Edstone (a quiet couple of days in Warwickshire)



As far as Buddy and I were concerned our activities on Monday and Tuesday were quite similar.  A cycle ride to Wootton Wawen in the morning followed by lunch and then a walk to Wilmcote in the afternoon.  The weather was different though; on Monday I wish I’d worn gloves on the morning cycle ride and on Tuesday I wish I’d not taken a coat.  The sun came out at lunchtime on both days and was warm enough to sit outside to eat but, sadly, no butterflies.

The days did differ dramatically later in the afternoons.  At about 4 o’clock on Tuesday a girl walked past the boat with her dog and stopped for a quick chat and then said she was in a hurry to get home before the rain started.  I thought she was probably using it as an excuse to get away as no rain was forecast then I saw the heavy black skies starting to roll in.  For one of the first times this year I had the washing hanging out and I just managed to get it in in time.

Hail on Tuesday afternoon even though no rain was forecast


View from the back deck only an hour before

Earlier in the day I met an old guy on a bike who had his binoculars trained to a tree.  I knew the tree and that he was probably looking at a Greater Spotted Woodpecker that always seems to be drumming there.  We struck up conversation and I found that he lives near my parents in Yorkshire and has done all his life.  He and his wife love Warwickshire and have a park home near here that they try and visit for a week every month of the year.

During the day I came across a couple of flowers that I hadn’t seen yet this year.

Cowslip


Germander Speedwell

The Speedwell is reputed to give travellers luck on their journeys hence its name.  It does tend to be found at the edges of paths and byways and is pretty widespread across the country.

Regular readers will know that we were stuck at Lapworth for just over seven weeks waiting for a lock to be repaired.  The works were finished early and so we have started making our way slowly to Stratford.  

There are still some locks closed for winter maintenance further on at a place called Wilmcote which is three miles outside of Stratford.  The works are due to be completed by the end of the month but we will stay here for our full two weeks as we like it so much.  We will probably then move on to Wilmcote for another couple of weeks before going down the final 15 locks into Stratford basin sometime towards the end of April.

Buddy sunning himself whilst I ate my lunch on Tuesday

Because of the lock closures very few boats are coming along this stretch.  I have only seen two since we have been here and both of those have since turned round and headed back up towards Lapworth.



Our mooring at the end of the Edstone aqueduct – looks grey but the sun was breaking through hence the washing hanging out











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