Since our last visit to Snarestone the furthest navigable point on the Ashby at present another 250yds has been opened so we were interested to see this. However we were unable to make our way to the end because the winding hole only accommodates a 53 footer. We could have reversed all the way but even with Sid's amazing boat handling thus was a distance too far!
We got the bikes out in the afternoon and enjoyed a pleasant ride to Measham, famous for their distinctive brown canal pottery, then on to Moira where the canal ends in a huge canal basin. The last two miles is navigable and there us a lock through which pleasure trips are taken. This coming bank holiday weekend there is a trail boat festival in thr basin for which trail boats are already arriving.
The Canal Basin at Moira
The ride mostly on the old course of the dismantled Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway took us through the Ashby Would Heritage Trail which is part of the National Forest. This cycle path is the suggested new course of the canal. We think however, it will be many, many years before the ' lost eight miles' of canal will be reinstated. At £25 an inch an awful lot of funds need to be raised!
The Moira Furnace, a restored blast furnace, was one of our objectives but as in so many cases now it is only open weekends and school holidays due to lack of volunteers.
The Moira Furnace
Thank goodness for our trusty, electric bikes, which made this interesting trip possible. We could never have walked it!
Jenny has been listening out for a cuckoo to no avail until today whilst on our bike ride on the Ashby Would Heritage Trail. A truly lovely sound !
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