There is something very familiar about this picture.  Oh, yes - it is the scene of a famous painting by Dusty Miller, a print of which is hanging in our boat.  It would have been rather neat if we could have found a horse drawn wooden boat leaving the lock, but a Dartline hire boat will have to do instead.  This is on the Lapworth flight near Kingswood junction, Stratford Canal.  I think it is lock 7 (someone will tell me if I'm wrong, I'm sure).

This next picture was taken just below Nafford Lock on the River Avon in August 1999, a day or so before the Eclipse.  It had been raining for 3 or 4 days and we'd been held at Tewkesbury because of the river conditions.  Eventually, we were told that we could get as far as Evesham, if we were careful.  All was fine until we arrived at Eckington bridge.  A large GRP cruiser was attempting to get under the bridge, but the height of the water and the limited clearance under the bridge made this impossible.  We were holding position using our engine to balance the flow of water through the bridge.  Eventually, the cruiser skipper changed his mind and waved us through the bridge.  The water level upstream of the bridge was about 3 inches higher than below (the bridge forming a barrage) and the flow through the arches meant that we just about crept through even with the engine running at full throttle.  As there was no space at the mooring just upstream from the bridge, we carried on expecting to find moorings a little further upstream.  We were first to arrive at Nafford, just as a water bailiff was turning the warning sign to DANGER and closing the navigation.  The cruiser and the Wilderness boat determined that they had enough power to turn and return to Eckington or Tewkesbury, but we had no wish being caught broadside in the rush coming over the weir.  We decided that mooring above the lock was safer than below and so were joined by the Bidford and Viking boats who both moored in the lock.  Just as well as the lock landing flooded later that afternoon. We spent 2½ days here waiting for the waters to subside.

Yet, quite amazingly, the waters above the lock look perfectly calm.  Once river traffic started again, a few boats came through the lock before we moved off ourselves.  Even though this looks calm, the currents were intense and we saw one boat nearly get swept over the weir.

Along the Stratford canal one day, we met President, the preserved FMC steamer.  As the second picture shows, free steam cleans are available on request if you are moored in the right place.

Boat trips consist of "out and back" or "ring" cruises.  One of the shortest rings is at Lapworth where the Grand Union and Stratford canals are joined by a small arm in the shape of a triangle. Two of the "arms" of the triangle have locks, so this ring is not recommended.  Here we also see one of the characteristic split bridges that cross the Stratford canal.  Several of these are very low and have caught many a chimney or exhaust stack ourselves included :-(