Buddy and I set out first
thing on Tuesday morning to get to Grimes Bridge just north of Brinklow. Soon after we left we spotted a mink swimming
along with us but couldn’t get a picture although Buddy was very interested.
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| Sophie said he is so thin that he looks like two dogs stuck together |
We are now travelling
along the North Oxford canal down to Braunston in Northamptonshire. Most of you will be pleased that there are no
records of milestones along this canal nor are there any stanking plank
shelters! Before we set out we had one
last look round Hawkesbury Junction and I found out some more information on
the old engine house there.
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| The old steam engine house on the left alongside the Coventry canal |
The steam engine was
called ‘Lady Godiva’ and was a Newcomen-type atmospheric steam engine; it is
now in Dartmouth museum. Amazingly, it was used for
nearly 100 years at the Griff colliery (near Nuneaton) before being installed
in 1821 to pump water from a well into the canal - can't imagine engines lasting that long these days.
We passed Coventry
Cruising Club which is based through the narrow bridge on the left. This used to be the entrance to the Wyken
Colliery Arm.
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| The entrance to the old Wyken Colliery Arm |
We moored up just before
Grimes bridge and I sent Karen the postcode so she knew where to come back to
after work.
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| Buddy saying, "We've moored up so come and feed me" |
In the afternoon we went
for a circular walk taking in the village of Upper Smite which was abandoned in 1150. Like most of the medieval villages we have
come across it is just a few mounds and some old fish ponds; more of interest
to archaeologists if they were allowed to dig there.
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| The lumps and bumps of a medieval village |
We walked through a farmyard
where the cows took a keen interest in Buddy.
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| Cows looking intently at Buddy |
This is looking across a
newly ploughed field to Coventry in the distance – a real grey day as you can
see.
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| Amazed the field could be ploughed as it has been so wet this winter |
As we got back to the
canal we could see three modes of transport: the M6, the West Coast mainline
and the Coventry canal.
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| M6 crossing the West Coast mainline and the North Oxford canal |
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