Leamington Lidl (at least Karen can walk to work from here)

I’m off to Yorkshire again this week to do some stuff for my dad and also run him into the hospital to see Mum.  Having decided to do that, we thought it would be a good idea to move the boat even closer to Karen’s office as she won’t have a car for two or three days.

The best spot is outside Lidl but there’s only mooring rings for three boats so Karen called in to check on her way to work to see the lie of the land (or water).  Sure enough, all three spots were taken and they were all local boats so probably not moving off any time soon.  There is also a short stretch of fencing that can be used for mooring and fortunately that was free.  As it was due to get really windy during the day, Buddy and I set out early.

Approaching bridge 35 – Radford Road bridge

Radford Road bridge is on the border of town and country, so after passing through we were into the estates of downtown Leam – a place called Sydenham.  I shouldn’t malign the place really as it is where our doctor’s surgery is.  We are registered there as living at Chalkhill Blue, Bridge 34, Grand Union, Radford Semele.  Coincidentally, this address is actually where Blair and Liz now live on their boat – the couple we went to visit on Sunday.

Going further into Leamington I passed a makeshift sign saying there’s a new water point by bridge 40 so I thought I would take advantage of it and top up.   Until this new water point had been installed there were no facilities in the six miles between Fosse and Cape locks which meant you couldn’t stay too long in Warwick or Leam.  So I said to myself - that's good to have a water point in Leam as it means we can now moor in town for a week or two when we pass through in future.

Nice new water point just past the new student flats

The student flats were also new and have replaced some grotty 1960’s flats so starting to make this part of town more attractive.  

It wasn’t easy mooring up on my own as it was so windy but I managed in the end.  I got the hose out and went to unlock the water tap only to find that my waterways key didn’t fit the padlock.  All rather disappointing – maybe it’s not in service yet.  If it is though, I’ll have to find out why it needs a different key to all the other water points on the system.

Non-dispensing water point

Yet another makeshift sign about the water point on bridge 41 by the station

After passing the railway station and Morrisons supermarket, Lidl appears round the corner and the fence was still free so I moored up.  I know we weren't on the rings but mooring to the fence posts is safer than using pins.

Our mooring for a while outside Lidl

After lunch, Buddy and I had a walk down to Warwick on the canal and then back to Leam along the River Avon.  I learnt something new when we got to Leam and that is the river through the centre of town is actually the River Leam; I had mistakenly thought it was the Avon that ran through the town.  The River Avon runs north-south to the west of town and the rivers converge between Warwick and Leam.  If I had thought about it I would have realised as we have often walked along the River Leam to get into town from Offchurch and Radford Semele.

There are just two green spaces left between the almost-conurbation of the two towns now; both are sheep fields and are on either side of the canal.

One of only two green spaces left between Warwick and Leam – this one is to the north of the canal and runs down to the River Avon

We passed the guide dog training school and I must admit that Buddy didn’t look too happy when I told him this was going to be his first day at school ☹

On Tuesday I dropped Karen at work at six and Buddy and I set off for Yorkshire.  I went on the M1 this time to avoid the notorious 20 mile stretch of road works on the M6 around Crewe.  I wish I hadn't; although the M1 was clear all the way to Leeds, I hit Bradford in the rush hour and it took an hour to do what would normally be a 10-15 minute journey.  I made it to Dad's in the end, did a few jobs and then took him into hospital to see Mum. 

Not much of a fun day for Buddy but I did get to give him a good run along the Leeds & Liverpool canal 😁