EmBATTLEd

30 Aug

Written By Boatwif

Ashby Canal: Hinckley to Ambion Wood: 7¾ miles

Progress along the Ashby Canal may seem serene and peaceful – but despite the gentle surroundings the Cleddau crew felt increasingly embattled as they made their way north.There’s the difficult sightlines to contend with – trees, bushes and bankside growth often making it hard to see oncoming boats. The canal has long had a reputation for shallow water – when passing moored boats on the towpath side and meeting oncoming moving boats there may not be much space to pass. The offside moving boat often ends up cruising into the reeds and getting stuck on the silted up bed of the canal. Trying to dislodge the stern time after time from a mudbank is a wearying business…Then there’s the speed of oncoming boats: maybe it’s the pressure of a deadline to meet, or a hire boat in a hurry to return to base, or a skipper’s irritation at having another boat in the way…Tempers have flared and twice words have been exchanged when an oncoming boat was keen to pass by while Cleddau was being moored…“Enough!” said the Captain a few days ago. “Once we’ve moored up we’re stopping still until after the Bank Holiday…”And thus it was that Cleddau spent three nights (and nearly a fourth) opposite Ambion Wood, the very place when 538 years ago King Richard III’s soldiers foraged for food before what became known as the Battle of Bosworth.…A glorious place to moor would have been Stoke Golding but all mooring space on the public moorings had been taken up. Another good place would have been Sutton Cheney (indeed as the Captain was eying up a space on the end of the pontoon another boat close behind was pressing hard to keep moving…) That would have been a sociable place too, since Ian and Irene of Free Spirit were moored close by… So a towpath mooring beside Ambion Wood it was, a little dark from the tree cover but very pleasant, with a steady stream of happy footfall - and pawfall - strolling past the boat…. After struggling this far Cleddau was now well placed for two repeat tourist treats. Access to both involved a towpath stroll, a crossing of the old railway bridge and a further gentle walk.First up was the Battlefield Heritage Railway Line which runs for five miles between Shackerstone and Shenton. The train was being driven by a diesel locomotive; there seems to be no chance of a nostalgia driven steam trip on the current timetable… In came the train at Shenton (note the KD initials on the window glass), the engine being detached, shunted back past the line of carriages to be re-attached at the other end. The track runs through quiet Leicestershire countryside with a stop at Market Bosworth, (much new house building under way here). There’s a fair amount of tired rolling stock at this station and at Shackerstone too. Shackerstone Station is pristine and full of floral colour: The station museum is crammed full of railway memorabilia - while the tearoom is crammed full of small tables and Victoriana... Back at Shenton Station it was a 15 minute or so walk up to the Battle of Bosworth Centre, by good luck arrival coinciding with a battlefield guided walk. What a treat that was.Walk participants were assigned battle flags to represent the “main players” in the drama that was the Battle of Bosworth. A Cardiff-born chap bagged the Henry Tudor flag and the Captain became the Earl of Oxford, a close Henry Tudor supporter. Other flag bearers. A briefing on the hill, site of King Richard’s pre-battle encampment Site of the Wars of the Roses memorial, strewn with white roses during the 22^nd August anniversary Weapons – an archer’s war arrow Re-enactment of the battle formations King Richard has been killed – the crown is passed to Sir William Stanley, who crowns Henry Tudor…Back to the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre the next day. There was a living history encampment, where hardy souls were living out the weekend in 15^th century conditions. A 20 minute recap of the Wars of the Roses via a storyteller and actors miming the sequence of births, deaths and battles proved pretty engaging.. Foods for the campers Arrow heads for different purposes Recruits into a C15^th fighting force…

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Hours later came this text from the Cheshire Mum: “We could come and find you tomorrow.” So it was up the hill through the woods again to meet at the Battlefield Centre. Why on earth could the lovely café at the Heritage Centre not be open on a Bank Holiday Monday…?! (Close reading of the signs on the door indicated it is normally closed on Mondays and Tuesdays). But on a Bank Holiday Monday, with hundreds of people visiting the Bosworth Exhibition, the Living History Camp or taking walks in the local woods..? A second overflow car park had been opened. With such potential customer numbers what a loss of trade…So down the hill then to the little café at Shenton Railway Station and another walk along the Battlefield Trail. Later, mid–afternoon, Cleddau pushed further north. There was more canal still to explore – and hopefully fewer water-based skirmishes at bridge holes and pinch points...