Stratford to Hockley Heath

Captains Log


Canal Date 29th October 2011

Travels Stratford upon Avon to Hockley Heath

Monday, 24 October 2011 Stratford to Wooton Wawen
Miles 7
Locks 17
It is time to move on, hopefully to quieter moorings. Stratford is a nice town but far to busy and noisy for us. We left the basin like proper professionals. It looked like we knew what we were doing, That does not usually happen to me when being watched! As soon as you leave the basin you start climbing locks, one after the other. The weather was fine but very windy. Our run out of Stratford was slowed down by the rather large amount of hire boats. It is the school half term and they have all come out to play today. We continued up the first two main flights and came over the Edison Aqueduct. It was extremely windy up there and I could not get the boat away from the edge. Luckily, we did not get blown over the side and managed to continue to Wooten Wawen. But the time we arrived, the sun was going down almost a fast as the temperatures. It was good to get inside and sit in front of the fire.

Tuesday, 25 October 2011 Wotton Wawen
We joined Geoff & Marg for lunch at the Navigation pub. Food and company were fine. After lunch we went for a walk to the local farm shop. The farm shop has a good selection of crusty bread. You know, the sort that has a proper crust and nice soft bread inside. "Armadillo" bread - Crunchy on the outside soft on the inside

Wednesday, 26 October 2011 Wooten Wawen to Lowsonford
Miles 4
Locks 8
After breakfast we walked to the craft centre to pick up some more of the "Armadillo" bread we had last night. We then set sail. Not far to go today, we do not want to start the main Lapworth flight today. There was some traffic about. Not enough to make a problem. It is school holidays after all. We did get into a bit of a tangle with a hire boat while we were getting water. The hire boater wanted to come on to my tap, in doing so he had completely blocked any chance I had of exiting. He had a narrow bridge hole behind him and there were 3 BW boats moored on the off side making it impossible for me to reverse. The only way for me to get away was to push the hire boat into line and we just scrapped though the bridge hole. I think I must have lost a few layers of paint in that manoeuvre!

Thursday, 27 October 2011 Lowsonford
The weather forecast was correct. It is a dull, grey, rainy and cold day. A good day for staying put and sitting in front of the fire. We went across to the pub for lunch. Of course, I had to have an afternoon nap after that.

Friday, 28 October 2011 Lowsonford to Hockley Heath
Miles 4
Locks 30
A much better start to the day, the sun is shining, no wind and a bit of autumn mist over the canal and low lying fields. A long day ahead with 30 locks to get through. Mike, an old friend of ours, joined us at 10.00 and we were soon on our way. We were obviously following a boat who had no idea. They were leaving the locks with the gates and paddles open. A bit annoying. The locks were not a busy as I expected, we did meet a few boats but mainly on our own. There was one lock, I think it was lock 26 where the gate was well and truly stuck. It took all 3 of us to move it. We arrived at Hockley Heath at 4.45 thanks to the help from Mike. Not bad time for 30 locks. I was then forced to walk to the Warf Inn for another pub lunch, We had to wait until 6.0 before we could order food, when it came it was very good indeed, and well worth the wait.

We shall remain here for the weekend before moving on to Hopwood. Will we have to spend months there again – Ice bound? I do hope not.

Stratford upon Avon

Captains Log

Canal Date            26th October 2011
Travels                       Stratford Canal

Thursday, 20 October 2011 Billington Lock to Luddington
A beautiful morning. Sun shining, no wind. It is going to be a good day if a little on the cold side. We had a very slow cruise up the upper reaches of the river Avon. It was just so beautiful. Some stretches are wide some are narrow. As we are in an official drought there is not a great deal of flow and the water is crystal clear. You can see fish every where you look. We eventually called it a day when we reached Luddington. The sun was starting to go down and I was beginning to feel the cold. I soon had a cosy fire going and Pan started dinner. Life is so good.

