Earthwalker.Moondancer: Europe: England 2014

"Attitude is the difference between ordeal and adventure."

Bob Bitchin

On August 1, 2014, Melanie, June and Gary Mason (crew) and moi (captain) headed to jolly ole England to rent a narrow-barge canal boat for a week. Melanie and I had spent a week on the French Midi Canal (see our blog on Europe: France 2013 Part 3) and loved the life-style it offerd us. An idyllic way to see the country: slowly cruising old canals from village to village, pub to pub, manning your own ship, captain of your own destination.....OK you get the picture!!

ENGLISH CANALS

The canals of England are a major part of the network of inland waterways in England. They have a colourful history, from use for irrigation and transport, through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution, to today's role for recreational boating. Despite a period of abandonment, today the canal system in England is again in increasing use, with abandoned and derelict canals being reopened, and the construction of some new routes.

The majority of canals in England can accommodate narrow-barge canal boats with a length of between 55 and 80 feet & width of 7 feet and are now used primarily for leisure. There are about 3,500km of canals available for exploring in England.

Stratford - on - Avon

Our original plan was to do a loop around Birmingham, known as the mini-Birmingham Ring. We changed our minds.....hey it happens! Instead we did the Stratford-upon-Avon route.....a 29 mile out and back trip for a total of 58 miles and 110 self-manned locks.

At Alvechurch, a small village on the outskirts of Birmingham, we picked up our self-manned 66 foot long 6 1/2 foot wide narrow-barge canal boat. We travel from there up to Kings Norton Junction, going through the longest canal tunnel in England, the Wast's Hill Tunnel, and then down the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal. The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal is a delightful 25 mile long waterway which begins at Kings Norton junction about four miles by canal from Alvechurch. The canal winds through the green outer suburbs of Birmingham to the village of Shirley, where there is an electrically operated drawbridge by a pub.

The first ten miles are lock free but then the long flight of locks at Lapworth begins. Once through these, the locks are spaced out at regular intervals until Wilmcote, where there is a flight of eleven. Then you’ll proceed to Stratford-upon-Avon where the canal meets the river Avon in the Bancroft Basin.

Visitors from around the world flock to Stratford-upon-Avon as it was the birth-place of William Shakespears.

We left St. John's, Newfoundland and flew all night, arriving in London at 6:35AM. Hopped a bus for Birmingham and 4 hours later we are strolling into Alvechurch to get groceries for the boat.

Alvechurch means 'The church of the Lady Aelfgiva', possibly a relative of King Athelstan. King Offa gave the land forming the parish to the local church in the late 8th century. The parish is mentioned in the Doomsday Book. In the 13th Century the Bishop of Worcester built a palace in the village, and a weekly market and an annual fair was established. The Bishop's Palace was pulled down in the 17th century, the only remnants being part of the moat and a yew tree which formerly stood in the palace grounds.

The Alvechurch Church of St Laurence dates back to 1239. Much of the church was rebuilt between 1858 and 1861 by William Butterfield. There is a 1,348-pipe organ. The tower has a peal of eight bells, rung regularly by the North Worcestershire and District Church Ringing Association.

DAY 1: Our very own narrow-barge canal boat, the "Short-Toed Eagle".......all 66 feet of her!!! This 20 ton cast-iron beauty, named after an eagle found in the Mediterranean, was our home for the next 7 days!!

The Galley and dining area.

The master suite!! Remember this boat is only 6 feet wide!!!!

....and bedroom #2. Say goodnight Mel !

DAY 2: Our first obstacle, the Wasthills Tunnel, which at 2,493 metres, is one long tunnel. The 14ft wide tunnel was constructed in 1797 and is one of the longest in England.

It was claustrophobic, water dripped from the ceiling, the light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel never seemed to get any bigger and the Short-Toed Eagle's one headlight reflection was hypnotic......it was all good! Took us a hour to get through the tunnel.

Manning the ship, chugging along at a whopping 3mph max.! Hang on tight.

The King's Norton Junction where the Worcester & Birmingham Canal meets the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal.

Apparently fish swim in these canals.....don't know what kind of fish mind you, but fish nevertheless. Locals casting a line and sipping on cider were a common occurrence on the canals. The path you see behind the fishermen would be the original "towpath".....during the pre-industrial revolution the narrow-barges were hauled by horses walking along the towpath.

Our second obstacle, the Brandwood Tunnel at 322 mts long. There is no towpath within the tunnel - before the days of mechanically powered barges boatmen pulled their narrowboats and barges through by using the iron hand-railings which were built into the tunnel's sides.

Break on through to the other side.

At times the canal would meander through the outer suburbs of Birmingham where we got a view of the million dollar backyards!

Ah yes. The ol' bridge shot......so many bridges.....so many shots!

