It's Lockdown! Well, down the Hatton Locks with photos then and now. We tackle the infamous Hatton Locks by Narrowboat on the Grand Union Canal, all 21 of them, also known as the Stairway to Heaven, except we're heading down them towards Warwick. On our adventure crossing Britain by Narrowboat, Colin discovers a load of old photographs of the locks and Hatton Yard and compares them to today. Starting from Hatton Top Lock (46) we pass the cafe and uncover the history of the locks as we make our way down to Warwick.
It's very blowy on the Grand Union Canal as we head out of Lowsonford on our winter narrowboat adventure, heading north on the Stratford-upon-Avon canal towards Kingswood Junction before turning on to the King of the waterways, the longest canal in the UK, the Grand Union Canal. Colin uncovers the dirty dealings of the canal builders of the 1700s, stories of collapsing aqueducts, bribery, corruption, and arguments over thousands of tonnes of stone. We check out the history of Shrewley Tunnel before stopping for the night at the top of the famous 'Stairway to Heaven', the Hatton Lock Flight on our journey across Britain by Narrowboat.
This week sees our narrowboat crossing the longest canal aqueduct in England! The Edstone Aqueduct is 475 feet long and one of three aqueducts we cross in our journey today from Wilmcote to Lowsonford in Warwickshire on our adventure across Britain by Narrowboat. Narrowboating through Wootton Wawen, we pick up fuel from the Anglo-Welsh boatyard before cruising the open countryside towards Preston Bagot, where we cross the Yarningale Aqueduct, and finally on to Lowsonford, just in time for a pie at the Fleur de Lys pub across from the canal.
We're in Bancroft Basin during a flood! Our narrowboat stranded by flooding after Storm Dennis. With the river flood water rising, Stratford-upon-Avon is flooded and we keep a close eye out as the water creeps towards the canal, threatening to flood the basin. Home of Shakespeare, this medieval town is packed full of history and Colin takes some fantastic drone footage of the town and floods across Stratford-upon-Avon. As soon as the levels dropped we make our way back up the South Stratford-upon-Avon Canal to Wilmcote, just in time for Storm Jorge!
