Sharpness

We purchased a River Avon license from the Avon Navigation Trust boat moored in Stratford Basin and on Friday morning we descended through the lock onto the river.  As we would be returning back along the river in August we decided not to dally and arrived in Tewkesbury on Tuesday.

I enjoyed a walk around the historic town which has the coats of arms, of men who fought in the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471, hanging in the streets.   The banners have been hung by the Tewkesbury Battlefield Society to "publicise the medieval history of Tewkesbury and to brighten the streets" which they certainly do.  

Colourful coats of arms on buildings in Tewkesbury

The Tewkesbury Art Society were holding an exhibition which made interesting viewing. Some of the artworks depicted a view of the abbey from the Severn Ham which is an area of floodplains.   

Tewkesbury Abbey and riverside cottages from the Severn Ham 

The Severn Ham was also popular with dog walkers and, for Bess and Brinny, the ideal location for a chasing game. 

Brinny in full flight on the Severn Ham 

From Tewkesbury we sailed down the River Severn and into Gloucester Docks.  Tall warehouses surround the large basin and across from our pontoon we could see the masts of two tall ships.  They are at a specialist boatyard and one of them is in a dry dock for work on its hull. 

A tall ship in a dry dock with the hull covered in hessian sacking

Lanthony road bridge is the first of many bridges we will encounter on the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal and as a bridge-keeper is ready to lift or swing each bridge it was an easy day. Unfortunately it was also a very wet day but we were able to keep dry in the wheelhouse and when we moored up near Saul Junction we didn't venture very far. 

The next day was bright and sunny so we could appreciate the view on this wide canal.  The bridge-keepers cottages have an almost classical style with Doric columns. 

The unique style of the bridge-keepers cottages 

After passing the Slimbridge Wildfowl Trust the canal runs parallel to the Severn Estuary and on to Sharpness.  We spotted a good mooring near the remaining supports of the railway bridge which once spanned the Severn Estuary.

Moored up at Sharpness, the round tower once housed a steam engine which pivoted the railway, on it's swing bridge, to allow tall boats to pass along the canal. 

As it was a fine day we had good views on our walk and could clearly see the motorway bridges which cross the Severn near Bristol. 

Slender looking motorway bridges cross the Severn

On Sunday the heavy rain returned so we stayed in and watched Chris Froome finish the Tour de France to become this year's winner.


Our journey from Stratford-on-Avon to Sharpness

Slowly to Stratford

From Dickens Heath the Stratford-on-Avon Canal continued to take us south-east towards the 27 locks of the Lapworth Flight and Kingswood Junction.  We weren't in any hurry and our first stop was near the top of the flight.

The locks on this canal are narrow and have equally narrow footbridges which are constructed in two halves with a gap between them.  This was to allow the rope on a horse-drawn boat to pass through the bridge without unhitching. 

The Stratford-on-Avon canal footbridge with a gap between the two halves

We had a lazy journey down the Lapworth Locks with overnight stops in the conveniently large pounds on the way.  After lock 19 Kingswood Junction connects the Stratford-on-Avon canal to the Grand Union but the boater faces a lock whichever way they go. 

A lock in either direction at Kingswood Junction.  The white cottage is on an island, the left hand lock drops onto a narrow canal which links to the canal below the lock on the right.

After Kingswood Junction the remaining Lapworth Locks took us down through woodlands and open countryside but we still had plenty of locks in front of us.  I was impressed by the Antony Gormley sculpture standing at the side of lock 31.

Antony Gormley's sculpture at lock 31

The sculpture is one of 5 celebrating the Landmark Trust's 50th anniversary.  The Landmark Trust buys and restores historic properties which are then used as holiday lets.  The Lengthsmans Cottage next to the lock is one of their properties and a good example of a barrel-roofed lock-keepers cottage unique to this canal. 

