Thursday 12th July

Bodymoor Heath to Atherstone

Summer's here again, at least until until the evening.

Set off at 845. At Fazeley Mill marina we got a replacement gas bottle and emptied the loo.

Stopped briefly at Fazeley for essential supplies then we turned right at the junction.

Decided to stop for lunch at Alvecote marina to try the Samuel Barlow, which is quite new. It's run by an Ozzie with a long list of rules. No sandwiches, closed Mondays except Bank Holidays, closed most of January..... But he had 3 real ales and some interesting food, so we decided to have our main meal there.

After lunch we went to the priory nearby, but there's not much left of that. Then we carried on, stopping briefly at Polesworth so that Andy could post his postcards.

Moored for the night at Atherstone. Had a light meal on board then went to the Dolphin. It's in the GBG now and just been awarded Warwickshire pub of the year for the second year running. They had 2 beers from the Beowolf brewery which is now at Chasewater. The first was good but the second was not perfect. On the way back we popped into the Market Tavern to try a half of some Warwickshire brewery beer. Both beers that we had were in good condition, unlike my previous visit.