Stratford-Upon-Avon

Our journey down the Southern Section of the Stratford-Upon-Avon Canal was really enjoyable. It is a pretty canal with lots to see but vey challenging for a narrowboat captain. James Brindley built his bridges and locks only just wide enough for single beam boats. 

Tempranillo is 7 feet wide and there is nothing to spare on either side whilst passing through the locks, and especially one or two of the split bridges. Some of which, just to keep keep me interested, are not built exactly in-line with the canal.

That's the lock just visible immediately under the bridge.

Also on this canal are a few aqueducts which can be a bit scary. 

It is not natural to look straight down onto a road or railway line when in a boat.

We also got quite close to a bit of the local wildlife.

Think they were expecting a few crusts.

There are some very pretty Lengthman's cottages as mentioned in the previous blog.

This one in particular is available for holiday rental apparently.

And here is something you don't see everyday!!!

So eventually we arrived in the Bancroft Basin right in the middle of Stratford-Upon-Avon where the canal joins the river Avon.

Bancroft Basin.

The final lock that exits onto the River Avon.

Shakespeare's Birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon.

We took in as much of Stratford as we could in the time we had there, gleaning lots of information from the City Tour Bus. After 48 hours moored in the basin, the maximum time allowed by British Waterways, we started our return trip back up through the 35 locks of the southern section of the Stratford Canal. At Kingswood Junction we turned sharp right to join the Grand Union Main Line in order to begin our journey south. We will travel 21 miles on the GUC before we meet the Oxford Canal at Napton Junction. Tomorrow we face the 21 lock flight of Hatton, which we did in the reverse direction a few weeks ago on our way from Crick to Birmingham. At least these locks are wide enough for 2 narrowboats side by side and we might be able to share the work with some fellow boaters.