River Avon

A lock in the canal basin at Stratford-on-Avon takes us off the Canal and River Trust waterways and onto the River Avon.   We purchased a week's license for the river from the Avon Navigation Trust starting on Saturday.  Later we discovered the local rowing club was holding a regatta that day.  We set off early but still emerged from the lock in mid-race and were promptly stopped by officials until we had a clear passage. 

As there had been little rainfall recently the river was tranquil and pretty.  We had a view of the magnificent houses and their enormous back gardens which flanked the river at Welford-on-Avon.  The river flowed through woods, round hills and we passed stylish holiday homes raised up above flood levels .   A drawback to river cruising is the scarcity of moorings and we travelled further than we intended on that first day.  To compensate we stayed an extra day in the peaceful setting at Offenham Lock.  

Setting of on Monday we had a minor disaster.  As we lowered the wheelhouse down one of the back windows dropped against a door and shattered.  We removed the broken glass and sailed on to Evesham where we tracked down a business who were happy to sell us a sheet of perspex. Luckily it wasn't far to walk as it was a large sheet of perspex and having repaired the damage we now have plenty spare.  Hopefully we won't need it.  

Our next mooring was on Wyre Island, a small island next to the unusual diamond shaped Wyre Lock.  The island was well maintained by volunteers and made a good place to stop.  

Wyre Island.  The tall pale blue poles, on the far side, are the Avon Navigation Trust moorings.  There is a notice board at every lock giving safety information including the grid reference for the lock and a map of the River Avon showing the locks location.  

Diamond shaped Wyre Lock.  On this river boaters are asked to leave the lock gates open as they exit a lock which is easier for getting back onto the boat.

A long line of moorings stretched out next to a park at Pershore, an ideal place to stop.  The small town, with it's Georgian buildings and an abbey, was pleasant to stroll around and Bess and Brinny enjoyed chasing in the park.  Brinny surprised us by jumping clean over a 12 feet gulley and Bess gamely followed but not with a leap.  She made her way down the side and reappeared a minute or two later on the other side.  

Leafing through History - a carving on a beech trunk in the grounds of Pershore Abbey.

  Our last stop on the River Avon was Tewkesbury, another interesting town with an abbey.  I had a look round the sparse interior of a restored Tudor merchants shop and was surprised to see it didn't have a chimney.  The open fire was in the middle of the room and the smoke vented through the roof.   I also enjoyed browsing through the numerous antique/bric a brac shops but my only purchase was a modern day paperback.  

The row of restored Tudor merchant shops.   Glass windows have been added to all but the display house, in the middle of the row, as the rest of the properties are inhabited or used for businesses.  

Whilst browsing on the internet I came across a clip on Youtube showing the repairs at Holme Lock which held us up in May.  The end of the clip shows boats sailing in for the first lock up and there we are, last but not least, for our 1 second of fame.
Link for the Holme Lock clip


Our journey from Stratford-on-Avon to Tewkesbury

Counting

After leaving Long Itchington we had intended to stop at Leamington Spa but the moorings were sparce and badly situated so we continued on to Warwick.   I enjoyed a walk around the town with its old buildings and climbed the 160 steps of St Marys church tower for a view over the town and castle.  The church also provided the setting for a large exhibition of artwork from a local school which was very interesting. 

Looking out over the streets of Warwick towards the castle.

The next day we were up early for the Hatton Flight, 21 locks which climb 146 feet.  At the top we were lucky to find a mooring in the sun and I walked back down the locks with Bess and Brinny to take some photos. 

A narrowboat coming down the Hatton Flight.  Part of the flight can be seen in the background.  All the locks on this canal were originally single locks but in the 1930s double locks were constructed to reduce waiting time for working boats.  In the foreground water is cascading down through the site of the old single lock.  

A large silver dragonfly in a pond on the Hatton Flight.

Since leaving Leicester on 19th May we have been travelling on the Grand Union canal but at Kingswood Junction we turned onto a narrow cut which linked to the Stratford-on-Avon canal. This is a narrow canal and many of the bridges are only just wide enough for us to pass through.    It also has 35 locks but using the bike, to go ahead and set up the locks in advance, helped us complete the journey in 2 days. 

Narrow bridge on the Stratford-on-Avon canal. 

 Stratford-on-Avon is William Shakespeare's home town and we moored up in the basin opposite the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.  Tourists flock to the attractive town centre which contains a surprising number of old buildings.  Not surprisingly the town had a lot of souvenir shops and I also noticed a number of upmarket jewellers.

The Shrieves House, a building which dates back to the 16th century, in Stratford-on-Avon.  

The canal basin was also part of the tourist trail and some tourists were very cheeky.  Peering into the boats is bad enough but some jumped onto the boats to have their photos taken!  As far as I know this didn't happen to us but then we do have Bess on guard.  

Our journey from Long Itchington to Stratford-on-Avon

Father's Day

The Grand Union canal has several arms and from Norton Junction we remained on the Grand Union Mainline travelling west towards Braunston.  Our journey through Braunston Tunnel was slower than that through Blisworth because, after entering the tunnel, we found our headlight wasn't working.  Luckily we always have our powerful torches at hand and along with Kev's headtorch we had just enough light.  

We also had a problem with one of our LED lights, which had developed an annoying flicker, so we walked over to Midland Chandlers for a replacement.   They had some electric bikes on display and the salesman offered us a trial in the car park.  He said "Anyone who tries them buys one".  And he was right!  The bike can be ridden in manual mode just like a normal cycle; in all electric mode using the throttle without pedalling or as pedal assist.  In this last mode you start by pedalling as normal and then the motor gives you an extra boost to make you speed along which is great fun.   The bike folds up for storage so we can keep it inside.  

