August Bank Holiday

After Minworth the Birmingham & Fazeley became a quiet rural canal and we spent the next night alongside a large RSPB reserve at Kingsbury.  Our journey north then took us under Drayton Footbridge which has a tower at each end containing a spiral staircase for access to cross.

Drayton Footbridge with it's doorways into the towers

We stopped at Fazeley Hill Marina to top up with diesel, at 57p per litre + duty it was the cheapest we've seen for a long time.

At Fazeley Junction we turned north-west on the Coventry Canal and pulled over shortly afterwards for Sainsburys.  We'd noticed the canal was very busy and the next day boats were moving early.  As we set off we knew there were some boats ahead but then a boater coming in the opposite direction told us we were the 10th boat he'd seen in 1.5 miles.  Time to pull over and the next opportunity was near Hademore. We soon found we were also near to the high speed rail line.

High speed train coming under a road bridge

The low banks at Hademore were ideal for us to restart the long task of Brent III's paintwork.  During breaks in the rain we were able to rub down her starboard gunwhales exposing streaks of her previous colours.  She didn't look pretty when we left on Monday morning but we were pleased to have made a start.  We were heading for Fradley Junction and when we arrived we were surprised to see the moorings were almost empty but that didn't last long at this popular destination.

The Canal & River Trust buildings and yard opposite our mooring at Fradley

From Fradley we moved on to Branston Water Park moorings where the canal runs alongside a wildfowl reserve.  This was an excellent spot to stop for a few days to avoid moving during the busy bank holiday weekend.  The nearby Toby Carvery provided sustaining breakfasts before we resumed painting Brent III.  To paint the bow we dismantled the cratch and removed the front fender which sent a dozen surprised spiders scurrying away into the grass.  It's a shame the spiders living inside the boat don't scurry away, it's a bit unnerving when they suddenly abseil down from the ceiling.

Painting in progress.  Before we left Branston we completed a top coat to the bow to match the gunwhale 

Taking a break from painting we walked down the towpath to gather some sloes and then made up this year's sloe gin.

On the Bank Holiday Monday we awoke to heavy rain which persisted until lunchtime.  We decided to move on then, just a mile further down the canal so we were closer to Morrisons for a shop.

Our journey from Minworth to Branston