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