HATTON TO BRAUNSTON

Leaving the Stratford on Avon canal at Kingswood jct. we turn right and right again onto the Gd. Union. The junction is shaped like an H so we have come up the lower left leg of the H and across and down the lower right leg that goes all the way into London but that`s not our destination as the year is still young leaving plenty of time till my annual pilgrimage south for christmas. Just a couple of miles south is Turners Green where the canal is built on an embankment and makes a nice overnight stop with views of the countryside on both banks of the canal and very good reception for Sky TV.
Leaving in the morning although the sun was not shining it was warm and dry that is until we

reached Shrewley Tunnel just 433yds long but as you can see on the roof of the boat plenty of water dripping down through the tunnel roof. Just a few drips so un like some of the tunnels no need for a brolly.... yes a brolly is needed in some as the water gushes down as if someone is standing above with a hosepipe and in the dark you feel it rather than see it.
The roof doesn`t have time to dry before we reach the Hatton flight of 21 locks taking us down

146ft into Warwick. As we descend we can see the spires of Warwick in the distance.
The flight as is usual at this time of year was busy with boats coming up so the descent is made easier as we swap locks with boats leaving the lock ahead which saves us filling the lock and opening the gates. Now if you look at the picture you can see that there are 4 ground paddles to let water in/out and 4 gates, now boats with plenty of crew would use all of these so if they went up or down the whole flight on there own and had to set every lock they would operate 84 paddles and open and shut 168 gates. When we go through we would only use one gate at each end of the lock cutting the gate openings down by half and don`t forget those paddles have to be wound open and then wound shut.
Spent some time at Warwick and as i mentioned on an earlier blog i was looking forward to son Andy along with Bev and Jordan/Jack and in the picture below whilst on a cruise for a couple of
days i managed to get a pic of my crew resting, well it was Andy who needed the rest as a couple of days after this pic he reached the tender age of 39.
After the kids went home i once again had the boat to myself and found time to do some work on
the roof. The roof had a slight anti slip surface on it but when cruising i spend a lot of time jumping up and down from the roof in locks and found the surface to be not to safe so the solution was to sand the roof. The way i do it is to mask up the panels and while the first coat is still wet sprinkle bird sand over the painted area then lightly brush off the excess and leave to dry before 2 more coats of paint are applied over the bird sand. In the pic above one coat of paint plus bird sand is drying. I have since managed to get the first coat on to the sand but am now waiting for a dry day to apply the next coat of paint.
Above passing the Kayes Arm (left of pic) at Stockton Andy/Tina on `Ytene` bringing up the rear.
The next 2 pictures show the Blue Lias Inn firstly in 1955 and then as seen as we passed recently
The name comes from the quarry`s here abouts that produced Blue Lias stone some of which was used on the R. Thames embankment also St Michael`s church in Stockton village.


So heading to Braunston for the w`end so untilnext time bye.

MY SHORT CRUISE on THE AVON

Although I didn`t get to see much of the R. Avon I must say I did enjoy the short trip to Bidford. So I have put the few snaps i took on to the photo album below.
Have spent this w`end with Andy/Bev and g`children Jack&Jordan and this has helped me get over the ordeal of the past weeks.

BLISS

Just a quick blog to show you what this life is all about. Having left the hustle and bustle of Stratford the above pic shows our first o`night mooring. Not a fantastic view but to sit on the front deck in the middle of the countryside with the only noise being the wind rustling the trees is sheer bliss after the last 3 weeks.
It certainly has calmed me down and listening to my voicemail where my g`son Jack was telling me about his visit this coming w`end but not quite understanding why i wasn`t answering him made me laugh out loud.
I will blog some pics i took on the Avon shortly.

THE RIVER AVON

On the 29th July we each paid £50 for a 2 week licence to cruise down the R. Avon as our BW canal licence is not valid on the privately owned Avon. It was a lovely day when we set off cruising with the flow of water making it`s way to the R. Severn at Tewkesbury and in the picture below is Bidford bridge and just through the bridge our first overnight mooring.

