nb Bridge Street

Sunday 21 st April 2019 We went to the 10am service in Holy Trinity Church. What a wonderful experience. The church was so full there were people standing and there were four points for receiving communion. The vicar delivered a very amusing story using Easter eggs he was cracking open using a mallet, sending chocolate all over the place, much to the delight of the children. The church itself is very impressive, the oldest parts date from 1210 although it is on the site of a Saxon Monastery. It was a privilege to be able to worship in a place where worship has been conducted for over 1300 years.     After the service we were able to visit the High Altar, the site of Shakespeare’s grave and those of his family. Shakespeare’s grave bears a curse on anybody who disturbs it: Good Friend For Jesus Sake Foerbear, To Digg the Dust Enclosed Here. Bleste Be Ye Man Yet Spares These Stones, And Cur...

Saturday 20 th April 2019 The moorings in Bancroft Basin were for 48 hours, we had been there for 3 days and the basin was full last night so we decided to move. We moved first thing to avoid the crowds. Passing through Avon Lock onto the river was a real buzz. We cruised for just a 100 yards or so before winding and headed upriver before mooring just across from the lock itself with Bancroft Gardens and the RSC on one side, Tramway Bridge in front and the greenery of the recreational grounds beside us. After a cooked breakfast we went for a walk around Stratford with Sarah, a Shakespearian, who regularly visits the town, acting as our guide, very interesting. Although we never actually went inside any of the properties, apart from the church, we visited Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare and his family are buried, Hall’s Croft, New Place and Shakespeare’s birthplace in Henly Street. New Place, built in 1483, was the home of Shakespeare from 1597 until his death th...

Friday 19 th April 2019 Primrose day and Brenda’s birthday. After opening her presents, Aaron went out for a run and the girls were treated to a posh pot of tea in the front cratch.  The whole of Stratford-upon-Avon is a seething mass of people, especially with the weather being so nice and it being Easter weekend. The basin area gets busy from 7:30 onwards. We have and see a lot of people just boarding boats in the basin to have their photographs taken, mainly the Japanese on their Grand Tour and having to take numerous photos of each other, all in the same pose and place. We went for a walk across the Tramway footbridge to the opposite side of the river. A lovely green area with views across to the RSC Theatre and Holy Trinity Church where William Shakespeare is buried.                                 ...

Thursday 18 th April 2019 We had a morning of cleaning the boat through before Aaron and Sarah joined us at 12:30. They brought out red paint and brass plaques that we had ordered so at long last, we can progress on that.  We went for a walk around the town and called in on a few pubs before taking the dogs back to the boat. After feeding them we went out again, leaving them behind. We went into one restaurant for dinner but, after paying £22.50 for a round of not so special drinks we moved on, finishing up in a pub right across the road for dinner.   Mooring in Bancroft Basin, Stratford-upon-Avon. They don’t come much better.                                                                               ...

Wednesday 17 th April 2019 We had a hard day today, but so exciting. The Wilmcote locks descending to Stratford-upon-Avon are in three groups. The top locks we passed through yesterday and today we negotiated the middle and bottom locks, 8 in total. Some of the gates were extremely heavy and a real struggle with more than one, once it had been closed, swung open again under its own weight. Very frustrating and, although you don’t like leaving a gate open, sometimes you just have to conceded defeat and move on. A very picturesque setting throughout though. There were lockkeepers at the middle locks but sometimes you just wonder why they are there at all when they can stand back and watch you struggle.          Scenes on Wilmcote Locks          Beyond Wilmcote Locks we came upon the water point but had to wait an e...

Tuesday 16 th April 2019 We were only intending to travel 3 ½ miles today and so had a leisurely start, such a hard life we lead. We revisited the Yew Tree Farm shopping village specifically for the farm shop. The shopping village is based in the old farm buildings, stables, diary etc and consists of several boutique style businesses. Brenda went into a clothes shop and saw a lovely blouse and waistcoat set but they didn’t have them in her size, she was very disappointed. In the farm shop we expected to see mucky vegetables fresh out of the ground but instead were met mainly with a selection of horrendously expensive produce. While we do like to support local businesses and enterprises, you don’t like to feel as though you are being ripped off for some quirky, 21 st century, in-vogue product. We left the mooring and almost immediately passed over the aqueduct which took me completely by surprise. With it being no more than a series of cast iron troughs, there was no barr...

Monday 15 th April 2019 We have a day to spare before arriving in Stratford so decided to spend it here at Wooton Wawen as it is quiet and peaceful. It was also very windy today, another incentive to stay put. After a slow start we walked into the village which was a pretty and interesting place. We often remind ourselves at how lucky we are to be able to see all these pretty English country villages that contain so much of our history and national identity, that if travelling by car for example, you would pass through in the blink of an eye, never give the place a second thought, and miss out on so much. It is a lovely way to see the country. Indeed, we were speaking to a couple from Redditch on a hire boat whose grandparents live in Bearley and who travel at least every fortnight through Wooton to visit them, and yet they never knew how interesting a place Wooton was. Goes to show what a busy world we live in and at how little we see when travelling from A to B at 60mph...