Many "boaters" live on their boats and permanently moor in small boat villages....similar to RV parks. Meeting another 60+ foot boat coming in the opposite direction in a tight squeeze like this requires special instructions:
#1) keen navigation,
#2) a steady hand, and
#3) nerves of steel........
OR
#1) give fake hand signals to the other captain 120+ feet away,
#2) play chicken and wait to see what the other guy will do,
#3) shrug and flash the silly grin of a newbee as you pass each other!

"HELLLLLOOO" How long is 66 feet anyway?

The Short-Toed Eagle about to soar through another bridge!

One of 3 drawbridges we would encounter. Fortunately, this one was mechanized and it had a pub immediately after the bridge. Perfect place to stop for a pint!!

Feeling a little "squeezed" on the boat? No problem, hop off and go for a walk on the towpath!

This is the view from up front!

I love this: We stopped at a small village and saw this 'notice' posted to an old building. I particularly love the last offence for "Sheep Worrying".....Jeeeese what kind of people are these British?

With each passing kilometre the countryside became more and more rural.

A long Day 2, time to tie up and relax at the small village of Hockley Heath. Nice outfit guys....shop at the same store??

DAY 3: It is not too long before we encounter our first of many locks. Here Gary brings the Short-Toed Eagle into her first lock while under our command!

The lock system in England is operated by the boats that use them. I'm not going to say it was easy, but it wasn't hard either. The locks are pretty simple to operate: (1) Boat approaches lock (2) Boatsperson physically opens 1,000kg lock gate (3) Boat enters lock (4) Boatperson closes lock-door and physically turns winch thus draining/filling lock (5) Boatsman physically opens 1,000kg lock-door when drained/filled (6) Boat exits lock.....now you know!

The locks take about 4 minutes to drain or fill.

Stretches of English countryside between locks.

Some of the real estate, such as this refurbished canal cottage, was for sale and was asking a whopping $1.2million cdn.

The Lapworth Locks consisting of 18 locks spaced close together. It took us approximately 3 hours to get through them all.

Gary "Speed Demon" Mason.....slow down bye! Arrive alive.....no rush!!!

Lock 'pros' after only one day!

Kingswood Junction.....we go straight, but the other way links into the Grand Union Canal which links into many many more canals.

A quick stop to refill the fresh water tank before setting off again.

After 8 hours we arrived in Wootton Wawen, a small village with the obligatory canal-side pub! But first one should sit back and enjoy a glass or two of vino!!

The name "Wootton Wawen" means "farm near a wood, belonging to Wagen". Wagen or Waga is an Old Norse name. The oldest surviving record of Wootton is from when Æthelbald, King of the Mercians, gave to the Earl Aethilric 20 hides of land for a ministry between the years 723 and 737. This building happens to be the original Lord Wootton Hall.

We originally strolled into Wootton Wawen to get some supplies at the local store. We were pleasantly surprised to see such a beautiful village.

The Church of England parish Church of Saint Peter is notable for having the most pronounced Anglo-Saxon work in the county. It is the oldest church in Warwickshire, dating back to around 1100AD.

The ancient headstones are so weathered you can no longer read the inscriptions.

The Bull's Head Pub in downtown Wootton Wawen!

DAY 4: We leave Wootton Wawen and immediately cross the Wootton Wawen Aqueduct.

Within a very short distance we come to the second aqueduct, the Edstone Aqueduct, at 475 feet (145 m), is the longest aqueduct in England. It crosses a minor road and the Birmingham and North Warwickshire railway.

A view from the ground. Got to be careful I don't get accused of worrying the sheep!

Now how many people can say they rode a boat over a train track!

How's that for a weird but wonderful feeling!!

Another series of locks just outside of Stratford.

You may think the locks were a pain, but truthfully they were a lot of fun and you met a lot of people there.

Quite the shack on the canal!!

The slight rain did not damper Gary's mood! The beer helped too!

Entering the modern suburbs of the ancient city of Stratford-upon-Avon.

Tied up at the Red Lion mooring sight in Stratford. The town is a popular tourist destination owing to its status as birthplace of the playwright and poet William Shakespeare, often regarded as the world's greatest playwright of all time. Nearly 4.9 million visitors a year from all over the world visit. We had front row seats to everything owing to our ability to park in the centre of old Stratford -upon-Avon.

The Avon River, also an option for the canal boats.

Strolling the old park that runs alongside the Avon River. Big tree....probably got Willy Shakespeare's name carved in there somewhere!

The Holy Trinity Church (1210 circa) or as known, Shakespeare's Church, due to its fame as the place of baptism and burial of William Shakespeare. More than 200,000 tourists visit the church each year.

An odd fascination of ours is strolling through old graveyards looking for the oldest headstone!

The original charters of the town were granted in 1196, making Stratford over 800 years old. The name is a combination of the Old English strǣt, meaning "street", and ford, indicating a site at which a road forded a river.