Travelling the Stratford Canal

This is the second catch up posting to bring you bang up to date with our journey.  As I type this on Sunday afternoon we are moored on the Grand Union Canal just beyond Kingswood Junction heading in the direction of Birmingham.

Before we set off up the Stratford Canal we had a lovely couple of days in Stratford, enjoying Henry IV parts 1 and 2 and looking round the town.

Here you can see Leo on the left and Pas Mèche on the right moored in the Canal Basin at Stratford.  Above Leo is a monument to Shakespeare with four characters from the plays around it.

And here is Falstaff at the foot of the same monument.  Falstaff features in both parts of Henry IV and was magnificently played by Anthony Sher.

The architecture of the modern Shakespeare Theatre is unusual but not unattractive.

There are lots of lovely buildings in Stratford.  This is the Garrick Inn next to a shop both in half timbered buildings.











Our friend Maurice had a strong wish to come up the locks with us from Stratford so on Friday morning he joined us in the Basin and we set off on the narrow canal up 16 locks to Wilmscote.

After a few weeks on wide rivers the canal seems very small indeed and I confess I made a bit of mess negotiating the bridge and lock entry just round this bend.  My canal skills soon came back though.

Here is the lock crew of Helen and Maurice working one of the many locks.  We were out of Stratford by this point and in delightful open country.

The locks come in threes or fours and here is a flight of several locks in front of us.

Maurice drove the last bit.  You can see here just how narrow this canal is.  When we got to the top and moored, Maurice confessed that he had had a good workout and retired below for a sleep.








On Saturday we carried on climbing locks up to Lowsonford.

Negotiating the bridges on this canal needs quite a bit of concentration.  Usually there are only a couple of inches to spare.  The cast iron bridges were designed with a narrow slit across them so that the towrope of the horse could be pulled through, making it unnecessary to detach the horse, given that the towpath does not go through the bridge.

We were fascinated by Edstone Aqueduct.  Nearly 200 yards long it is the longest in England (but not in Wales!)  The canal is carried in a narrow iron trough supported on brick piers.

Here a narrow cruiser, Otter, is crossing the aqueduct.  Unusually the towpath across is set at the level of the bottom of the trough so pedestrians get a worms eye view of the boats.

This is the dizzying view down from the aqueduct to a road below.  As you can see all that separates the helmsman from the drop is a few inches of iron.  No 'Health and Safety' rails here.

This view is looking back to Pas Mèche following Leo over the aqueduct.  The aqueduct crosses two roads, a railway and a stream.

Characteristic of the Stratford Canal  are 'barrel roofed' lock houses like this one.  Apparently they were simple and cheap to build.

This is the last of three aqueducts all constructed the same way.  Once again the towpath is at a low level. This one crosses a small stream.










Yesterday evening David cooked an excellent meal on their barbecue.

The lady to the left in the pink is Sue, Victoria's mum, who has joined Pas Mèche over the weekend.  David as chef is hiding behind the smoke.

Today (Sunday) we've come up another 9 locks to Kingswood Junction where a short length of canal connects the Stratford Canal with the Grand Union.

By one of the locks today was this strange bird house, partly constructed from an old boot.  The matching bird house with the other boot was on a nearby tree.

This is Kingswood Junction.  A lock straight on continues the long flight of locks towards Birmingham on the Stratford Canal.  We turned very sharp right past the white house.

Having turned the corner you go through this tight channel under the railway bridge in the background and then to a T junction with the Grand Union Canal.

This fine finger post marks the junction with the Grand Union.  We are now heading towards Birmingham.

In this picture we are moored just around the corner and Pas Mèche is coming out of the turn towards us.

So I have now brought you up to date with our journey.  Over the next few days we'll be cruising into Birmingham where we might stay for a while particularly if there is something good going on at the National Indoor Arena which is right next to the canal.

Back on the canals - Stratford and beyond

Well the floods subsided and we finally made it up the River Avon to Stratford and we are now working our way up the Stratford Canal towards Birmingham.

After several days marooned in Evesham we finally set off upstream on Sunday.

This was our flood mooring at Evesham.  Notice the long poles to allow mooring ropes to move up the poles as the waters rise.  In the picture we are just leaving Evesham.

After just a couple of locks it became apparent that the current was still very strong so we decided to moor just above Offenham Lock for the night.  This is a lovely spot with water and toilet emptying facilities.  Quite a few boats were there, like us waiting for the waters to go down.





On Monday we carried on a little further in slightly better conditions to Bidford on Avon.

Here is Helen on meadows by the medieval bridge at Bidford.  The navigation arch is not the big one in the middle but the one third from the right.

