Hinckley

With the ice almost completely gone and another boat coming past Will decided to set off before the furries had stirred. Rainboat had been stationary for 10 days so it was a relief to be on the move again. The crumbling bank encouraged him to stay in tickover (about 2mph). After about an hour Tiger Lilly decided that she wanted to come onto the stern and be cuddled. Unfortunately this coincided with the return of a thin layer of ice on the water. Will decided to pull in and moor soon. When he saw the boat that had gone past earlier in the day he knew that it was time to stop. After one abortive attempt he realised that there was piling on the far side of the boat, which provided secure mooring while they waited for the rest of the ice to thaw.

Will wanted to continue into Hinkley but Whiskers had other ideas; searching through the rough hedge and finding a feast of small mammals. He (Will) decided to walk the 15 minute journey to the planned moorings and found that there was one lovely vacant slot. When he returned to Rainboat he found that Whiskers had had his fill of rodents and all the furries were curled up inside. The short hop would only take a few minutes but this time both of the dogs insisted on sharing the stern area with Will as he navigated a couple of bridges and moored up within sight of The Lime Kilns pub.

There were hawthorn hedges, fields all around and permanently moored boats opposite. It was 1.5 miles into town but the route was via a good quality footpath alongside a brook so was pleasant. Will cycled in on Thursday and bought much needed groceries (vegan chocolate 😉😂) before meeting Vicky at the train station. She'd overdone things on her trip up north and her ME caused her to really struggle to get back to Rainboat. We really should have taken a taxi.

The next day we took the dogs walking along the somewhat claggy towpath. The air smelled of slurry, then turned acrid and we saw 4 huge green metal barns on the opposite side. Elms Farm is an Intensive Poultry operation with a permit for 220,000 broiler animals. Chicks are brought in, grown and fattened over 40 days then sent to slaughter 😢 Whenever the wind blew in a certain direction it carried the smell all the way to Rainboat. It upset us to think of the conditions those birds were living in just a short distance away. Another upsetting thing was listening to a dog wailing day and night from within a small Travellers' compound adjacent to the canal. Apparently the owners had told other boaters it was new and just getting used to living outdoors. Whatever was going on it wasn't happy.

On a brighter note The Lime Kilns pub was great! Good beer, really friendly bar tenders and good food. We enjoyed lunch together and Will popped off for a pint a few times during our stay. We celebrated his 71st birthday on 20th January. Friends and family had thoughtfully passed a few cards and gifts to Vicky when we'd met up, which he opened throughout the day. Unfortunately Vicky's health wasn't up to going out but Pete and Maggie came to the rescue, whisking Will off to a nearby Indian Restaurant that evening! A few days later our friends Jeremy and Lynn returned from their holiday in Barbados and enjoyed an evening meal and drink with Will at The Lime Kilns.

Storm Éowyn came and went without too much bother and we made the most of a calm sunny day to move on up the Ashby.En savoir plus