Stratford bound

Just before dinner yesterday evening, someone living near Bucket Lock kindly came down the towpath to warn us that our short pound could empty overnight due to leaky gates below. We untie and move below the lock to a much longer pound.
All is well in the morning though; we could have been listing badly by now if we'd stayed above! Now it's a bright, sunny morning in the most glorious Worcestershire countryside and we notice, when we're in a lock with Pelangi's engine off, how quiet it is.

After three woodland-surrounded locks in quick succession, this stretch of canal has some straighter, longer, lock-free sections passing through agricultural land dotted with varied livestock farms and one strangely out of the way narrowboats marina. Tranquility indeed!
A longer aqueduct takes us over the grandly named Tyseley South Junction To Bearley West Junction Branch railway line, but sadly, no trains at this moment - will dream tonight of express steam trains passing under Pelangi... (wot, on a branch line? !).

We're passing the village of Wilmcote which has some very attractive canalside properties, along with 'Mary Arden's House' - mistakenly thought to be the home of Shakespeare' mother; it's now known she lived thirty yards away at Glebe Farm!
Just yards south of the intriguingly named Canada Bridge is the Wilmcote Flight of eleven locks and we decide to attempt the first eight and then moor up, tackling the remainder tomorrow before the last six steeper locks into Stratford on Avon.
There have been maybe four of five narrowboats pass us today, including a privately-hired trip boat, but we are pleasantly surprised to find two CRT lock-volunteers on the flight, and they help us through the next six locks. One of our volunteers is actually a CRT employee over from Bedford who normally works from home covering call-centre duties. The other is retired, living in Stratford. We are really grateful of their help, as many of this "Working Museum's" locks are proving heavy work indeed.Read more