Stratford Canal

This is the Stratford-on-Avon Canal taken from Edstone Aqueduct, with Bearley Lock (no. 39) in the distance. This canal connects the Worcester and Birmingham Canal at Kings Norton to the River Avon at the Bancroft Basin in Stratford, just in front of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

Not far from here is the Wilmcote flight of 11 locks in just over a mile. If you’ve ever been on a narrow boat for pleasure, you’ll know that it is quite physical work opening and closing all of the lock gates, so to do that many in one mile I guess that those people on the boats are in need of a swift half or two by the time they stagger into Stratford.

We were invited on board a friend’s narrow boat years ago for the weekend. We started on the Friday evening quite near to Spaghetti Junction, spent Saturday night right in the centre of Birmingham City, and then left them on the Sunday at Hockley Heath near to the M42. It was a very pleasant way to spend the weekend, but we both enjoyed the locks the best – we did get a bit bored when there were long stretches with no locks.