The Lengthsmans Cottage at lock 31

Another interesting feature of this canal are it's aqueducts.  The longest, Edstone, is nearly 200 yards long and the canal is carried in an iron trough.  Unusually the towpath is level with the bottom of the trough giving walkers an unusual perspective of the canal.  

Brinny looks across the aqueduct 

On Tuesday we descended the last of the locks escorted by a little boy and his grandmother and an Irish couple taking photos.  Kev gave the little boy a ride down a lock and I talked the Irish couple into helping out with lock 53 which has a heavy bottom gate.   We sailed under the road bridge and into Stratford-on-Avon basin. 

Mooring in the basin with another coach load of tourists in the gardens

We enjoyed a few days in Stratford where I joined the crowds of tourists strolling around the town.  I also visited the Butterfly Farm to see a large variety of colourful butterflies fluttering between tropical plants.   Three iguanas roamed up amongst the foliage  while quails and their little chicks scurried under the lower leaves.  I braved seeing the arachnids but only because the spiders were contained behind glass.  

One of the iguanas looks down from his perch among the plants

Our journey from Dickens Heath to Stratford-on-Avon

Birmingham

The Grand Union flows though Solihull in a narrow green corridor which supports a variety of bird life.  Apart from the usual suspects we saw a jay, long tailed tits and a kingfisher that stopped on it's branch as we passed, of course I didn't have the camera ready.  The canal was shallow and Kev had numerous forays into the weedhatch to clear the propeller.  

Eventually we arrived at the first locks, 5 narrow locks taking us down to the Digbeth Branch which is a short canal and has 6 locks taking us uphill.  Our climb continued when we reached the bottom of the Farmers Bridge flight of 13 locks.  As we climbed these locks we entered an area of redevelopment and were surprised to see a lock underneath a building which is supported by stilts, all 17 floors of it.   

In the lock under Brindley House

As we continued up the flight the canal was flanked by modern buildings and a well maintained block paved towpath at the side of it.  At the top lock we were lucky to find a mooring in Cambrian Wharf which was ideal for our stay in Birmingham. 

The top lock, we were moored to the right of the photo

We enjoyed a walk along the canal and spotted an unusual boat in Gas Street Basin. 

An unusual boat, would the AA come to his rescue if he breaks down? 

Modern buildings have transformed the areas around the canals in central Birmingham and many of them are restaurants and pubs.  As it was the hottest day of the year we sought some liquid refreshment and found ourselves having an interesting chat with a Malaysian Rain Forest guide who was visiting Britain. 

During the next few days I enjoyed exploring the city which has plenty to offer.  The museum has an exhibition of the intriguing Staffordshire Hoard, the largest collection of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver.

The new library building stands out with it's circular patterned exterior but from ground level you cannot see the roof top gardens which give views of the city from two of the floors. 

The 7th floor terrace garden at Birmingham Library

Inside escalators cross a central rotunda which is lined with books.

The view from one of the escalators in the rotunda

There is another surprise at the top of the library building, the Shakespeare Memorial Room. 
The walls in this small room are lined with wooden bookcases were constructed in 1882 and were saved when their previous location was demolished.  

The Shakespeare Memorial Room

The Bullring Shopping Centre was rebuilt in 2003 and is now bright, modern and very busy.  It's flagship store, Selfridges, has a curved exterior covered in silver discs.  It's interior is equally interesting with an open area in the centre of each floor which gives a view down through the building.  

Looking down from the 4th floor in Selfridges

     

In contrast to the shopping centre the Bull Ring outdoor and indoor markets are traditional stalls and they were the busiest markets I've seen for a long time.  The many brightly coloured fabric stalls stood out among the large variety of wares on sale and the narrow aisles were filled with shoppers. 

The city night life was evident from the pedestrian traffic on the towpath and the noise from the nearby pub garden but thankfully after closing time all was quiet. 

Birmingham at night, the blue lights are on the Barclaycard Arena

 On Sunday morning we pulled off the mooring and took a left turn at the canal roundabout.

