Sutton Wharf

Here I am Rune

Distance 3.5 miles

Total 1689 Locks 85 Tunnels

Running total mileage 2404.4 miles 

Original plan for today was to go down to the ‘Lime Kiln’ moorings just beyond Hinckley but these things change and we got as far as Sutton Wharf and decided to call it a day and have a walk around the site of the Battle of Bosworth. We took the same walk back in 2014 when we came up this canal the last time but it is still and interesting walk. You get a feel for the brutality of the time by visiting the actual scene of the carnage and seeing the lie of the land. According to the various narrative displays around the site 1000 men died in the battle plus hundreds more wounded in some way. That is a lot of bodies to have to bury. I would also imagine that the scene of the battle would be pretty chaotic since when the armies have engaged it would be difficult to tell the two sides apart in the heat of hand to hand fighting, I would think there was an even chance of being injured by your own side.

The other point of interest at this mooring is that it seems to be a water vole ‘hot spot’. When we moored here last time a water vole swam across the canal soon after we had moored and today a water vole swam across in front of the boat about 400 yards before we moored. It became more interesting after we had moored as a vole began to feed on the canal bank outside of our kitchen window, tried to photograph it but wasn’t massively successful.

A not very successful photo of a water vole (his eye is just above the leaf)

Current plan for tomorrow will be to carry on to Lime Kiln moorings at Hinckley where we will probably stay until Monday (provided we can find a mooring there!)