We have had an enjoyable week in Stratford upon Avon and
have caught up with family and friends then today we set off at 12 noon to
continue on our journey heading for Worcester.
Happy birthday Lou for the 20th and Happy Birthday Daniel for the 24th.
We left the little Marina in the town centre and had to go
up the river a short way to turn around and come back through the bridge. We managed to upset one of the tour boats –
we were trying to let him go past us so we could turn round and he started
having a go at us for being on the wrong side of the river – obviously a happy
man at work! We (Steve!) then managed to get the
nose bumper stuck in some decking when we were turning round so we were going nowhere
until I ran down to the front of the boat and managed to unwedge us from the
hole in the wooden slats!
We then arrived at the lock in the middle of town where it
lived up to its reputation of having many gongoozlers looking on – there must
have been 150 people watching us, although I understand there are usually more
at the weekends! Thankfully we have
dealt with many locks now so managed to get through without embarrassment! We then went under the little bridge at the
other end of the basin and started the climb up the Stratford-on-Avon Canal. These locks are really narrow and thankfully
Rob told us to lift our roller fenders before going through – I’m sure we would
have lost one or two if we hadn’t!
We found a nice place to moor near the bridge that leads to
Mary Arden’s House (Shakespear’s mum!) so today four miles took us five hours –
but we did manage to navigate 16 locks in those four miles.
They were pretty tough but whilst I was on lock duty I managed to enlist
the help of several passersby including a couple from Watford, a family from
Lincolnshire and two local boys on a bike ride with their mum! |
| The Recreation Ground at Stratford upon Avon at 6.30am - perfectly peaceful! |
 |
| And looking the other way. |
 |
| and across the river to the Royal Shakespeare Company. |
 |
| Great to see mum and dad and Ed and Linda over from America. |
 |
| The floating restaurant passing us one evening. |
 |
| Leaving the marina in Stratford upon Avon. |
 |
| Looking back under the bridge - look at the sky - where's our summer? |
 |
| Approaching the city centre lock - that bridge was completely full by the time we came out the other side! |
 |
| Mind my plants - we had better duck too! |
 |
| You've heard of Neverland - this is Narrowland! |
 |
| Karen you sent me a picture of this plaque a few weeks ago when you were here - hope the toe is getting better. |
 |
| The bridges are as narrow as the locks! |
 |
| Looking up a flight of three. |
 |
| They're hard work aren't they Steve! |
 |
| And onto the next little flight. |
 |
| We had to share the locking today as they were hard work. I'm pleased to say that I only bounced off the walls entering one lock - the rest I was pretty impressed with myself! |
 |
| The lady in blue in the distance stopped to have a chat with me - the boat going down is the hotel boat that she and her sister are having their holiday on - she is 87 and had a knee replacement last month and her sister is 92 - go girls! |
 |
| Hi dad - saw this weathervane and thought of you! |
 |
| Looking back down the flight. |
 |
| and through lock 16 for us today! |
 |
| Are these bridges getting narrower? |
 |
| Pretty tight fit! |
 |
| we "touched" the wall (it is a contact sport after all) - looks like a few other boats have too! |
 |
| Is that a house or a shed? |
 |
| Moored up for the night - and the sun came out! |
No comments:
Post a Comment