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Sunday 24th August.
To Pete and Judy in Leighton Buzzard for an excellent lunch with P and J, Mike and Mane and Chris and Claire. Good food, good company and eating in the open air. Love it. Plus a chance to brief Mike who is joining Independence for a couple of days. Poor misguided lad seems disappointed that he won't have to work any locks but the rest will do him good before he and Mane return to Spain.
Monday sees my return to the boat at Limekilns on the Ashby canal. Moored opposite the pub and with the weather bordering on the Arctic-well it is August-I repair to the pub-imaginatively named the Lime Kilns-and ask if it is necessary to book a table. It's curry night and yes it was necessary. Wow at £2.50 for a plate of totally brilliant beef madras, rice, popodom and pickle it has to be the best value anywhere. Could also have had, in addition or instead, vegetable or chicken curry. Try it.
Tuesday morning and the weather is trying to improve as I meet Mike C at our agreed spot in Shackerstone where we left his car and returned to Limekilns. Being a man of great quality he brings homebaked bread, homemade jam, ham and cheese. Of such people was the Empire made. And other theatres.
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| And a very fine lunch it was accompanied by a very pleasant Fitou purchased on my last visit to France |
We set off in grey cloud but the day faired up and by the time we got to the Farm shop at Bridge 23 we were ready for lunch.
On to Stoke Golding where we moored outside the new (to me ) marina and walked into the village in search of a pint and possibly dinner. There are three pubs in Stoke Golding and the first one we reached, the George and Dragon, is probably the cleanest pub I've ever been in. Everything, everywhere was spotless. The beer which was Church End brewery and featured such delights as Gravediggers ale and Coffin stout was excellent. They weren't doing food and I asked if they had any cheesey biscuits.
I think the lady misheard me as she reappeared shortly afterwards with a basket of locally made chees-Bosworth- with biscuits, butter and pickle. By the time we seen that lot off (under a fiver) plus a couple of Gravediggers we weren't too worried about dinner. Lovely stuff.
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| The spire at Stoke Golding |
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| Independence nestling in the foliage at Stoke Golding |
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| Coincidentally Pam is visiting Caz and Florence in their new home in Faversham today |
It seemed churlish not to visit one of the other pubs so we wandered down to the White Swan for a pint of Everards and then back past the Three Horse Shoes where there is an Indian restaurant-no chance- and some sort of sing song going on. We were tempted but as it seemed rammed and we are both very conscious of our intake and its effect on our modelling careers we pressed on back to the boat and kip.
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| Hang in there Michael |
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| Michael on the lookout for crops to pinch |
Wednesday and despite initial rain, by 9 a.m. we were enjoying the sunshine and the stunningly beautiful Ashby canal. I was a little anxious about what we would find when we got to Shackerstone. Moorings are at a premium for the festival this year and although I was booked in I had been rung the previous weekend warning that it would be a case of first come first served. The problem has been brought about by something called Natural England (allegedly in cahoots with a couple of fishermen) having ruled that as an SSI the moorings will be restricted and double mooring (allowed at the previous 19 festivals) banned. Apparently all at the last minute giving the festival organisers and CaRT a major headache. The aim allegedly is to protect the flora and fauna. My first reaction was that one major way to protect fauna would be to stop sticking a hook in its mouth and hoicking it out of its environment. I presume fishing will also be banned the length of the SSI
The CaRT Press Release is at the end of this post if you can be arsed to read it. The ramifications for the canal system could be major. The dangers of organisations such as Natural England is they have legal clout but nobody elects them and they are answerable to nobody who can un-elect them.
I have great sympathy for the organisers and indeed CaRT in this matter though my opinion is that the Ashby is a man-made canal built for navigation. The wildlife would not be there if it wasn't for the man-made canal, the efforts of the canal recovery groups and the finance provided by the boaters. The canal is a navigation. That is its purpose. Not to keep a bunch of wasp huggers happy and certainly not to please a few people whose home lives are so desperate they would rather torture fish.
Anyway the journey was sublime with Mike hopping on and off to walk, take pictures and steal crops.
Below is a piece of video he took which apart from the wonderful sound of my engine demonstrates that I can change clothes whilst passing under a briidge.
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| Autumn seems early at Shackerstone |
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| Moored next to The Griffin |
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| This sign at Shackerstone indicates the original distances to either end of The Ashby Canal |
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| Well I got Moira May in the last post... |
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| And along the way.... |
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| Rural Leicestershire |
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| Before the Historic boats arrive |
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| The hysterical boats arrive |
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| The bridge at Shackerstone |
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| The church of St Margaret of Antioch, the patron saint of childbirth |
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| The church of the Rising Sun |
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| St Margaret was, allegedly, beheaded for refusing to renounce Christianity and sleep with the local Roman Governor-nothing changes |
We passed the beautiful Bosworth Fields where Richard 111 copped it and headed for Shackerstone. Mac and Carrie on Griffin had already moored next to the festival site and a brief scan over the bridge on the previous evening had shown that stretch was already pretty full
I'd been warned to start looking for a space as early as bridge 47 but decided that I would keep going till I'd exhausted my options and either turn round in the winding hole at br 53 or say Sod it and carry on to the end at Snarestone.
Lady Luck was on my side. As we crept past the line of boats I saw the Griffin in the distance with what appeared to be a space in front. As I got closer I thought if I can get some of me in there perhaps I can get the guy next to Mac to move back about a bit. No need. Independence fitted like a dream. Praise be!
RESULT!
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| El Scrumpo with some of his booty |
Mac and Carrie arrived Thursday lunchtime and I dined on board the Griffin on a very fine seafood risotto. Back to Berko on Friday for the weekend returning to Shackerstone on Sunday. Busy!
Coming soon-The Festival!
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Mooring restrictions at Shackerstone Festival
PRESS RELEASE
Issued: 26th August 2014
Mooring restrictions at Shackerstone Festival
In response to recent online speculation regarding mooring restrictions at Shackerstone Festival and a perceived threat to navigation on the Ashby Canal we would like to explain the discussions that have been taking place.
We were contacted by Natural England (NE) on 15 August asking for the imposition of certain conditions within the section of canal that is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) to prevent damage from the anticipated boat movements during the festival.
The main concern that NE have is to protect the aquatic plants which grow below the water surface in the shallows at the edges of the canal. The passage or mooring of boats in the shallows can damage these plants therefore NE had asked for boats to be single moored to prevent passing boats travelling too closely to the offside vegetation (which would not normally be disturbed by navigation).
As the guardian of the Ashby Canal we have a legal, and charitable, obligation to manage the SSSI in such a way that we preserve the canal’s ecology but we also have to balance that with our support for the festival and protecting the interests of our boating customers. We therefore held a meeting with NE on 21 August to discuss our concerns.
Following this meeting NE has agreed to the Trust’s suggestion to install 200m of temporary nico-spanning to protect the plants from wash thereby allowing double mooring in specific locations. We are confident that these measures will allow sufficient mooring space for the number of boats expected to attend but it may reduce the navigation to a single boat width in some places.
We can assure all boaters that there is no threat to navigation and no proposal to close the canal to boats. The canal was built for boats, and will continue to be enjoyed by boats, however we also have to recognise that it has become an important wildlife habitat – which is part of the canal’s appeal - and that we have to take a balanced approach.
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