Short Hops.

Friday 25th May 2012.
Fazeley to Bottom of Atherstone Locks.
9 Miles, 2 Locks.

The last time we came this way we did Fazeley to Nuneaton in one journey but that was on a cold September day, with today's heat a short hop was all we wanted, we have moored on the visitor moorings below Atherstone Locks intending to climb the flight early tomorrow when it's cool.

Not that many boats about, there was plenty of room on the moorings at Fazeley last night, the moorings by bridge 54 at Polesworth were full but apart from that there's space everywhere.

Work has ground to a halt on the new buildings at Fazeley Junction, a sign of the times. Years ago it was a coal wharf.

You can just see the slipway sticking out under the modern floor in the large door aperture.

Included in the new build is the preservation of an old factory which has been home to basket makers and a boat builder in the past. 

The following came from www.fazeley.info  local history section, its part of an account by a 88 year old Fazeley resident Mr Joseph Hunter taken in 2008, the site won't let me link directly to the page.

Several tradesmen later occupied the premises and then along came Bob Houghton, who had served his time on aircraft carriers. He built a slipway on to the canal and carried out his business of building boats. After his demise, Richard Barnes, from Fisherwick, bought the premises along with the now closed Methodist Church and produced tail fins for racing cars. Now sadly, at this time, that corner of Lichfield Street has been demolished to make way for still more housing. It includes the navigation wharf, where, as a boy, I saw coal unloaded from Samuel Barlow's barges by crane and boat horses stabled overnight at the Three Tuns.