Curiosities along the South Stratford Canal

Curious about "the wedged boat, the tartare sauce and the mushroom box" ? Read on...

South Stratford Canal at Kingswood Junction to Wootton Wawen: 6¼ miles, 17 locks

 To transfer from the Grand Union to the South Stratford is akin to transferring from a smooth broad motorway to a narrow rural back road…Cleddau edged through the connecting link    into a basin with space for boats to manoeuvre past each other between the North Stratford and the South Stratford Canals and to access the services. Two boats were waiting to descend in the lock, heading towards Stratford-upon-Avon. Cleddau would be third.Boatwif jumped off, taking a while to locate the Canal & River Trust compound to offload domestic rubbish, mixed dry recyclables and glass (hooray - separated rubbish collections!) and returned to the boat. Meanwhile The Captain had patiently held Cleddau by a centre rope, ready to move into the first lock (lock number 22). The first boat had disappeared and the second was about to leave the lock. But was it…?There seemed to be a problem, a bit of shouting between the crew, a bit of poking about with a pole, a lot of yanking and foot pushing at the lower gate. The boat was reluctant to leave. Was it stuck on a cill? Was the gate not returning fully to its recess?A volunteer lock keeper came along to take a look.The Captain came along to take a look. Still the boat would not budge.The lock keeper walked further down the towpath, pulled out his phone and had a word or two with his “gaffer”.The wedged boat crew were convinced that the gate was at fault.Slowly a plan evolved to pull the boat back from the bottom gate (no easy matter), float the boat up in the chamber and to pull it backwards out of the lock. Cleddau could then come through before another attempt would be made.It was a slow business, but eager to keep a liaison 10 locks down Boatwif too heaved on the wedged boat’s centre rope.  Eventually back she came – and Cleddau took her place in the lock. The lady was near distraught – “We’ve come from Sutton Stop, all down Atherstone and Fazeley and Birmingham and not had this problem…” She resolved to try to go through the lock again…It was difficult to explain that the Stratford Canal south from Kingswood Junction was built a long time ago (211 years, according to The Captain's research) and “on the cheap”, with narrower lock chambers and shallower water depths…Initially Cleddau’s downward progress was good, swapping locks with upcoming boats. Then the real work started… locks to fill before being able to use them, ground paddles sometimes stiff, back gates tricky to clamber across to reach the offside ground paddle gear… Background traffic noise was growing, then after lock 26 the motorway (M40) was visible. Boatwif hovered under the motorway bridge while The Captain set Lock 27 – and can report that it was significantly quieter underneath the motorway than it was out in the open!Onward, through sylvan settings until below Lock 30 there are echoes of the old Lowsonford Halt, a pastiche built in a private garden… Down, down, down, Cleddau had come, from Kingswood Junction to Lowsonford and to a very special liaison at the Fleur De Lys pub... “Do you need any supplies?” J (former First Mate of nb Tentatrice) had texted. Prompt at 5pm there was the former Tentatrice crew, bringing supplies (a jar of tartare sauce and four frozen chicken breasts). Former Boat Dog Monty jumped aboard – and of course there was a call (a woof?) for a mushroom box, a favourite drinking vessel for a thirsty dog…  A good meal and a great catch up chat made for a grand evening, well worth the effort of a 4 mile,10 lock day. Onward, passing one of the iconic Stratford Canal barrel-roofed houses, this one for rental via the Landmark TrustThis must be Forest of Arden country… At Yarningdale (Lock 34) The Captain had a lively conversation with an upcoming boater, none of which could be heard from the back deck. Cymbeline at the RSC the night before, a silver wedding anniversary and time spent in San Diego, apparently… Down, down, until below Preston Bagot an open mooring was found.   Once rush hour traffic eased on the nearby A4189 what a perfect place it was! A little gentle pottering along the towpath revealed a partly hidden stile, a footbridge over a brook, gentle waters and bright flag irises.   Wootton Wawen became the next stop. The approach from the north reveals a sudden change in character: wide water and a wharf, a fleet of Anglo-Welsh hire boats, a marina office seemingly on stilts and an iron trough aqueduct.You don’t need to walk far in the village of Wootton Wawen to sense the long ago and more recent past: there’s the Saxon Sanctuary in the church where an exhibition traces local history over the last 2,000 years,    there’s a Catholic cemetery (there are references to The Old Faith in the exhibition), there’s a Palladian Mansion mainly built in 1687, in the grounds of which is a residential park home with plenty of kitsch ornamentation – but for a final surprise it’s worth popping into the Yew Tree Farm Shopping Village, if only to choose some tall companions for your garden...    The navigable River Avon at Stratford is 7 miles further downhill.As for the wedged boat at Kingswood, it’s not been seen since then – it had a very  old hull and old boats are “inclined to spread”.  Maybe C&RT managed to convince the owners that the Stratford Canal was just too narrow for that vessel…  

 2023 totals:131¾ miles, 100 locks, 4 swing bridges, 5 tunnels

Conversational snippets in passing…

• Lady cyclist re  a hard packed surface: "These stones are rattling my teeth..."
• At Hatton Locks: “Cleddau, that’s Welsh isn’t it, I’m from Bridgend, and my Dad had to move to Coventry for work after the pits closed down…”
• From the Grand Union towpath: “Cleddau, that’s in Wales, I came back from there yesterday, I was on Skomer on Thursday…”
• The Cheshire One: “It could just be a nice field…?!” (to the Captain trying to work out distant activity)
• “Do you live aboard?: FAQ now posed 4 times
• “Cleddau – Welsh? Lancaster rose?”
• “Cleddau – Welsh? Yorkshire rose?” (At Hatton Locks:)
• Re the benefit of solar panels:” It’s more important to have clean knickers than burnt toast…”