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.