Bancroft basin, Stratford on Avon, Tuesday 14th July
When in Stratford, with all of it’s associations with William Shakespeare, we took the only possible course of action. We caught the bus to Leamington Spa.
The route took us all around the houses to Warwick and then almost directly to Leamington. At Wellesbourne airfield, there was a Vulcan bomber static on the threshold; it was XM655 which has occasionally performed taxiing runs but is not in flying condition as is XH558.
Leamington had a pleasant surprise awaiting us. In stark contrast to nearby Warwick, the Leamington planning committee deserve a pat on the back. Parade, the main shopping street and the side roads should be held up as a model to be followed in my opinion.
Individual shops have their signs, but they are small and do not spoil the overall effect of clean, high quality terraces. There were surprisingly few boarded up or empty shops. The whole town was clean and there were colourful flower beds in abundance.
As you may have formed the impression; we liked the place – a lot.
There is tea by the gallon available in the Museum and Art Gallery café. An extremely large pot for two was £2.40; we lost count of the number of refills. Owing to the close proximity of the comfort facilities and the availability of the Times and Telegraph newspapers; we could have spent most of the day in there.
On returning to Stratford, we walked across the Tramway bridge and along the riverside on the east bank. By CP Witter lock and in the opposite All Saints Church, a group of young canoeists were being briefed before going down the weir. We had a look over the lock and then went to watch the canoeists shooting the weir. They were really having fun, lots of shouting and plenty of adult instructors very close to hand.
It was a very well organised event and good fun for us to watch. We will most likely go onto the river tomorrow as there is a lovely mooring opposite the church
2009 Totals: 403 Locks – 675miles – 18 Bus pass uses.
