A Shakespereian End

We have put three more days of cruising behind us since spending two days at Kingston Junction for our Birmingham sightseeing stopover.

We caught a mid-morning train into Birmingham for our first day of sightseeing, I say mid-morning because it was time for a little sleep-in for a change. Our research on the sites of Birmingham weren't exactly glowing hence the lack of photos. On arrival, after a twenty minute trip, we headed out of the station and straight across the road to The Bull Ring, a large shopping complex in the centre of Birmingham. The Bull Ring and city centre were pretty much where we stayed for the day. We visited a couple of markets, both permanent and pop-up, browsing a multitude of things. Suffice to say, one day of shopping was enough and our second day allocated to sightseeing was reallocated to washing and polishing Serafina.

On Tuesday morning we untied late and headed off for the short cruise to Lowsenford. Through the short link between the Grand Union Canal and the Stratford Canal, early on it was easy to see why the Stratford Canal is so popular. The countryside along the canal is picturesque, the ornate bridges, aqueducts and cottages it really is a pleasure to cruise.

The bridges are built differently to the bridges on other canals we have cruised. No tow path under the bridge, a split in the middle of the bridge for the tow rope instead. It makes all the bridges much tighter.

The captain insisted on doing most of the locks. Here she is waiting for the canal to empty as we continue on down to Stratford.

The old Lock Keeper's cottages all have the original round topped roof, the peaked roof is a later extension. My research tells me that they used the frames that they had used to build the arched bridges as roof frames. This is unique to this area.

A strenuous two hour cruise called for lunch and a drink or two. The Fleur de Lys Pub was the obvious choice being right next to the canal.

After lunch we headed off up the hill from the canal to a farm shop near the top. We picked up some excellent pork sausages, premium price but premium quality, they were a treat!

Heading off early the next day we headed for Wilmcote with a lunch stop and some services at Wootton Wawen. Disaster struck along the way! As I was helping out with a lock I stepped in a cleverly concealed pothole, spraining my ankle. Rachael organised the initial first aid at the lock and when we arrived at Wootton Wawen I was bandaged up.

I was fortunate to be traveling with Kevin and Carol on NB Dunslavin, jumping around the boat to organise a pump-out (holding tank) and diesel takes both legs, when you are trying to do it at speed. The service staff had us moor in the aqueduct, near the hose for safety reasons (they said), but blocking the canal completely. I'm not too keen on blocking canal traffic completely but the staff were comfortable with it.

We crossed several aqueducts along this canal but the longest was the Edstone Aqueduct built in the 1800s and is 250 yards long. The Edstone is longer but not nearly as handsome as the Pontcysyllte aqueduct on the Llangollen canal.

I haven't crossed an aqueduct yet where it hasn't been windy and pushing the boat to one side, the Edstone was no exception. The port side of the boat dragged against the edge of the tray for the whole way, working the engine that little bit harder.

These ducks were well acquainted with humans and wandered right up to Rachael quacking away for a meal. This time there was nothing on hand to feed them.

Another short trip down to Wilmcote where the moorings were quite busy owing to an estimated one hundred yards being fenced off  because of falling edge stones. We had to moor well back from the 48 hour moorings. These two shortish cruising days were in preparation for a long day of 16 locks ahead to get down into the Stratford basin.

An early start next day saw this hire boat, that passed us just before we set off, run aground. As they passed, they mentioned they were not planning to go down into Stratford. One hitch in that plan, there are no winding holes ahead!

A very long day of sixteen locks with not so many miles covered but well worth the trip. The Stratford basin is a lovely place to moor. The basin sits right on the edge of the centre of town.

Our backyard has a lovely set of statues in it, although the gardener could trim the hedges a little later in the morning.

The lock to the Avon River is at our front door, this picture from the bridge over the lock. Our plan at present is to go back up to Kingswood Junction and on the Stratford canal towards Birmingham, rather than go on to the river. We have a date with Cadburys!