30th June – 6th July 2026
| Voyage this week | Ashby Canal | ||
| Miles Covered | 150.4 | 69.6 | |
| Locks | 1 | 2 | |
| Moveable Bridges | 3 | 4 |
This week we completed our whistle-stop voyage up the Ashby Canal and back. We thoroughly enjoyed cruising up this beautiful, rural canal. The tranquil environment gave us plenty of time to observe the birds and flowers as we travelled.
Having left the relatively busy town of Hinckley we travelled up the canal. However, before we left our mooring, we were passed by a convoy of traditional working boats. We were to encounter this group the whole way up the canal and some of the way back. Our first encounter was to see them double moored across the canal at a water point, clearly not getting water but gone to the pub! It was a good job we didn’t need water! We stopped at Bridge 23 as there was a farm shop. This was a small shop that sold mainly meat products but we were able to get a red pepper that was needed but also got some local sausages. Welsh Dragon (pork with leek, garlic and chilli) and Chicken with cheese and jalapeño. We had the Welsh Dragon for supper and they were delicious. We also treated ourselves to a sausage roll for lunch.
We enjoyed the open fields and views as we travelled and moored just after Aquaduct 4. We sat outside and tried to spot some birds. They didn’t seem to be playing though.
We continued up the canal towards Shenton. This part of the canal took us past the Bosworth Battle Field and woodland which was particularly pretty. We didn’t stop off at this time to see any of the sights. We plan to complete the Ashby Canal again taking more time in August. It was good to note the places that we want to see when we come back.
The top 6 miles of the Ashby Canal is designated as a SSSI for its diverse aquatic flora and invertebrates, and the submerged plants in particular. It was a very beautiful area and a joy to slowly cruise up in the sunshine. We moored just before the Snarestone Tunnel.
On Thursday we completed the length of the Canal travelling up to Snarestone Wharf, the official end of the Ashby Canal. This is marked by a moveable Bridge and an Ashby Canal Association Charity Shop. Although this is the official end of the canal, there is a further short stretch that has been restored up to Bridge 62. There is a winding hole at the top of this stretch but it is only wide enough for boats up to 50 feet. As Jenny Wren is 58′ 6″ once we had reached the end, John had to reverse the route back through the swing bridge again.
We were pleased to reach this point as it is an Inland Waterway Association (IWA) Silver Propeller site. We can add this to the 3 others we have already reached. Once we get to 20 we can claim a Silver Propeller Plaque. We still have a long way to go!
The head of the canal was very beautiful and there were some moorings there which we will definitely be stopping at on our next trip. This stretch also took us past a very grand pumping station in the true Victorian style. Once back through the swing gate we moored at the CRT service point for Water, Elsan and Rubbish (W.E.R). Once the chores were done we enjoyed an ice cream from the shop before winding Jenny Wren ready for the return Trip. I walked the dogs for this part of the journey, going over the top of the tunnel which was interesting and I was pleased to find the route back down to the canal. Teasel decided that swimming into the canal at every opportunity was the order of the day which made for a soggy walk. As we walked I enjoyed watching the numerous butterflies that were swarming the canal side.
We moored on Thursday opposite Wharf Farm. This had a very good farm shop which enabled us to stock up on fruit and milk that we had run out of. It had a good supply of lovely items and we enjoyed their Hog sausage rolls and stilton topped pork pies (not on the same day!). Teasel and Bracken were particularly impressed as they were treated to a bag of dried sprats that they adore, even if they are a bit stinky. They also sold coffee and cake which we didn’t take advantage of on this occasion but will certainly do so on our next visit.
We continued back down the canal having to stop fairly regularly to let other boats pass us as they travel faster than us. There were many boats that we seem to have spent the week leapfrogging.
As we travelled down the canal, we were somewhat perplexed by someone hooting at us for no apparent reason, in fact there was no boat to hoot at us. We realised that Teasel, who has found a new favourite place to sit while we cruised, was knocking our own horn with her head! So helpful!
Our final night on the Ashby was spent at almost the same spot as we did on our first night near Bridge 19. It is not a bad spot with just some background noise from the nearby Tesco Warehouse.
On Saturday we finished the final section leaving the Ashby Canal at Marston Junction. We found what we though was a lovely quiet mooring spot. Having settled down with initially a cup of tea, we were serenaded by the local Ice Cream van for the next 3 hours continually playing the first few bars of O Solo Mio (Just one Cornetto!). It felt a bit like some form of torture treatment after the first half an hour! Eventually we could no longer hear it because it had been replaced by the loud booming of what some, apparently, call music coming from the nearby houses who were having a party. Ok, it is official, we are old! We hear ourselves repeating the phrases our parents used to say about our music or to quote them “that row!”
Once down below we couldn’t hear the noise as much and it all wrapped up by 11 so a we had a good night’s sleep.
We had a slow start on Sunday making our way back to the Marina via Hawksbury Junction stop lock. We had intended to stay out on the cut for one more night however by the time we had found somewhere suitable we were so close to the marina it really didn’t seem worth it so we returned to our home mooring. As we turned into the marina we were greeted by a strong burst of wind. It is always windy here! It was great to be welcomed back by other moorers and the dogs were very pleased to have their field back to run in.
Monday was spent on jobs and shopping. John was trying to fit some fly screens to the duck hatches so that we could have them open at night without being bitten alive. Unfortunately this was not as straight forward as we had hoped and remains a work in progress. Last night we enjoyed sundowners with our friends Paul and Kay, Paul and Anthony, with Sebastian the Labradoodle, and some new folk who have all arrived for the Electrika Festival on Friday and Saturday of this week.
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