Bidford is a pretty place as this picture shows.















On Tuesday morning our friends Maurice and Carolyn came to join us for a couple of days and we cruised on in much better conditions up to Stratford where we arrived on Tuesday.

Here is Pas Mèche wriggling through the navigable arch at Bidford.  Quite tricky.  You can see what the floods did to the sign.

We've had some splendid skies lately.

Here Ian and Carolyn wait below Luddington Lock while Helen, Maurice and Victoria prepare the lock.

On Tuesday evening we moored in a pleasant spot just above the lock at Luddington and went for a walk through the fields by the river.

On Wednesday we finally made it to Stratford.  You can see Pas Mèche coming through the old Tramway Bridge with the Royal Shakespeare Theatre behind.

We first went up to the limit of navigation on the Avon a couple of miles above Stratford and then came back down to enter the basin at the bottom of the Stratford Canal.  Here you can see Pas Mèche going into the lock that takes you up to the Basin.

We had a couple of days in Stratford and managed to see Henry IV parts 1 and 2 while we were there.  Part 1 we saw with Maurice and Carolyn and Part 2 we saw on our own but surprisingly met a chap who Ian used to work with.

This is by way of being a catch up posting and, as the signal is pretty poor, I'll do another posting when we have better reception to bring you right up to date.  The next posting will include pictures of Stratford and our climb up the locks beyond. 

Caught in the Floods Again!!

Just like in 2012 on the Thames at Wallingford and on the Rochdale Canal at Todmorden, we have been marooned by flooding.  We hope it is only temporary and that we will be on the move again tomorrow (Saturday).

On Thursday we left Pershore in persistent rain that varied from a heavy drizzle to a weighty  downpour.  And so it continued until late in the evening.  We cruised in the rain to moor on purpose designed flood mooring poles at Evesham.

The lock at Wyre Piddle (no, I didn't make that up) is diamond shaped.  No idea why this is so, but it does not make locking comfortable for two narrowboats each too long to fit against one side of the diamond.

And here we are above the lock passing Tiddle Widdle Island (and I didn't make that one up either).  The river is narrower now.  The very shiny roof on Leo is due to the rain.

Fladbury Lock has a very long and fierce weir beside it.  The building is an old mill.

The green signs by the side of the lock mark previous flooding levels, the highest being in 2007.  We should have taken this and the rain as an omen.

Approaching Evesham we passed Hampton Ferry which is propelled across the river by a man pulling on the chain stretched across the river.  Fortunately they lowered the chain for us to pass.








Once in Evesham we moored and watched the river rise overnight by a metre and a half.  Another boat, Abigail, came down to breast up with the two of us on the only flood poles available.

Pas Mèche moored on the inside next to the poles with Leo alongside.  You can see the metal walkway beside the poles which soon disappeared under water.

Lots of logs and other debris came down the fast flowing swollen river and accumulated between the boats.

In the morning some nice chaps from the Avon Navigation Trust came to see us to make sure we were OK and provided this scaffold plank so that we could get ashore.  The service the ANT has given us  has been excellent.  It is only a small charity which runs the river navigation but they have been far more helpful than when we got stuck on the Thames two years ago.

Here is the view from across the river with our three boats moored alongside and the brown river zooming past.

From the Workman Bridge into Evesham we saw these other boats similarly protected on private moornings but with no means of reaching the boat.

We walked up above Evesham Lock and Weir.  As you can see the weir was pretty full and fast flowing.

And the lock was nearly under water.












 

Evesham is not such a bad place to be stuck.  It has necessary shops for supplies and some lovely old buildings.

This is the Almonry once occupied by the Almoner of the Abbey.  It is now a museum.

This lovely half timbered  building now houses the Nat West Bank.

The corner of the building looks as if it has moved at some time and needed support.















The river has now fallen a metre or more from its highest point and we are hopeful that we will be on our way towards Stratford tomorrow morning.  It will be harder going because the river is running a lot faster than before, but hopefully it will be safe.

A New River for Leo

We are now moored at Pershore on the River Avon - that is the Stratford Avon not the Bristol one.

Last Wednesday we left Sharpness and headed back towards Gloucester, staying the night at the beautifully named Splatt Bridge.

At Purton we stopped to look at a collection of hulks.  At this point the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal runs right beside the Severn and, to protect the embankment between the two, a number of concrete barges were deliberately sunk along the river bank.  Amazingly the rudder on one of them still turned.





Having moored at Splatt Bridge we went out for a ride on our bikes but it soon started raining and we got so wet that we lit the fire on our return to dry our clothes.

