Alvecote Priory

The morning continued on sleepily - cold and with little sunshine it felt far later in the day than it was. We followed the canal to Fazeley Junction, effectively circumventing Tamworth to the south before heading north and on towards Coventry.

The Glascote locks on the east of Tamworth were a bit challenging, both in how slowly filled but also the unusually heavy gates which were a bugger to shift. Over the aqueduct the other side we wound onwards towards Alvecote. Notably once away from Tamworth, the canal again became more rural and tree-lined, and each breeze blew orange and red leaves across the sky like confetti... a pleasant scene to watch, certainly!

We parked up briefly at Alvecote to visit the ruins of a benedictine priory, and by the time we did the sun was at least a little warmer than it had been through the morning. Whilst not much remained of the building, the stones that did had a beautiful array of colour in the afternoon sunshine. Onwards to Polesworth, where we plan to turn around and trundle back to Fradley Junction via a stop at Tamworth and Whittington.Read more