By Keith Rogers - with details from Roger Prior regarding the journey before I joined up with the boat at Atherstone.

Is a boating report interesting when nothing dramatic happens.? The journey from the National at Burton-on-Trent to Shackerstone was nothing but pleasant boating which, it is nice to know, does happen on rare occasions.

Tuesday 31st Aug,

Due to leave Burton-on Trent at 13.30. Got away at 14.45. due to having to wind ‘Kildare’. The boats were facing in opposite directions! A fine sunny day.

16.30—16.45 Tatton Hill
17.30 Barton Tunnel – boat queue
19.00 Wychnor Lock
20.15 Alrewas Lock
Tied Up Evening at “Crown” Alrewas

6 miles, 6 locks 5½ hours

Wednesday 1st Sept.

Sunny no wind

06.50 Alrewas top lock
09.30 Fradley Turn – into Coventry canal
11.00 Streethay Wharf
11.30 Huddlesford
14.15 Fazeley Turn
15.20 Glascote top - Tetley's from the Anchor and bacon butties

16.00 Polesworth

19.10 tied up at Bradley Green. Took water, Tuna bake with Boddington's - Residential boat nearby, owners seriously into ferrets and lurchers.

19 miles, 6 locks, 12 hours 20 mins. ( of which 20 mins for lunch )

Thursday 2nd Sept.

Sunny with some cloud

07.30 leave Bradley Green

First four of Atherstone flight of locks then stopped for breakfast at bridge 45 at 09.20.

Keith Rogers joins boat.

I joined ‘President’ a couple of days after her departure from Burton, on the Atherstone flight.

I did so in a delightfully old fashioned way by catching the early morning omnibus from Coventry. Fare, £3. Memories of getting to Braunston many years ago by train and village bus to meet up with Vulcan.

On arrival at Atherstone I made for the High Street and found, amongst the still slumbering shops, the bakery open, the smell of freshly baked bread and cakes appealing to the nostrils. Two bags of freshly cooked doughnuts were purchased for the crew's elevenses.

Then to the canal. Hoped Nigel's message of the previous evening of where the boat would be hadn't been altered due to unforeseen circumstances. Saw a man at the top lock who appeared to be wearing an official uniform.

I suppose the crew getting up at four 0'clock in the morning to make an early start is a most unlikely unforeseen circumstance, nevertheless, I said to the man in the official looking uniform, “has the steamer been by?”

“Yes”, he said, half-an-hour ago, and there aren’t any more locks". I didn’t fancy a long hike with all my kit and couldn't conceive of catching the boat up on foot.

Bit odd, time to try out my new mobile telephone. I sat on a bench at the lock, got it out of its cardboard box and amazingly, for someone who has been seriously bewildered by the electronic age, managed to absorb sufficient from instruction book to make a call to Nigel.

It was a great relief to hear they were, in fact, at the bottom of the Atherstone flight.

I set off to meet them and on the way, met a man who was wearing a real BW official uniform. Yes, a steamer had been up, he described it as a tug. How remiss of me to think that ‘President’ is the only steamer on the cut. Well, if there are others, ‘President’ is the best!.

We had to wait our turn to negotiate Marston junction as a couple of other boats were in front of us – a hire boat and a big Woolwich. One of these was into prolonged shunting manoeuvres before successfully getting round. Some youths were standing on the bridge watching. We were delighted to receive a round of applause from them. Clearly, they appreciated our demonstration of boatmanship of the highest order.

12 noon P at Atherstone top lock
12.30 K at Atherstone top lock
15.00 Nuneaton
16.15 Marston Junction
18.45 Tied up at Limekilns – eating at “The Barge”

17 miles, 9 locks, 11 hrs 15 min ( less half an hour or so for breakfast)

Friday 3rd Sept.

A day for another superb demonstration of boatmanship, this being an evolution carefully planned by Nigel.

Instead of mooring up on arrival at Shackerstone we did a ‘fly-past’ and went on down to Snarestone to wind. To towpath observers our non-stop double three point turn with the two boats must have been one of the most wonderful things they have ever seen.

Then back to Shackerstone. By this time the canal was choc-a-bloc with boats so our steering abilities were well tested. At places it really was a fraction of an inch clearance. And we didn’t touch one.

No drama at all ?. Well just a little at the end of the day.

One of the leading members of the snb ‘President’ Appreciation Society, to wit one aquatic metal-worker, vocalised loudly and gruffly when one of our crew crossed his boat to get to bank in preparation for mooring. Mr Grumpy, apparently, is not familiar with boating etiquette.

This was soon forgotten with good food and ale at the Rising Sun.

09.30 depart Limekilns
12.00 Stoke Golding
14.30 Market Bosworth
18.00 Wind at Snarestone
19.30 Tie up at Shackerstone

18 ¼ miles, no locks – 10 hours – ( less ½ hr for stop at Stoke Golding).

I am very fond of the Ashby Canal. I first got to know it, one November, many years ago, when I walked it with a couple of friends and their dogs on a journey from Coventry canal basin to Measham, in just one-weekend. The tow-path then was in a terrible state, almost not there at all in some places. We bivvied in Ambion Wood on the Saturday night. No ghostly soldiers, but some men out with the metal detectors at 6 o’clock in the morning.

Scenically, the Ashby is attractive and, to my mind, having no locks is a real plus. Someone once criticised me for saying so, they reckoned working the locks is half the fun of canal boating. It is, of course; however, it is also pleasant to sometimes to keep steaming along.

On this visit to Shackerstone we were able, together with a truly superb gathering of working boats, to give lots of support to the Ashby Canal Society’s ambitions. ‘President’ also supplied man power for the coal boat demonstrations.

I do hope the organisers of the Ashby Rally won’t be tempted to “over-cook” this annual event. Its present scale is just right, it was very nice to be there.

Historic boats attending the rally were:

Actis, Adamant, Anne, Archangel, Bath, Battersea, Boreas, Corona, Cyprus, Draco, Helen, Jubilee, Kildare, Lamprey, Minnow, Nutfield, ‘President’, Scultor and Vanguard

Lots of people took an interest in ‘President’. The presence of Louise Clarke, and Ann and Maurice Parker, helped greatly with relating the story of the boats.

Keith Rogers