Hi All, Friday 26th September 2008
A very late, 10.30am start in fog! and sods law, just as we were about to chugg off, a boat came on past. Darn. Lock 31 at Lowsonford is only a short distance and we work the locks between us. I seemed to arrive on the bike just as they were leaving, so I shut the gate and dropped the paddle for them. If they were quicker than me they would back fill for me. Worked well. Not a single boat came up and most of the locks were either empty or almost empty. These locks do leak badly. Just after Preston Bagot our co travellers pulled over for lunch and we continued on still not a boat in sight. At some point about now we saw an old working boat called Coronation, was that Jeff Dennison's old boat? I was now steering and Wendy used the free hot water to shower and hairwash. Difficult to imagine how she could improve on perfection :-) Through Wooton Wawen in glorious sunshine and onto the only lock on this section, the appropriately named, Odd lock. There is a distinct lack of water in these parts and LT struggles to get through some of the very narrow bridge holes. Just before Wilmcote a day hire boat appears in the distance. Closer and closer and suddenly she starts to go backwards and as a consequence skews across the canal. I take action to avoid a collision, the crew of said hire boat seem upset they missed us. I know narrowboating is a contact sport but it's (its) not dodgems. We carry on very slowly past the moored boats and BW men doing some pilling work. At the winding hole another boat is all over the place This time the steerer is having a sandwich and would appear to be completely oblivious to our presence. Anyway, we get past him ok and we are now back on our own and head towards Stratford and the last 16 locks of the day. These are all very close together and with nothing coming up, setting 4 locks ahead was easy, although I am sure the gates and paddles were getting heavier. Signs at each lock reminded me to ensue all gates were shut and paddles down on exit. The pound between locks 44 and 45 was almost dry and getting LT out involved letting more water down with the exit gates open. Even then, LT struggled to get across. It seems very odd, that some of the bywashes were gushing with overflow and others complete dry. At lock 52 I cycled to Tesco to pick up provisions ( beer) while LT when through and we met up at the next lock, just in time to open the gate. Then on to our destination and moor in the basin, there was plenty of room, time 6.30pm. There is massive building work going on here and the whole Bancroft area is a building site. Good TV picture, even some digital channels. Shower for me, slops for dinner, casserole if you're posh, TV and another early to bed night. Great day. Regards Andrew & Wendy - Tales From The Canal - Stratford Upon Avon - Bancroft Basin