Andy/Tina on `Ytene` were in front and had moored by the time i arrived so i went through the bridge and moored alongside them waiting for John on `Tui`. Now if you enlarge the picture you can see on the left arch 2 arrows showing the navigable channell, the red no entry on the centre arch was not in place at this time as i took the picture on my way back but even so i think it is plain for all but an idiotic moron not to be aware of which arch to use.
In the picture below that i took as i went through the arrows are plain to see and no i`am not heading for the second arch just following the approach to the left arch avoiding some reeds on my left.


Below is the picture i took as Andy and i were making our way back through the bridge to attempt to rescue a thick stupid boater of below average intelligence who decided the centre
arch would be nice to cruise through, oh did i mention it was John on `Tui` and as you can see he is well and truly aground as the water under all the arches except the marked navigable one is only about 12 inches deep.
So off we set Andy and I to try and pull him back but as the pictures tell the story going through the arch and trying to get in position was not helped by the flow of water coming towards us and i ended up well and truly aground as you can see in the picture below taken on the other side of the bridge.
Andy went back and got his boat and came through the arch to try and push my stern into deeper water in the hope i might reverse away but the flow was to great and his boat just lacking
the power and in the picture above no matter what revs i used it was not gonna move. Perhaps in some of the pictures you can see a muppet or even John sitting on the back of his boat with not a care in the world and at one stage drinking a cup of tea so i shouted across and i won`t print here what words i used but the general idea was he should phone a boatyard and get some help.
Above and below are pictures of a Dutch barge that arrived from a nearby yard to sort things out but even he had trouble even with his powerful engine and it wasn`t until 4 local lads walked along my boat and standing knee deep in the river used lengths of timber to lever the front off the river bed so that the Dutch barge could push the back end without the front going more aground. It worked and as the rear of my boat was pushed into deep water i was able to reverse.
He then pulled John out of the bridge arch.
Alls well that ends well i hear you say, i only wish it was because on mooring up my engine was not sounding to good. To cut the story short it appears that the excessive revving of my engine had damaged the piston rings and with engine removal, gaskets, labour etc i ended up with a bill of £1003.
I suppose you must be thinking John must have been beside himself with all the trouble he had caused but you `d be wrong, no thanks for attempting to help him, no asking what the engineer had said after listening to the engine in fact he never said a word but disapeared into his boat when Andy who at the time was standing next to me told him it was something serious, nice bloke eh well it was then and there i decided no longer would i be cruising with him but i needn`t have worried because the following day when Andy & Tina were leaving to attend to some business in Evesham that he decided he was going to head back to London and that was what he did no goodbye or thanks no hope all goes well with the repairs he just left. Well John if you or one of your mates read the blog GOOD RIDDANCE your an ar.....e.
So after getting the repairs done i had been at Bidford 13 days after waiting 3 days for the engineer to find a time slot to start and with parts ordered from Holland and other complications i was ready to leave and catch up with Andy/Tina who had returned to Stratford on Avon as we had decided not to carry on with the planned trip to Gloucester as the heavy rain had caused the Rivers Avon and Severn to run fast.
In the picture below is the reason i ended up stuck at Bidford for an extra 2 days, the Avon rose 2` flooding the mooring. So all in all our trip on the Avon has been a nightmare and as i write this i`m back in the Basin at Stratford so just this once the blog is not of past cruising but bang up to date i`m here now but not for long.

Although i`m the sort of person who would always try and help anyone with a problem of any sort i think in future i`ll just take a step back and give the matter some thought.

NICE TO SEE YOU

While moored up in the basin at Stratford upon Avon I had a visit from Andy/Bev and the grandchildren Jack&Jordan.
A visit to the Butterfly farm, which can be viewed on the picture album video below was followed by a ride on the chain ferry pictured below.