Friday, 21 October 2011 Luddington to Stratford upon Avon
The top bit of the Avon is very twisty but just as nice as the rest of the river. It’s our last day on the river. We had a 1 week permit. This runs out today.
We are moored in Bancroft Basin opposite to the RSC theatre in the centre of Stratford. There are still plenty of tourists about. Is this place ever quiet?
We walked into the town and to our surprise the Mop fair is on tonight. It is not going to be a quiet night in Stratford tonight!
We had visitors wile in the basin Rhona & Jan turned up. We all went to Coxes yard for lunch.
It is very much autumn now, with mist coming off the water, cold nights and mornings. Bring back my summer, I have not finished with it yet!
Claire and little Liam dropped in to see us; she has not seen the boat before. Not long after, Russ & Sarah came. Once again we all went to find something to eat. We had not been on board for long when Tracy & Ian arrived.

Monday, 24 October 2011 Stratford to Wooton Wawen
We have come to the end of our mooring time at Stratford and it is time to move on, hopefully to quieter moorings. There are 58 locks & 26 mile to go before we get to end of this canal. We left the basin like proper professionals. That does not usually happen to me when being watched! As soon as you leave the basin you start climbing locks, one after the other. The weather was fine but very windy. Our run out of Stratford was slowed down by the rather large amount of hire boats. It is the school half term and they have all come out to play today. We continued up the first two main flights and came over the famous Edison Aqueduct. It was extremely windy up there and I could not get the boat away from the edge. Luckily, we did not get blown over the side and managed to continue to Wooten Wawen. But the time we arrived, the sun was going down almost a fast as the temperatures. It was good to get inside and sit in front of the log burner.

Wednesday, 26 October 2011 Wooten Wawen to Lowsonford
Not far to go today, we do not want to start the main Lapworth flight today. There was some traffic about. Not enough to make a problem. It is school holidays after all. The daytime temperature is dropping each day. I do believe that we are now heading into late summer! This will run up to mid December when early spring starts. I am nothing if not an optimist!

Unexpected Party

Captains Log Canal Date 5th September 2010 Travels 0 Miles 0 locks Current Location Wooton Wawen - Still! OS Ref SP 160 361 Yesterday was slightly unusual in so much as I had a hard and fast plan of thing to do. You just know that plans never quite work out. I was going to restore the covers on the rear stools, then wash the boat, touch up the paint rubs on the side and black the rubbing stakes along the sides. That is to make some sort of repair following my less than perfect entrance to some of the locks! In order to do this I got out of bed at the unearthly hour of 9.30, by 10.00 we had eaten breakfast drank our coffee and was ready to start. I recovered the rear stools without much trouble and I have to say that they look almost professional. I then turned my attention to the main job but soon found that I had to wait. Pam was doing some hand washing in the only bowl. Buy the time Pam had finished we held a meeting of the catering committee and it was decided that it was time for another coffee and a sandwich. A good idea as this meant we would not have to stop half way. Just as I was getting my tools together we had a call from my son & his wife saying they were coming to join us for an hour or two. Very welcome news indeed. The tools were promptly put back. When they did arrive they wanted to go across to the pub for lunch. We went along and had a light meal; well we have been here for a few days and not been to the pub. After the meal and a beer, I would normally manage to sleep for an hour or two but not today. We had another phone call from Terry & Jackie; they were coming out to visit. Not long after they arrived Russ & Sarah left. Within a few minutes Chris & Sandra appeared outside the boat. We all spent an hour or so reminiscing over time gone by. Some one (not me) said that we should go to the pub for a meal & drink. Now I never was very good at saying no to such an idea so of we went again, this time the episode of Vicar of Dibley came to mind where she had several Christmas dinners. Once again we had a pub meal and a pint or two. A most enjoyable evening with good company. The best part is that I managed to walk all the way back to the boat, in the dark, with beer in my belly and never fell in at all. I think I am starting to get the hang of this boating malarkey now. There are plenty more days to throw some paint at the boat.

