There was a bit of cloud cover but by 2pm it got that hot working the locks it's the first time iv'e needed to find shade necessary while waiting for a lock to fill. The water on the Avon is cleaner than the canals, you wouldn't put the old head piece under though, and when we passed some swimmers it was only my awesome willpower and mind control that keep me from jumping in.
Apparently it has been the hottest day in 7 years in GB. When we moored it was straight into a cold shower and beer..
Leaving the Basin and the tourists are lining up... some even help with the lock...
RH turn and motoring down stream.. Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare is buried in the distance....
Approaching the first lock, Colin P Witter Lock....
Exiting lock.. Big double locks the paddles are easy to raise and lower with a lot of winding but it takes two to move most gates.... Lucky only one needs to be open to enter and exit one boat and the sign says to leave exit gate open which is a bonus...
Passed under a rusty rail bridge..
The Weirs that bypass the over flow of water past locks are not to be tried in a NB.... Seriously.....
First the nice garden appears......
Then the Thatched roof cottage under going a Hair Cut with a touch of styling...
All the moorings along the river have high poles with rings that you attach the rope too so when the river rises so does the boat and the poles help to stop it going to far inland...
Plastic boat on the river and over the bank in the marina all the moorings have poles as well... Looks like they get about a 10ft rise here.....
Moored at Bidford on Avon. Had a peek at the village, one street of shops. The chippie looked the best pick.... after the pub...
Enter under the bridge with different arches... built 1482.... there was also a ford across the river until 1970...
Not your average one up one down.......
A couple of historic photos from on the Birmingham to Stratford route.
There was a stretch of 13 miles where it wasn't desirable to stop and we did get ambushed in a cutting with apples. Three hits but luckily they missed the windows by inches...
Approaching the Kings Norton Stop Lock.. two Guillotine gates to stop water entering the oppositions canal at the junction.. Raised and lowered by cranking the handle which uses counter weights to balance the wooden gates.. You can see the Shit Bags of the area have been at work...
Through the first gate... They are permantley open...
Through the second.... The Mother In Law looks up and says " I can see what's jamming it open".....
I told you never to touch the Bloody controls again... That was last time....
In the heat of the day just hard out..... (for JO).......
Six Double locks down eleven to go.... more tomorrow...
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