Blogs from Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 5

0 locks, 200 in total. Today has not been as we had been led to believe, for whatever reason, and we're slightly relieved after last night's golf ball incident - the golf course is actually 'between owners' and closed so our unfriendly slicers were trespassing anyway. We had rain overnight and early morning but, other than few spots during the day, the forecast day of rain didn't happen to us – score! There was plenty of graffiti, a fair number of items in the canal, several boats with metal shutters on their windows to deter the stone throwers and quite a few derelict factories and works BUTthe suburbs were largely hidden from the canal by trees on one side and the railway on the other. Ian from Saltisford's advice was good. The canal centre of Birmingham ... read more

19 locks, 200 in total. We motored our final mile (for the moment) on the Grand Union to Kingswood Junction. We turned left here onto the Lapworth Link which then divides – to the left again takes you onto the South Stratford Canal (to Stratford upon Avon) but we turned right onto the North Stratford (to Birmingham). The whole area around Kingswood Junction was eye-catching – old canal buildings, houses that embraced the canal, a few private moorings. We joined the Stratford a little way up the Lapworth Flight and it was a delightful morning's workout. It is another narrow canal so the locks are much quicker. There is a whole variety of lock mechanisms and gates in this flight – you never know what to expect. Some of the paddles were really stiff to move ... read more

2 locks, 160 in total. After yesterday's extremely windy weather things have calmed a little today. Leamington Spa abruptly ended at the first bridge and we were almost in the country again, like a narrow green belt between Leamington and Warwick. There was building near the canal but not right up to it in many places. We stopped off at a huge Tesco for the next 2 days' shopping and then motored on towards the first of the 2 locks, going uphill again. A boat was waiting on the lock moorings already and the lock was emptying so we pottered along, hoping to go straight into the lock and avoid mooring. No such luck – the 2 boats in the lock really were on a go-slow and I can't imagine what they were doing to take ... read more

13 locks, total 148 The canal continued to curl around Napton's hill until we reached Napton Junction, once called Wigram's Turn, where we turned left onto the Grand Union Canal heading towards Birmingham. The Grand Union is the backbone of England's canal system. It is Britain's longest canal, joining Birmingham and London but it didn't acquire its name until 1929 because it began life as 8 separate canals, mainly built between 1793 and 1805. Once built, the old route between the cities via the Oxford Canal and the River Thames was bypassed – 60 miles were saved but at the expense of more locks. During WW2 it was an important route for arms equipment and coal; many teams of 3 women worked the canals during this time. We passed many marinas on our route today – ... read more

We took on water and set off a little earlier today, hoping to beat the forecast rain. Whilst mild, the wind was very strong so coats were order of the day, despite the sunshine which in fact lasted until we moored for lunch at Marston Doles Lock (sometimes called the top of the Napton flight). En route we had to secure a narrowboat that a walker warned us about, bow moorings trailing in the water and boat stuck right across the canal, pinned in place by the wind. The ground was very soft so the mooring pins were not secure, even when knocked in as far as they'd go so we used the boat's centre line and tied it across the towpath to a secure post – naughty but necessary. After lunch it was still dry ... read more