Saturday 17th August 2013 Ramble 21: Bridge 46, Warwick to Kingswood Bridge (No. 65).

Saturday 17^th August 2013

Ramble 21:  Bridge 46, Warwick to Kingswood Bridge (No. 65).

The weather was, as yesterday, unsettled when we set off again along the towpath with John, Julie, Peter, Sue, Bill, Mary, Hugh and Margaret.    Being a Saturday, there was much activity turning around the hire boats in Kate’s Boatyard immediately by the start of our walk. 

Aboard a narrowboat, by the first lock we came to, a 90 year old was celebrating her birthday. Just by the lock is the Cape of Good Hope pub and restaurant and the Get Knotted rope workshop, making boat fenders (what names!). 

We passed the entrance to the short stretch of restored canal that is now the Saltisford Arm of the Grand Union Canal and went under the A46 road before reaching the first of the locks of the Hatton flight. This is an amazing sight, even though you cannot see all the locks at once and we were not in a boat having to face the prospect of climbing the 21 locks in less than two miles. It was originally opened in 1799 with narrow locks, but in the 1930s, with a workforce of 1000 navvies, the locks were widened to be able to accommodate two single narrowboats.    It was called ‘the stairway to heaven’ by boatmen due to be paid at Camp Hill not much further along the GUC in Birmingham. 

We just strolled up the rise of 45m to a café, in a building where horses were once stabled overnight. The five teabags came in a small teapot with plenty of jugs of hot water and we were left to make five suitably strong cups of tea. This whole area is lively with walkers, cyclists, tourists and boats. There is plenty going on, exhibits to see and information available. 

 

Walking on further we went through a lovely section of embankments with views and a well-wooded cutting to get to the Shrewley tunnel. Recent work had obviously been carried out to clear the area around the tunnel entrance and a clear footpath led up and over the tunnel. A hill on our normally so flat path! After crossing a road with houses directly over the tunnel (!) we came down to besides the canal again. This entailed going through our own dark, steeply down tunnel where some of us spontaneously burst into song. 

The M40 motorway noise was apparent at some points along here and we saw brief glimpses of the railway line that we were due to travel on later, back to Warwick.

A brick wall by an overflow outlet provided a good picnic/lunch spot and although the skies threatened rain, very little fell.

We carried on past the village of Rowington and stopped at Turner’s Green to admire a farmhouse very close and lying low to the canal. It was as if time had stopped still here; with a hand water pump in the garden and no modern features on the old beamed house. 

After passing a goat farm we came across more information points with maps. Bill provided the power for the audio presentations.

At Kingswood Junction, where the GUC joins with the Stratford-on- Avon canal, we stopped on the bridge to feed the young ducks who appeared exceptionally keen on pieces of bread. 

At the next bridge (No. 65) we turned off towards the railway station. We were pleased to have completed another 10 miles of towpath walking. Our goal of reaching Gas Street basin in Birmingham seems to be within our grasp, if all goes as well as it did this last couple of days.