Stratford upon Avon was absolutely beautiful. We managed to moor up right in the basin, which is in the centre of the town and amongst all the beautiful Christmas decorations.
There were lots and lots of lovely independent shops for us to browse and we also treated ourselves to a lovely Thai meal. I also had a cheeky Thai massage during the day to help loosen my back after all the locks (well that’s how I sold it to Paul). Paul also got some quality time to read his kindle at Weatherspoons.
Stratford also had a self service laundrette (which was opposite a micropub) so we spent a good few hours catching up on our laundry! We got chatting to a crazy guy called Roger and some other boaters who had ventured into the basin. It was all very pleasant.
On the Sunday night, we were blessed with a visit from Katie, Ryan and Rask, who stopped for a couple of hours. They were on their way back from Derby after visiting all the family and so it was really great to see them.
As much as we would have liked to stay at Stratford, we started our homeward journey on Monday.
As my job is so flexible, I can work my hours around the weather and so we have been doing long days on the cut, and then when it rains, I have been doing 6 or 7 hours work. It’s great!
Today has been a cracker! We awoke to icicles on the inside of the windows and frozen conditions outside. Zak hadn’t moved from under his blankets all night.
In fact, it was so cold that the ropes had frozen and Paul had to pour his coffee over them so that we could untie the boat!
Despite the coldness, it was a beautiful and crisp winter day and the sun did its very best to try and warm us but it never quite got high enough in the sky.
We did an epic 17 locks, stopping only for a quick soup to warm us up at lunchtime. I was really lagging towards the end as my bones were hurting so we swapped roles and Paul did the final few locks whilst I bashed Daisy into them. The locks really are ridiculously narrow and because of the wet weather we have been having, there are massive rivers of water (by-wash) running into the canal just in front of the lock entrance so that the water pushes you against the side. I’ve tried to show this in the picture below.
Our journey back up the Stratford & Avon canal took us back over the aqueducts (not a viaduct apparently) and, as promised, we managed to get video footage. It definitely felt less scary at the front.
We also walked back to take some pictures from ground level so you can get some idea of the depth of the water that Daisy sits in.
We are currently sat in a pub at Kingswood Junction and from here, we will be making our way up the Grand Union and into Birmingham. From there, we will go along the Birmingham & Fazley canal, then on to the Coventry Canal leading to the Trent & Mersey. We were planning on coming back to Derby and mooring at Shardlow, but there is a stoppage at Fradley Junction (Derby side) from January to March and so we will be turning left at Fradley Junction and mooring up at Kings Bromley marina for Christmas. We hope to arrive there, all being well, on 14th December.
For tonight though, we will be sleeping in the lounge so that we get the benefit of the stove. Zak will certainly enjoy this!
Love to all,
Jo & Paul & Zak xxx
P.s Zak is not impressed with his new raincoat.
P.p.s There are lots more photos on the gallery page.
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