Wooton Wawen

Captains Log Canal Date 1st September 2010 Travels 4 Miles 8 locks Current Location Wooton Wawen OS Ref SP 160 361 Moved on to a quieter, more rural location. I had no idea where we were going, just looking for a nice spot to spend a few days. Once again there were plenty of locks to keep Pam fit, and once again she walked the entire trip. We have travelled this canal before, but I do not remember the banks being so overgrown. It is down to the time of year I suppose. We like it to be open, with a reasonable view, not too busy and deep enough to moor alongside the tow path. Not a lot to ask but none the less hard to find. We are not the only ones who like this sort of moorings so many are already taken. We did find a nice spot at Wooten Wawen. It is dangerously close to yet another pub – The Navigation – However we have not been tempted yet. I expect that we will not be able to resist for too long, after all a very nice pub just down the canal has recently closed (Tom o the Woods) just because we did not use it for 6 months. I don’t want that sort of thing on my conscious There is a nice short walk to a farm shop & craft centre. The only other thing of note is that there is very poor phone & internet signals. Both Millie the dog & I have managed to not fall in the canal for over a week now! The combined satellite & solar panel is still not working properly, it has developed an intermittent fault. I am sure that the agents think that I am making it up. It is frustrating because I just know that when I take it back, it will perform faultlessly! We shall remain here for the weekend and then back track towards Alvechurch again.

Lowsonford

Captains Log Canal Date 30th August 2010 Travels 4 Miles 30 locks 1 draw bridge Current Location Lowsonford OS Ref SP 188 678 Yesterday, we had a visit from some friends, as we were not anywhere near a suitable car park we arranged to meet at the closest pub, The Wharf Tavern, Hockley Heath. About half way there the havens opened up. We tried to shelter under a tree but the wind would not make its mind up and came at from all directions. We made a dash to the pub, well as close to a dash as I can manage. We arrived very wet indeed. I have been wetter recently but let’s not dwell on that. Well we could not just meet there could we; we had to go in for a meal at least. After a hearty meal and a couple of pints, I found it ever so easy to fall asleep in the afternoon. We moved on Monday, a very early start as we had far too many locks to do. So off we went at the crack of dawn i.e. 12:00 immediately into the Lapworth flight. Poor old Pam walked the entire day going from lock to lock. The boat travelled 4.17 miles; Pam must have walked 12 miles. For the odd moment, I did start to feel the odd pangs of guilt watching Pam run around the locks while I sat on the back of the boat but these feelings soon passed. 30 locks to do, almost every one set against us as we were following another boat. Just to prove that I am not a slave driver and I am really a nice bloke, I stopped outside The Fleur – De-Lys Pub. I let Pam treat me to a nice cool bear and a good meal. Captains Log Canal Date 28th August 2010 Travels 14 Miles 0 locks Current Location Lapworth OS Ref SP 157 720 Batteries low, no car, so time to move on. We are heading in the direction of Stratford upon Avon. We have travelled the canal from Hopwood to Kings Norton several times now and there are no more surprises. At kings Norton we took the Stratford Canal. We have never travelled this section before. It is not the nicest canal in Briton, it does go through some less than desirable housing estates but the main thing is that it is almost all in a cutting with almost total tree cover. There is very little view and alarmingly little wild life. We came to the lift bridge at the drawbridge inn, Shirley. This is a hydraulic lift, controlled by a panel. You have to inert your BW key to make it work. Just as soon as Pam inserted the key and started the cycle, an ambulance arrived, not just an ambulance, but an ambulance with flashing blue lights! Once the cycle has started you can not stop it, you have to go through and then lower the bridge. Then to open the road barrier you have to remove your key. It would not release the key at all. After what seemed like an age we eventually managed to remove the key and re-open the road. I do hope that the passenger in the ambulance has a sense of humour. We continued on our trip, now looking for a suitable mooring site. Most of the canal is either in a deep cutting, housing estate, or low trees. I was beginning to think that we were going to carry on through the night! We eventually found somewhere and this will do fine for at least tonight. PS. I have not fallen in at all today! (yet)