Day 40 onwards - Atherstone to Mercia Marina

Glad to see the lockkeepers at Atherstone top lock again, this time there were half a dozen or so, some locking and others keeping the verges tidy.  They're fundraising for a defibrillator, so we contributed.  Planning to stay a few days here to shop and use the laundrette, the washing having piled up somewhat!  We find a mooring space below lock no. 5, leaving 6 more locks to do before leaving.

Coming down lock no. 6, laundry all done

These lock gates are to be replaced over the winter - they leak, so take ages to fill
Mellow fruitfulness - hawthorn and elder berries and still lots of blackberries in various stages of ripeness.  We've made fruit compote several times with blackberries, plums, apples, a dash of port and some cloves & cinnamon
The walk up to the town centre
Staffed by volunteers and packed with info about Atherstone history.  It's on Watling Street, had an important Roman camp at Mancetter which was on the frontline of compaigning against Boudicca who was finally defeated there in AD60.  Centuries after, it was on the border between the Danelaw and the Anglo Saxon kingdom of Mercia.  The local industries were coalmining, weaving, brewing, leathermaking - and hatmaking which at its peak employed 3000 people
Atherstone hat factory 1920 - the finishing department
Vintage working boats from the 1930s restored by the Narrowboat Trust
Denis steering into a lock (click to play)
 
and going down...
 
The view from the boat...
 
...leaving the lock


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