Day 51 Part 1 - The quiet waters by

On Day 49 a missed turn caused a rerouting that led me into a tangle. But Day 50's change of plan paid dividends.

I had thought of walking through Atherstone and then Fenny Drayton and Stoke Golding. But as I approached the Coventry Canal on a perfect day for walking, I chose to go off road.

Canal walking has been one of the wonderful surprises of this walk and I had thought that I'd done the last of it in Staffordshire. The map showed the Coventry Canal twisting along the contours and sure enough, the scenery was attractive.

It must be the height of the gnat season. On the previous day, every stride through the undergrowth raised scores of them. On the canal, they flew in loops across the water and back. Perhaps it was the angle of their wings in the bright sunshine that meant those flying from right to left were more visible. The effect was to make them look like a constant one-way stream, matched in speed and course like a shoal of fish.

At a lock among the notices I spotted British Waterways sign about fishing. In English, Polish and Russian, it warned that fish must not be taken away but must be returned to the water. I wondered what confusions had made this clarification necessary.

A single signet swam with its parents. It was still grey and fluffy but chicken sized. Like a schoolboy in shorts I imagined it wanted a grown up outfit soon. As it passed I noticed it was swimming with just one foot. It stretched its right leg behind like a limbering athlete and I thought it would resume two-legged swimming. But it stowed the right leg among its feathers and carried on. Curious.

I enjoyed a splendidly bittersweet pint of Everards Original at The Anchor, Hartshill. The table next to mine was occupied by two couples, whose canalboat holiday was apparently coming to an end. They laughed and teased and shared their in-jokes.

(continues in Part Two)