Day Four - Atherstone to Whittington

We woke to fine weather again but as the day progressed we had passing showers and cloud. The weather is very changeable and it seems a cool change has come in today. As we “do the locks” I talk to the other canal boat people and I came across a couple this morning who were returning from up north near the Anderton Lift and they had five weeks of rain and three days of sunshine. They weren’t happy.
Before we set off for the day Henk, Tomas and Liz motored our boat along the Atherstone Marina to fill up with water and I walked back into Atherstone to have a look at their Tuesday markets. I was too early as they were just setting up at eight o’clock. I did buy some Dutch and Belgium liquorice from one of the stalls and we have managed to eat through these during the day.
We progressed north along the canal again today completing eleven locks before we moored the boat at lunchtime. The stretch of water north of Atherstone is very pretty with well kept locks. There were a number of boats proceeding north with us and we all became efficient in helping each other along the way.
After lunch the weather became cooler with a blustery wind which, on occasions, affected the steering of the boat. Thankfully, Henk and Tomas braved the weather whilst Liz and I stayed indoors and provided regular tea and cakes. We had sunshine in the last hour before reaching the delightful little village of Withington.
Whilst mooring the boat we nearly crushed two ducks which became caught between the boat and the canal bank. Only Liz noticed this and we quickly had to push the boat away at one end to let them out. The ducks are used to being fed and they stay close to the boats with anticipation.
We walked into Whittington to find a place for dinner and came across “The Bell Inn”. They weren’t serving dinner but the female publican was very service orientated offering Chinese or Indian take-aways from nearby Lichfield or she was prepared to make us dinner as it was a quiet evening. We opted for the latter and Henk and I enjoyed Henk bangers and mash and Liz and Tomas had chicken tika masala. The meals were great and we would highly recommend this very welcoming pub.
Whittington is about a mile from Lichfield where we had a rest day last year on our long walk. This is our last day with Liz and Tomas as they return on the local bus to Lichfield and then onto Napton to pick up the Tomas’s car from the marina. This will leave me doing the locks by myself and Henk steering the boat. I did have a go steering the boat today and I seem to remember the tricks of the trade from last time.
Pictures: Liz opening the lock to allow the boat in; Last night together at the Bell Inn, Whittington; Farms along the way