As you can imagine this was a lovely w`end and after the family had gone home the plan was to go down onto the R. Avon and make our way to Gloucester.
Setting off in fine weather i was realy enjoying myself and arrived at Bidford just after Andy/Tina on `Ytene` then John on `Tui` approached the arched bridge and the brainless idiot decided to ignore the arrows indicating which arch was the navigable channel instead he thought the centre arch looked ok but he didn`t make it and become well and truly stuck in the shallow water.
The outcome of all this will be revealed on the next blog by which time i hope to have my boat back in service.

STRATFORD UPON AVON

Well have arrived in Stratford upon Avon in the basin adjacent to Bancroft Gardens. The town centre is just across the basin from the moorings making it easy to visit the many interesting sites along with the thousands of tourists from all over the world. I think the only other place I have heard so many different languages was London. Be warned fellow boaters that to moor here so close to everything has a price and below are pictured 3 tourists taking pictures so i got my own back and snapped them. This goes on all day long with party`s of up to 30 led by a guide and they also stand in the front deck to have their photo taken if the boat has no one aboard.
Still it`s a small price to pay for a visit to Stratford and at least the next mooring can if you wish be in a nice remote piece of countryside.
While here I had a w`end visit from 2 of the g`children with mum&dad and we visited the Butterfly farm and a ride on the chain ferry across the Avon but that will be on the next blog so in the meantime click on the photo album below and have a look around Stratford upon Avon.

TOWARDS STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

Leaving Warwick just 5 mins cruising brought us to the Hatton flight of locks that climbed 146`through 21 locks in less than 1 1/2 miles. After this hard climb we took on water and disposed of our rubbish and just 30 mins later found a nice country mooring for the night.
This early stop was due to the fact we knew that Kingswood jct. was just ahead of us and after turning on to the Stratford-on- Avon canal and facing 34 locks over the 14 mile decent to Stratford, not that we had any intention of doing it in one day.
The Stratford canal is interesting for a number of reasons one being the Barrel roofed lock cottages in the picture below. It is said they were built in this shape because the canal builders were used to the construction of tunnels and arched bridges and therefor found it easy to create this shape of roof, how true this is I no not but it sounds feasible.
In 1958 Warwickshire council tried to close this canal but over 6,000 objections saved the day and the National Trust took it over in 1960 and it re-opened in 1964.
In the picture below you can see the limited clearance of some bridges and in fact some were a

shade lower. In the picture below can you see the gap in the bridge, this gap is not an exclusive feature of the Stratford in fact it can be found on many parts of the canal system. The gap was used back in working boat days when boats were horse drawn. If you imagine the horse connected by a rope line to the boat walks along the towpath on the left and at this lock the towpath changes onto the right so the horse would walk over the bridge and the boatmen would let the rope drop through the gap so now rope and boat pass under the bridge and the horse pulls the boat into the lock. The horse has changed towpaths without having to un hitch from the boat.


In the picture above you can see the bottom gate, and this also is a feature on this canal as usually the bottom exit would be 2 gates on a single lock.

Some gongoozling geese watch as I enter a lock.

Another interesting feature on the Stratford canal are the Aqueducts or at least the towpath part. In the pictures above and below you can see the towpath is lower than the canal and in fact is level with the bottom of the iron Aqueduct trough.

Above St. Peters church at Wooten Wawen. A Saxon church of timber and thatch stood here in the 700`s and the present building was extended in Elizabethan times and inside can be seen the different constructions with one part having a wooden roof. Well worth a visit as there is a permanent exhibition inside to explain the history.
Next door to the church on the banks of the R. Alne is Wooten hall most of its occupation was by the Carrington family.
The Bulls Head pub below was built in the 1500`s.

Goodnight, still more locks tomorrow.