A cheeky swan looks through our side hatch hoping for some bread at Braunston. 

From Braunston we continued west on a winding, twisting section of the Grand Union and moored up at Napton Junction outside Wigrams Caravan Site.  We'd arranged to meet Nic, Gaz and the kids for the weekend and Father's day.  We had some fun with various activities, including riding the new bike, and enjoyed a meal at the Folly Inn.  After our meal the landlord proved to be quite a comedian, pausing at our table to entertain us with jokes and even a card trick.  

On Sunday we all packed up an went our separate ways.  We turned north continuing on the Grand Union but this section of the canal has very distinctive winding gear to operate the lock sluices.  The turrets of the mechanisms stand next to each lock gate and it takes about 24 turns of the windlass to open the paddles.  

The distinctive winding gear.  The small white rod rises out of the turret as the paddle is wound up.

By the time we'd reached Long Itchington the novelty of the unusual locks had worn off and so we moored up for the night. 


Our journey from Norton Junction to Long Itchington

Taking it easy

We turned round and retraced our route, taking it easy to rest Kev's knee which has improved. At Milton Keynes a pigeon took it easy as well, landing on the roof and hitching a ride for 5 minutes.  

The long Blisworth Tunnel took us north from Stoke Bruerne and this time I had my camera ready.  In 1984 the tunnel was reopened after extensive repairs which used concrete lining rings in places.  A section of a lining ring is on display at the southern portal.  

A concrete lining ring showing the circular shape of the tunnel.  The water level in the tunnel would come up to the two projections.

Inside the tunnel it's pitch black with our headlight illuminating the tunnel roof in front of the bow and Kev wears his head torch for some extra light.  At slow speeds steering becomes unresponsive so we cannot crawl through on tickover.  I'm not sure if a much increased speed improves the steering but as we were the only boat in the tunnel Kev increased the revs.  We sped through creating an impressive bow wave and shot out at the other end like a cork out of a bottle.  

Our view in the tunnel.  The headlamp at the front is creating the arc of light and Kev's headtorch is lighting up the boat roof.  The tiny white dot, just above the end of our roof, is the light at the end of the tunnel. 

 We stopped for a few days at the top of the Long Buckby locks near Norton Junction and on Thursday boat traffic stopped for a repair to lock 11.  The lock and pound below it was drained to give access to the gate paddle. 

A view I usually don't like to see - a drained canal, but this time it is for lock repairs.   A gravel bar is clearly visible and silt has built up on the right- handside of the canal.  

Repairs to the lock gate.  The gate paddle has been removed from the square opening in the bottom of the left lock gate. 

Although we have moored near a busy canal junction there is only one small grocery shop on the nearby Whilton Marina.  We decided to shop online and placed an order with ASDA.  We used the postcode of the canalside pub with an unusual first line of address: the cream and red narrowboat. The next day we took delivery of our groceries in the pub car park.  It was a very good service but I'm not sure how I ordered 2 chickens.  As we don't have a freezer we'll be eating a lot of chicken in the next few days. 

Our journey from Marsworth to Norton Junction

A Change of Plan

Stoke Bruerne is a small village that is reputed to be the best example of a canal village in the country.   Buildings facing the canal have remained unchanged and the first canal museum was opened in a restored cornmill in 1963.   It's the first time we've been this far south so we decided to travel on our own and stop more frequently.  

Stoke Bruerne locks and village

After torrential rain the water levels on the canal were up and flooding over the bottom lock gates as we left Stoke Bruerne.  I was pleased to get back on board after paddling through 6 inches of water at the last set of lock gates.  The rain had stopped before we reached Cosgrove which has an unusual 'Horse Tunnel' under the canal.  It is only 6 feet high but was supposedly built to allow horses to be led under the canal to the blacksmiths.

Cosgrove Horse Tunnel

At Wolverton the wharf is newly developed and has convenient moorings for the supermarkets.  It also has a striking sculpture of a figure standing high above ground level.  

The sculpture at Wolverton.  Cyclists through the ages, starting with a penny farthing on the hand, are riding down the outstretched arm

After shopping we continued towards Milton Keynes and were impressed by a 150 metre long, black and white train mural at the side of the canal.  This was painted by Bill Billings and represents the past, present and future of Wolverton.   It has undergone regular restoration work to keep it in good condition.  

Part of Bill Billings Train Mural

Milton Keynes was built up to the canal but we saw very little of the town because extensive, well kept parkland has been created alongside the canal.   We continued on to Fenny Stratford which is now part of Bletchley and home to Threads and Patches, a needle-workers heaven.  I enjoyed a browse through the huge stock of materials, threads, wool and many other items.   The building was divided up into several rooms, some of which were equipped for workshop sessions and the chatter of sewing machines accompanied me as I admired the quilts and other completed pieces which were on display.  I resisted the temptation to buy, I already have a good stock, and not much spare room, on board.  

We moved on to Leighton Buzzard in more rain but luckily the bridges were high enough for us to leave the wheelhouse up.   The next morning we made use of the 2 hour shopping mooring before heading into the countryside.  From our mooring we saw hares in the field opposite and a kingfisher perched in a bush.  He stayed for a while and I tried to take a photo but it was a bit too far away.  

I walked with Bess and Brinny down to Marsworth Junction and that was as far south as we'd go on this trip because the next morning we had a change of plan.  Kev's knee has been giving him some trouble and we decided it would be prudent to turn back before the next section of canal which contains 52 Locks.  

Our journey from Stoke Bruerne to Marsworth Locks