The canal roundabout

Bess had a moment of stardom as we sailed passed a group of amateur photographers who all raised their cameras in her direction.

The canal became shallow as we sailed south and once again rubbish seemed to be attracted to our propeller.  At Selly Oak we stopped for a big shop at Sainsburys before continuing on into less desirable neighbourhoods.  At Bournville there are some moorings opposite the Cadburys factory  but a sign warned of thieves in the area.   We sailed passed and arrived at Kings Norton Junction where we took a very tight turn onto the Stratford-on-Avon canal.  A guillotine lock once regulated the water levels when the canal was owned by different companies but it is now left open.  Sadly it's sprayed in graffiti, a reminder that we cannot stop yet.

The canal flows around Kings Norton but we found a quiet place to stop next to a golf course and opposite a line of moored boats.  The next day we sailed out of the town and into quiet countryside near Dickens Heath. 

Our journey from Solihull to Dickens Heath

   

51 Locks

On Monday morning we sailed out of Braunston heading for Napton Junction where we moored up overnight.   At Napton the Grand Union turns north-west and the 51 locks on this stretch are unique because the canal was originally built with narrow locks.   In the 1930's wide locks were constructed at the side of each narrow lock and replaced them.  The redundant narrow locks are now used for the overflow. 

Water cascades from the site of the narrow lock next to the replacement wide lock.

The first locks are a short flight of 3 at Calcutt, a warm up for the 8 Stockton Locks which we shared with another couple who had recently moved onto their boat.   Together we made short work of the flight and went on to moor up at Long Itchington.  There are several canalside pubs at this village and Kev and I enjoyed an excellent meal in the Two Boats. 

The canal continues to drop down to Leamington Spa where we passed the steam narrowboat 'President' heading for the historic rally at Braunston.  

President passes with a billow of smoke

As we sailed from Leamington Spa into Warwick we passed another unusual boat, the smallest narrowboat I've seen. 

The smallest narrowboat at Warwick

West of Warwick is the well-known Hatton Flight of 21 locks which take the canal up 146 feet.  We moored at the bottom of the flight and I took the girls for a walk up the locks.  Partway up I saw a crowd around a lock and an unusual sight, 8 CRT staff in attendance.  As I continued walking the reason became obvious; Timothy West and Prunella Scales were filming for another series of Great Canal Journeys.

Timothy West and Prunella Scales filming on the Hatton Flight

We had a plan of attack for the Hatton Flight which involved an early start and the electric bike so I could go ahead and set the locks.  At 5.40am Brent III entered the bottom lock; it was the start of an excellent run.  Many of the locks were in our favour and we were very pleased with ourselves as we came out of the top lock at 8.15.  We then continued on for a short way to find a mooring and called it a day.

Looking up at locks 37-42 on the Hatton Flight 

After the Hatton Flight the canal gave us a rest from locks but we did have a short tunnel.  Shrewley Tunnel has a high arched roof from which cascades of water pour onto the unsuspecting boater.  The long sweeping embankment at Rowington was an ideal spot for us to moor and we were joined by several other boaters on the sunny Saturday afternoon.  By Sunday morning the weather had turned and we watched as waterproofs were donned and boats pulled away.  Once the rain had stopped we set off, travelling north passed the Kingswood Junction and onto part of the Grand Union which is new to us.

Passing Kingswood Junction where we turned off to the Stratford Canal last year

 The next day we climbed the last of the 51 locks which are in a flight of 5 at Knowle.

Looking down the Knowle Locks.

We moored up near Knowle and met some boaters from Strawberry Island, Doncaster, who recognised Brent III from her time moored there.  Knowle is a small town with timbered buildings, independent shops and an interesting church but our real reason for mooring nearby was the Toby Carvery which provided an excellent meal.

A timbered building which is now the town library in Knowle

The next morning, fortified by a Toby Carvery breakfast, we set off on the last rural stretch of this canal; that afternoon we moored up in the hot sun on the outskirts of Solihull.


Our journey from Braunston to Solihull