LEAMINGTON SPA / WARWICK

As I said before been hanging around sorting my phone problem out and eventually after a week to the day I received my mail from daughter in law Bev. The new phone sim card arrived with her within 2 days but took a week from Bev posting it to me to arrive. Now i put this down to the fact that for the first time I had chosen a town centre post office to receive my Poste Resante mail and I think they miss-filed it.

Still Leamington Spa and Warwick were close by and the delay gave me time to look around and a chance to pop down south for a w`end to help son Kev with his kitchen as he wanted worktops and new sink fitted, my payment was a w`end with the g`children so I`m not complaining. Leamington town hall dates back to 1884 and outside is a statue of Queen Victoria who as an 11yr old princess in 1830 visited the town and soon after the town was granted Royal status.
During WW2 a bomb cased the statue to move an inch on it`s plinth and remains to this day an inch miss-aligned.

The River Leam above flowing over Mill Bridge weir passes through the Jephson Gardens the land was donated in 1843 by Rev. Edward Wiles and named in 1846 after Dr Henry Jephson a physician who treated patients at the spa baths in the pump room opposite the gardens. Treatments included walking, diet and drinking the saline water.

Above and below the sub tropical glasshouse within the Jephson gds.

Warwick Castle built on the site of a mott and bailey constructed by William the Conqueror stands beside the R. Avon.
Below is the Lord Lycester Hospital it was by a Robert Dudley the Earl of Leycester to be a home for old soldiers. To the left can be seen the chapel of St. James built over the Westgate in the
12th century. These medievel timber buildings survived the great fire of 1694 that swept through Warwick. During my travels i have learnt of many such fires in many towns and looking at the way the timbered buildings were so close together just a slight breeze would be enough to spread fire across a town in no time at all.

TRUST

Just a quick blog while I sort some photo`s for Leamington/Warwick. The Moorhen i pictured with it`s young on the last blog has become to trust me so much to supply food for it`s brood that it has taken to entering the boat.
It did at one time while I was in the galley start to walk part way up the boat towards me.

MOORED IN WARWICKSHIRE

First here are some pics of when Jack & Jordan brought my son Andy and Bev for a w`end visit,well they could hardly leave mum/dad home alone. So they arrived at Braunston and we cruised up to Newbold and had a meal in the Barley Mow and following a nice cooked b`fast Sunday morning made our way back to braunston. Had the expected arguments about whose turn it was to steer and pull back the throttle as we passed moored boats but it was lovely to see them all and the kids took it in turns to be captain.


Now when Jack is captain he takes it serious and there was no way he would face the camera as he was watching for boats ahead so he said.

Many hands make light work.

Now Moorhens I`ve found in the past are not to keen on getting close to us humans but this one after I have been feeding it regularly often came aboard and sometimes would take bread off

the floor on the front deck while i was sitting there and below you can see the reason was 3 youngsters to feed. Having been moored here a few days I`ve been watching them and just a few yards along the bank is another family and if the others roamed into the area of this family it was quite something to see the adults swim towards the trespassers tail feathers up head stretched forward and low over the water and if the intruder didn`t retreat it was war.

Went for a walk yesterday to check out a station as i will be going to see some of the other grandchildren this w`end and came across Jo & Keith on their boat Hadar it was a nice surprise as i was out when they passed by and good to have a chat, you know where you been or going and now i know so if you click on Hadar they might tell you, because I won`t.

Now the reason we`ve been moored up for a while is, well you know the saying "a bird in the hand is worth...... It`s now "a mobile phone in the hand is better than one in the canal" Yes i dropped my phone in the canal so i`ve been waiting for post to deliver a new sim card after buying a new phone so if anybody i know has been trying to reach me ...........just leave a message with Mr fish, Miss mud or Mr Tesco trolley and i will get back to you soon.

