji, naan bread with mango chutney & mint yoghurt dips (above) which was delicious and the most memorable meal of the trip

 

To go to Day 13 click here

To go to Day 1 click here