Ashby

Made it to the Ashby canal in time for lunch. Working out when we need to turn for home, bearing in mind my hospital commitments.  Less hot but equally sunny as yesterday. Nothing much to report other than an incident yesterday on the Coventry canal when we were assaulted by a Willow Wren hire boat, apparently driven by a very young Chinese schoolgirl . As you can see below canal bridges are only wide enough for 1 boat at a time. The rule on British canals is when 2 boats approach a bridge from opposite directions the nearest boat has right of way, but I guess the rules are different in China.

Lynne was three quarters through the bridge when the girl tee-boned Tardis Two at speed and with intent.The steel to steel contact did little damage to either boat, but Tardis Two was pushed into a bank of brambles and bushes which played havoc with the paintwork, which I spent the weekend T-cutting and polishing. I intend contacting Willow Wren tomorrow !  

The Ashby is a quiet,pretty canal, but shorter than previously as part of it recently disappeared into an old mine shaft beneath and is yet to be restored. Evidence of water voles was seen, but no actual voles, which was disappointing. However, we did see a  heron, the first on this trip.