Shakerstone

Cruising the Ashby at this time of year is pretty relaxing. We're enjoying the rural views and although the channel is sometimes narrow with silted up sides, you'll not go wrong if you stick to the middle. From the number of permanent moorings we can see it can get super busy in summer. Passing that volume of other boats and finding moorings on the broken down banks when the official ones are full would be very tricky.

Shortly after setting off today we came accross John on his boat Rallentando (Slow Down) with his friend Kirk. John had found a nice quiet place to moor but unfortunately his starter battery had died, leaving him stranded in the middle of nowhere. Will pulled up alongside and tried to jump start the engine but for some reason it wasn't working. We offered them a tow to Shakerstone which they greatfully accepted. John stayed at the tiller while Kirk walked alongside, chatting away, disappearing at various points to move his car and at one point hopped onto Rainboat for a lift. He was an interesting guy and shared how he'd lived a fairly typical life up until 2020 when he'd discovered the canals as a way of retreating from society. He still lives in a house but spends as much time as possible on his boat. When he learned Vicky had ME he wanted to help and shared his theory about RF waves, the number of which have increased massively with 4G. He explained how he began getting seizures when he switched from a CRT TV to a flatscreen and noticed that they didn't happen on his boat where he didn't have a TV. He advised Vicky to avoid 4G and leave her phone in the kitchen overnight. He even gave her a hand crocheted hat with metalic fabric liner. He was a lovely genuine guy who just wanted to help. Vicky will avoid 4G for a week as advised but we don't hold out hope that it will improve her health.

At Shakerstone moorings we untied the line to Rallentando and moored up ourselves. Will saw a sign for The Rising Sun pub which advertised food so he trotted off in hope of some lunch. He had to make do with just a pint as they no longer did meals. A food van was visiting that evening but unluckily it was a fish and chip van and we didn't fancy this particular dish two nights on the trot.

The Battlefield Line Railway begins at Shakerstone Station on the opposite bank to where we moored. It runs to Market Bosworth and on to Shenton. The next train wasn't due until mid February but the Victorian Tea Room at the station did open at weekends and came highly recommended.

That evening there was a knock on the window. The boater behind us wanted to know whether we had dogs and asked us to keep them on leads so they wouldn't scare his cat. He hadn't bargained on Mr Whiskers... The two felines found each other that night with resulting drawn out wails and yowls. According to our neighbour Mr Whiskers was the boss and he had to shoo him away so his cat could get back on board 😳 They met again the following evening and this time Vicky managed to call Whiskers away with the promise of Dreamies and sardines. He came trotting back as if butter wouldn't melt 🫣Leer más