NEWBOLD ONWARDS

Left one of my favourite moorings at Newbold and stopped off at Rugby to re stock the galley at the canal side Tesco then it was on to Braunston for a few days now that the Historic Boat show was over. It would have been nice to be there during the show but mooring would have been a big problem so we decided to give it a miss this year. Had some family visit while at Braunston but more on that another time.
Leaving Braunston we re-fuelled at napton at 85p a litre, yes i`ve noticed the £1.30 prices at the garages and come November we boaters will have 47p duty added to our fuel thanks to the EU but the subsidy was good while it lasted and i don`t want any comments about boaters not having paid the going rate in the past as i don`t make the rules but if you must i will publish your thoughts.
Glad to have left the Braunston area as we can now fill our water tanks with clean water as the Northampton area has had a bug in the water supply and notices on the taps canal side have warned to boil all water before consumption, ok for showers or a wash as long as you keep your mouth shut i suppose. The worrying thing was the number of holiday boats filling up and I wondered if when they return the boats the holiday company`s will inform the next crew to boil as the bug will still be present in a boat tank for sometime which is the reason we waited till Napton as it was just out of the affected area.
So up through Calcutt locks we start cruising into Warwickshire. Stockton locks are interesting in that alongside the double locks are the remains of the single locks that the working boats had to use before the doubles were installed.
I have noticed a lot lately that BW are putting signs at bridges stating the name of canal and location ie bridge number , this to me seems a waste of money as the yob element in some areas seem to think it fun to uproot them and throw them into the canal. I imagine this must be a health & safety idea as some locations could be a problem for the emergency services but surely if the signs were fixed high on the bridge would avoid the cost of replacing the now floating signs.

Had an emergency stoppage along the way as BW had to do some urgent repairs to a lock gate but the hold up was only for 45 mins and what`s that in a lifetime of boating.One of the single locks occupied by a BW work boat alongside the double lock.

The signs put up by BW, this one still in place so far.

BW staff doing repairs in a lock.

Noticed the boaters dustmen while waiting for a lock to fill. Keep up the good work lads.

A rainbow over Braunston.

TO NEWBOLD

Alrewas behind us we approach Fradley Jct. and turn left onto the Coventry Canal. As we pass Huddlesford Jct. just part of the Wyrley&Essington (Litchfield Canal) is still in water and is used only as moorings. The Litchfield canal trust whose vice president is David Suchet ( poirot) are very active in the restoration of this canal and clicking on the link here will provide some interesting reading of the restoration. I remember going up the M6 Toll road back in 2004/5 and passing under the empty aqueduct that was included in the road build to await the canals restoration. If you click the link scroll down and click on the aqueduct section it`s an interesting read of the government doing something good for a change.
On through Whittington for an o`night stop at the village of Hopwas passing the smartly dressed

gent resting against a post (pic above). Now if your reading this blog down in Somerset you might say it`s a Mommet or if you`re in bonny Scotland it would be a Tattie Bogle but we`ll settle for a scarecrow.
Hopwas was the scene of a new building scheme, just gather some twigs and local vegetation,

select a boat that hasn`t moved for a while and build. Lay some eggs raise the family and move on to another location next year, it could catch on so boaters don`t stay to long in one place.
Always nice to see some steam boats on the canal system the one below is Laplander and the second was one I spotted on the Nottingham canal a while back.



Now lock below that NB Valerie is rising in is not just any old lock, this is Atherstone top and where you will find Tony Ward not just lockie of the year and Honary Citizen of Atherstone Tony has now been made an MBE.
He has been at Atherstone for 8 years and with BW a total of 25yrs. Well done to you Tony for a nicely kept flight and for all the local information including Tony`s own weather forcasts posted on the garage door of the cottage.
On reaching Newbold, a suburb of Rugby, it was nice to get a visit from son Steve and Ozlem and below my grandson Teo seen here trying the slide in the Barley Mow pub where we all had a very nice meal. As I hadn`t seen them for a while it was also a chance to check on the growth of my latest g`child due to be launched late November. Congratulations to you both.