On Thursday we carried on back to Gloucester where this time we were able to moor in the Docks.  We visited the folk museum in the afternoon.  One room was about the river.  Did you know that a sturgeon could grow to nearly 12 feet long?  No, neither did we.

This was an old puppet theatre ideal for children to play with.   Guess whose head you can just see.

The building which houses the folk museum is a splendid Tudor wooden house.













On Friday we visited Susan, who used to teach at Westfield School where Helen worked.  Susan lives in Monmouth so we caught the train to Chepstow and then she picked us up.  It was a lovely scenic train journey with views across the Severn to Sharpness and we enjoyed our day with Susan.  She took us on a walk through the country to the town and then back up a very steep hill back to her house.

The famous bridge over the River Monnow still has its medieval gateway.  Susan and Helen are looking out to the left over the river.


















Saturday we hired a car and drove to Swansea to see Helen's cousin Bob and family.  It was good to see them while we are so far South and we even managed lunch on the beach at Oxwich Bay on the Gower.

It was back to boating on Sunday when we went down the lock at Gloucester and fought the strong current on the Severn in the Eastern Channel.

This photo is looking back towards Gloucester Lock with Pas Mèche just coming out onto the River.  The weir is to the right and the current whips round this corner so the strategy is to come out pretty fast and keep the revs high.

Difficult to see but this is a post in the river to mark an obstruction.  Look at the timber wedged against it.  This gives some idea of the excess water and debris which was coming down the River only a few days ago.  Though it had gone down, the River was still about 2 or 3 feet higher than when we went down to Gloucester.

Because of the current we thought it would take us ages to get back upriver to Tewkesbury but we managed it in just over 4 hours which was better than expected.  Here we are just turning off the Severn onto the Avon.

Half a mile or so up the Avon you meet the first lock at Tewkesbury.  Here we are coming into land at the lock pontoon with an old mill behind us.











We had time on Sunday to look round Tewkesbury which is a very attractive town of three main streets full of lovely old houses.

This is the High Street.

And here is the famous Abbey which was purchased by the town from Henry VIII at the dissolution of the monasteries for £453 and is now used as the parish church.

The Abbey is one of the finest Norman churches we've seen and the tower is the tallest Norman tower surviving anywhere.

Outside the cathedral is this bronze called 'Touching Soles'.  The 'yarn bombers' have been active around here and the woollen garlands seem to add to the piece.










Having bought a 14 day licence (the Avon is privately managed by a charity) we set off on Monday to explore this new river.

The Avon has lower banks than the Severn and thus better views.  The hill in the distance is Bredon Hill, but more of that later.

The first lock on the Avon has a lock keeper so Strensham Lock was our first Avon lock to work ourselves.  When we got close to the lock we had to back out because it is hidden and there were two boats already coming down.

Above Strensham Lock we stopped to take on water.  This crazy and courageous duck pestered us repeatedly while we did so.  She seems determined here to find out what is going on.

Eckington Bridge is one of several medieval bridges with narrow arches and fast currents rushing through.  You need to ensure you are set up squarely to the arch before trying to go through.

The next lock is Nafford which has a swing bridge over the top.  Make sure you open the bridge before filling the lock!

Gloucester and South was full of seagulls and we hadn't seen any geese for a few days.  Geese make very good parents.  Look how Mum or Dad is keeping watch.









We moored last night at Comberton Quay and decided to walk up Bredon Hill in the afternoon.  It is 980 feet high and has wonderful views of the Malverns, the Cotswolds and some more hills towards Birmingham.  There was a grey smudge over Wales where the Black Mountains might be.

This is the top of Bredon Hill looking North West to the Malvern Hills.

And this is looking more North East over the plains of the rivers Severn and Avon.  Leo is down there somewhere.

After a more circuitous route up the Hill, some chaps on the top told us of a more direct route down.  They did say it was steep and they were certainly right there!


















So after an energetic day yesterday we've come just a few miles today to Pershore which is very like a smaller version of Tewkesbury.  There is a lovely mooring by a park close to town and we have decided to stay this evening.

Pershore has two bridges.  This is the old one and the river flow accelerates through it to a surprising extent.  They recommend not going through here when the river is flowing hard.

A large tree in the Abbey grounds has been carved on both sides.  It is called 'Leafing through History'.  Notice the fox and the butterflies.

This is all that remains of Pershore Abbey, like Tewkesbury now used as a church.  Where the flying buttresses are there used to be a long nave but now only the South transept, the tower and the Eastern end are left standing.  It is nevertheless an imposing building.















Over the next few days we will be working our way up the Avon through Evesham to Stratford.  Subject to rain swelling the river and delaying us we are looking forward to what is coming.