We set off at 07:20 on Friday (02/07/2021) and made great progress through the 30 locks, aided some of the way by Tom, a Canal & River Trust volunteer. We got through the top lock, number 58 and moored up at 10:40 hrs. We would have been hard pressed or unlucky to have achieved this faster. A very smooth transition through the longest stretch of locks in the country.
Tom told us that last week a holiday boat from Black Prince narrowboats thought that they would spend their last night at the Queen’s Head pub. They did not realise that they could not turn around to get back to base at Stoke Wharf and thus had to go through all 30 Tardebigge locks before they could return, back through them all again to hand in their boat at the end of the holiday. A 60 lock return journey from the pub!
We used the services at Tardebigge New Wharf, including having a shower and then trundled on through Tardebigge Tunnel and Shortwood Tunnel to moor up at Alvechurch.
We were moored up just along from the scary boat that had a sign in the window saying that the Canal & River Trust had allowed them to outstay their welcome as their engine had broken down.
Steve cycled to the Co-op in Alvechurch and was impressed by the old houses.
We left Alvechurch in our wake at 09:00 on Saturday (03/07/2021) after Steve had cycled to Alvechurch Co-op again to get The Saturday Telegraph. We passed Hopwood and went through Wast Hill Tunnel (half an hour in dank, dripping gloom) and turned right at Norton Junction onto the Stratford Canal heading towards Stratford-Upon-Avon (although we would be turning off at Kingswood Junction onto the Grand Union Canal as our next destination was Brentford on the River Thames in West London).
We went through Lock Number 1, a permanently open guillotine stop lock and Brantwood Tunnel (only 275 yards).
As usual the canals provided a canvas for graffiti artists. A sculpture of William Shakespeare looks down on you as you enter Brandwood Tunnel.
Vera got a chance to scamper and sniff along the towpath while Hilary steered the boat.
We passed the posh re-opened Lady Lane Wharf and pulled in for diesel at Waring’s Green Wharf. The caretaker lady on the tiny narrowboat where she lives, asked if we could wait while she finished her dinner before filling us up.
We moored up at Hockley Heath, where we had previously moored on Sunday 14/03/2021. There was a hand Co-op nearby, accessed through the car park of the Wharf Inn, which rang with cheers on Saturday evening as England beat Ukraine 4-0 in Euro2020 on Saturday evening. “ING-GER-LAND” and “Football’s Coming Home” echoed into the dusk.
The pub had less of an allure as we were now 3 days into Dry July. We watched The Handmaid’s Tale, Series 2 on All4 and read our books. Hilary was sticking with Jack Reacher with The Enemy by Lee Child, while Steve was reading the historical novel Azincourt by Bernard Cornwall.
Hockley Heath must have some money and seems to be the go-to place to spend your COVID-19 Bounce Back Loan as it has car showrooms for McLaren,
Lotus,
and Rolls Royce.
Vera spurned the luxury car sales rooms in favour of Hockley Heath, where teams of young footballers were being coached by England-fanatic dads on the football pitches.
Steve bought some final supplies from the Co-op while Hilary listened to The Archers Omnibus on BBC Radio 4 and we set off at 11:00 on Sunday morning (04/07/2021).
We went through two lift/draw bridges which had to be wound open with a windlass and got stuck in our first lock, Stratford Canal Lock Number 2. A huge log was drifting in the lock and it wedged us in as we tried to get out. We were aided by the crew of an oncoming holiday boat and managed to get free and remove the offending log from the canal.
We went through twelve more locks with sporadic torrential rain showers. Tesco food bags proved to be great map cases to protect our Pearson’s guides from the rain. We were torn between wearing our waterproofs and sweating like an one-legged man in an arse-kicking competition, or just getting wet from the deluges.
We moored up after Lock 14 and battened down the hatches for lunch.
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