Sun 9th August
Wootton Wawen to Wilmcote
We had set an alarm to avoid missing the bus, but we woke up
before it went off. We walked the half-mile to the church where the bus stop
was located. We were 15 minutes early.
Many drivers seem to use the bus stop layby as a convenient place to
park their vehicle while they nip into the shop opposite.
The bus (X20) was on time at 0854 and took us into
Stratford, first going under the aqueduct.
We saw the large Tesco shortly before we crossed the canal again on
bridge 65.
In Stratford we found a place to have a drink and a
pastry. We visited the Sunday market
where we bought a pendant for Hazel to celebrate our ruby wedding, which was in
May. James walked round Bancroft Basin
to see who was there. The six short
cruisers we had seen at Kingswood and Lowsonford were there.
We went to Stratford Baptist Church, where we had gone two
years ago with Don and Celia. Today
they were celebrating their kids club, and they had a mock up of the Orient
Express on the stage, which ended up as a puppet theatre. They had a team from
OM who had been involved for the week.
Stratford Baptist
Church
The puppet train
Action song
We were made to feel welcome, and over coffee afterwards,
two people told us their testimonies.
Unknown to everyone else, Chris had been suffering from depression and
hadn’t been seen for several weeks. Doris didn’t know him well, but had this
strange feeling that she should contact him, but he didn’t even answer his
doorbell. She shared this with the pastor, and he said that next time she felt
this she should act. She was watching
Emmerdale when this feeling happened again, and she couldn’t concentrate on the
programme. She went down to his house and tapped on his window. He had been thinking, “I really need Doris
to come to see me”. After a session
with the pastor, he became a Christian and his depression left him, and he was
filled with joy.
We returned to the market and visited a food stall to have
some noodles. We had a hunt for some still cider, visiting three pubs. We ended
up having apple juice from one of the boats.
We walked round the boats again, as someone from the church
said they had seen a Christian fish symbol on one of the cruisers, and they had
assumed that was ours. True enough we
found a cruiser called Fleur d’Eau, and we met Chris and Mair Potter. They were
among the six small cruisers we had seen earlier, and were from the North
Cheshire Cruising Club, from Stockport on the Macclesfield Canal. Apparently
they had met Alan and Hazel Dilnot at the IWA Burton festival, where they had
moored alongside each other.
Chris and Mair
We were sitting on a seat by the bus stop, when a very
overweight lady came and said, “Is there room for me?” We made room for her, and immediately she
lit up a cigarette, which made Hazel cough. We explained that Hazel had asthma.
She finished the cigarette and threw the stub on the ground. Then she lit another one! She said she was
diabetic and therefore couldn’t have sweet things, so she felt she was entitled
to have alternative pleasures such as cigarettes. Thankfully the bus arrived, so she threw that one on the ground
as well.
Back at the boat we moved off straight away, as it was
3.15pm and the boatyard closed at 3.30pm. Usually their boats are moored stern
on, but there were no boats on their pontoon, so we pulled alongside. 70.5p per litre. We also emptied a cassette, before setting off across the
aqueduct.
Wootton Wawen Aqueduct
Looking down on the road
At Bearley Lock there were two boats coming up, with a third
waiting. It was slow to fill and slow to empty. Then came the Edstone aqueduct, which crosses a farm road, a
river, a railway and a road. Because
the towpath is low level, there are no high railings on either side, so there
is a drop on both sides. It is apparently the longest aqueduct in England.
(That doesn’t include the Welsh ones).
Edstone Aqueduct
Crossing over
The iron trough
We found a pleasant mooring between bridges 57 and 58. 3 no trumps arrived and moored
facing us. We last saw them last year on the Trent and Mersey near Wheelock.
1 lock, 3 miles, 2 aqueducts
Mon 10th August
Wilmcote to Lock 50
Hugo caught a mouse in the morning. We waited for the rain
to finish at lunchtime before we set off to do the Wilmcote Locks. There is a warning that these are narrow. We have heard of boats getting stuck.
Narrow Locks warning notice
Wilmcote Top Lock
Two boats were travelling up the flight towards us, and
there were volunteers on the flight, so we made good progress down the hill
towards Stratford. Just the last three locks were against us.
As it was hot, James was wearing shorts, a decision he
regretted because, two locks from the end, he was stung by a wasp on the back
of his leg. There seem to be a lot of
them around this year.
