On Monday 22 June Slow Pace & Scotch Corner cruised on the Coventry Canal to Atherstone where they met up with Bill & Babs on Kaydee. The following morning they continued on to Marston Junction where they turned onto the Ashby Canal. After getting to the official end of the Ashby navigation (and beyond!) they cruised back to moor overnight on Thursday 25 June near Market Bosworth.
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| Assending the Atherstone flight of locks on the Coventry Canal |
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| They met up with Bill & Babs on their boat Kaydee at Atherstone... |
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| ...where they enjoyed a meal together... |
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| ...followed by after dinner drinks! |
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| Turning onto the Ashby canal |
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| They moored overnight at Stoke Golding - the birthplace of the Tudor Dynasty |
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It is believed that Henry VII was crowned King below an oak tree,
near the
site of this bridge at Stoke Golding |
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| They visited Bosworth Field |
The Battle of Bosworth (or Bosworth Field) was the last
significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the Houses
of Lancaster and York that raged across England in the latter half of the 15th
century. Fought on 22 August 1485, the battle was won by the Lancastrians.
Their leader Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, by his victory became the first
English monarch of the Tudor dynasty. His opponent, Richard III, the last king
of the House of York, was killed in the battle. Historians consider Bosworth
Field to mark the end of the Plantagenet dynasty, making it a defining moment
of English and Welsh history.
Richard's reign began in 1483 when he was handed the throne
after his twelve-year-old nephew Edward V, for whom he was acting as Lord
Protector, was declared illegitimate and ineligible for the throne. Richard
lost popularity after the boy and his younger brother disappeared after Richard
incarcerated them in the Tower of London, and Richard's support was further
eroded by the popular belief he was implicated in the death of his wife. Across
the English Channel in Brittany, Henry Tudor, a descendant of the greatly
diminished House of Lancaster, seized on Richard's difficulties so that he
could challenge Richard's claim to the throne. Henry's first attempt to invade
England was frustrated by a storm in 1483, but at his second attempt he arrived
unopposed on 7 August 1485 on the southwest coast of Wales. Marching inland,
Henry gathered support as he made for London. Richard mustered his troops and
intercepted Henry's army south of Market Bosworth in Leicestershire. Thomas,
Lord Stanley, and Sir William Stanley brought a force to the battlefield, but
held back while they decided which side it would be more advantageous to
support.
Richard divided his army, which outnumbered Henry's, into
three groups (or "battles"). One was assigned to the Duke of Norfolk
and another to the Earl of Northumberland. Henry kept most of his force
together and placed it under the command of the experienced Earl of Oxford.
Richard's vanguard, commanded by Norfolk, attacked but struggled against
Oxford's men, and some of Norfolk's troops fled the field. Northumberland took
no action when signalled to assist his king, so Richard gambled everything on a
charge across the battlefield to kill Henry and end the fight. Seeing the
king's knights separated from his army, the Stanleys intervened; Sir William
led his men to Henry's aid, surrounding and killing Richard. After the battle,
Henry was crowned king below an oak tree in nearby Stoke Golding, now a
residential garden.
The exact site of the battle is disputed because of the lack
of conclusive data, and memorials have been erected at different locations. In
1974, the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre was built on a site that has
since been challenged by several scholars and historians. In October 2009, a
team of researchers, who had performed geological surveys and archaeological
digs in the area from 2003, suggested a location two miles (3.2 km) southwest
of Ambion Hill.
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| Scotch Corner exits from the Snarestone Tunnel which leads to... |
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| ...the official end of the Ashby navigation |
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Their exclusive moorings "beyond" the end of navigation accessed via a locked
swingbridge
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| They were able to cruise to the very end of the restored part of the Ashby Canal, well beyond the official end of navigation |
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| Bill takes Slow Pace's tiller |
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| They return onto the official navigation |
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They visited Market Bosworth
(where Bill was crowned William V !?!) |
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They moored overnight on Thursday 25 June below Welsboro Bridge
(You can see Bill was suffering from CLAMPS!) |
