Market Bosworth to The End (Of the Ashby) and then back to Shackerstone

It’s a Saturday..  no work.. and plenty of piloting to do today..   we need to get to the end of the canal, turn around and come back to Shackerstone as the Battle Field Line should be running some steam trains tomorrow.. and it would be cool to see what we have running on armistice day..

We set of from Market Bosworth – but didnt get any water at the water point.. we have enough to last until the end of the canal where there is a water point that we can top the tank off with.. its a bit heavy going though, with all the trees lining the canal, there’s a fair bit of leaves in there to wade through..There was a bit of rain, but the tree’s sheltered us from most of it..    no incidents either, as not another boat anywhere was moving, just 1 when we got to the end of the canal..   but he was simply turning round and heading back to a mooring.  I can get used to this having the canal to ourselves..  but it does come at a cost..  cold and wet sometimes..  sunny.. comes with the cost of crowds.. both on land and in the water..

After a while, we arrived at Snarestone tunnel..  indicator that we are getting to the end of the canal..  A little bit of a kink in the middle of this one..  easy does it 🙂

( And we were going slow..  the motion blur on the photo, whist cool..  lies! )

And through to Snarestone.. the end of the line!   There’s a gift shop here, as well as a swing bridge you cant go past without requesting the key first..  but as there is no-where to go.. unless you are mooring here..  they will not let you through.. as beyond the bridge its the Ashby Canal Association.. not CRT.. so we would not have a licence to be on that waterway anyway.. even if it is only a mile long currently.

The restoration of the rest of it is still going on.. and they hope to have the legal issues sorted soon so they can get on with digging out the filled in canal again and putting it back into use!

Considering that they are trying to raise funds to complete the rest of the restoration.. is it just me that finds it strange..  but..  As this is a stretch that doesn’t see boats coming past (yet)..  it is screaming out for residential boats to be moored here..  I would get some power poles and taps installed.. rent out the space to residential’s.. and have a guaranteed income, from a stretch of water you already have, already pay to maintain and are currently getting no income from..   seems daft that they are not using what they have to the best they can..  Personally, I would not mind being moored here, no boats coming past – if there is power..  its an ideal spot.

We say goodbye to Snarestone..

And onto Shackerstone where we will spend the night..   and have a day out tomorrow..  with luck 🙂