Stratford and the last of the Avon

My last day of cruising on the Avon.  It is a lovely river and I have been extremely lucky with the weather allowing me to see it at its best.

The source of the Avon is from a spring near the village of Naseby in Northamptonshire.  The river has a total length of 85 miles and a catchment size of 1,032 square miles.  It can rise and fall very rapidly and entry (via Avon Lock at Tewkesbury) was actually closed for a day on the weekend before I arrived so I timed it well! 

Improvements to aid navigation began in 1635, and a series of locks and weirs made it possible to reach Stratford, and to within 4 miles (6.4 km) of Warwick. The Upper Avon was tortuous and prone to flooding and was abandoned as a means of navigation in 1877. The Lower Avon struggled on, and never really closed, although by 1945 it was only navigable below Pershore.

Restoration of the lower river as a navigable waterway began in 1950, and was completed in 1962. The upper river was a more daunting task, as most of the locks and weirs were no longer extant. Work began in 1965 on the construction of nine new locks and 17 miles of river, using mainly volunteer labour, and was completed in 1974 when it was opened by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Plans to extend the navigable river to provide a link with the Grand Union Canal at either Warwick or Leamington Spa have met with some opposition.

My last lock on the Avon

Commemorating Mr Witter's generosity and once famously described by a lady councillor as "Mr Hutchings' monstrous erection in the park", this lock, because of its unusual depth and the unstable nature of the ground (silt pit) was the most difficult to build, which accounts for the unusual girders used to stabilise the structure.  The work was done by men from Gloucester Gaol and other volunteers.  Indeed prisoners and boys from borstal were involved in most of the restoration - I wonder what today's prisoners would say if they were handed a pick and shovel for a day of hard labour?

Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare is entombed.

Passing the Royal Shakespeare Theatre on the left with popular swan feeding spot and departure point for some of the trip boats.

I had intended to travel up a bit further to a possible mooring spot and the limit of navigation (for my boat) but the headroom under the old Tramway bridge was very tight and would have meant clearing a lot from the roof.  I subsequently discovered that a tree was down a bit beyond so I would not have got there anyway.  It was built in 1823 to carry the horse tramway from Bancroft basin to Shipston-on-Stour and is now a footbridge.

My moorings for the next few days, almost opposite the theatre.

9 miles; 5 broad locks 
TOTAL:  256 miles; 92 locks (16 broad; 5 large)