Wilmcote flight
Moored below lock 50
We moored as possible after lock 50, 2 miles from Bancroft
Basin, as we thought the moorings in Stratford might be full late in the
afternoon.
The mooring was not far from the A46 bridge, so we had some
traffic noise. We also had some country
aromas. We think the farmers had been putting slurry on the fields. The other
problem was that the towpath alongside the boat was used as a road by two or
three houses, and the CRT team. Every so often a car or van would travel past
with hazard lights flashing. We thought it was unsafe to let Hugo out until
later in the evening when it had all quietened down.
11 locks, 2 miles
Tue 11th August
Lock 50 to Stratford
We started early, as we wanted to have a choice of moorings
in Stratford. The first stop was at bridge 63, for the rubbish bins and water
tap, which was slow to fill. Lock 51
seemed to have something under the top gate, which made it difficult to open
and close.
There was a tantalising glimpse of the roof of Morrisons,
quite close to the canal, but with no moorings or access. We paused at the boatyard to empty our
cassettes, before the final four locks into Stratford. Lock 53 was very
difficult, with shortened lock beams because of a road bridge, and it took two
people to shut the bottom gate.
The difficult gate at
lock 53
Lock 54 and 55
At the final two locks we chatted to a man who was out for a
walk, and we told him where we were planning to moor, behind the Red Lion
pub. He was moored there himself on Monmouth,
and was just about to leave. By the
time we arrived there, he was ready, and he left his space for us.
The next boat was called Stougham Hall, and we had a
pleasant chat with Graham and Cath.
We contacted Ricky and Martina as planned to tell them where
we were, and we nipped to Sainsbury’s local to get some milk etc before they
arrived. In the end they were late
arriving, and we all went off to Jimmy Spices for lunch. It was just after 1pm
when we got there, and there was a coach party of Japanese tourists waiting
outside the door. We were shown to a
table straight away, but the place was heaving with people. Many of the dishes had run out because it
was so busy. At these places we usually
wait for a gap before going up to the buffet, but there was no chance of any
gaps today. But the food was tasty, and
it was good to catch up with Ricky and Martina.
Ricky and Martina
Crowds in Stratford
Marigolds
They went off on some errands, and we also did some shopping
on the way back to the boat. Later we
walked across the Tramway Bridge and along the river as far as the first lock
on the Avon. We met a pleasant couple
on a boat called Maranatha, as they had a Christian fish painted on the
side, above the word Kinver. They had bought the boat second hand and had not
repainted.
Shakespeare’s Church
The Theatre
Back across the river, we called in the Red Lion for a
drink, as it was very warm.
5 Locks, 2 miles
Wed 12th August
Stratford-on-Avon
It was hot, with lots of people everywhere. We took a bus (222) from outside McDonalds
to Morrisons, and we were the only people on the bus. We bought enough to fill our shopping trolley and four bags. The bus back was completely full and we had
to stand. The bus also serves the park
and ride. Presumably in the evening it is full going out and empty coming back.
We offloaded all the shopping at the boat, and went for
lunch at the Thai restaurant, which overlooks the river. A lovely situation and good food and
service.
We went to the butterfly farm, but there were so many people
there that we decided not to go in. We
had an ice cream on the meadows, which we thought was expensive at £3 for a
single cone.
Back to the boat for showers etc before going to see Othello
at the theatre. More overcharging there
- £8 for a glass of wine.
The theatre had been nearly full when we booked, with no
adjacent seats left. We took two seats either side of an aisle. Hazel’s seat
was easily accessible. James’s seat had a barrier across so that you had to go
in from the other end, past about 20 other people. The seat pitch was very narrow, and the ladies sitting there
didn’t look as though they wanted to move, so James went back to his end and
climbed up and over the barrier.
The set was intriguing with a water feature and moveable
platforms. It was an experience for us
and as such we are pleased we went, but we have decided that Shakespeare is not
for us. The language is so unfamiliar
that it needed a lot of concentration. The words were displayed on a screen and
we were watching that more than the acting so that we could follow the
story. There were some long speeches,
during which the other minor actors appeared to be standing around doing
nothing. There were nearly as many dead
bodies as in Midsomer Murders.
James was sitting next to a lady who was taking copious
notes. When asked if she was studying Shakespeare, she replied that she
lectured on the subject. She was now preparing a paper about “Cleanliness in
Shakespeare”. A bit of a niche subject.
Sunset over Stratford
No boating today
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