Stratford-Upon-Avon and return
Featured Routes

Itinerary: Stratford-Upon-Avon and return from Alvechurch Marina

Worcestershire

The pretty village of Alvechurch, just short walk down the hill from the ABC Boat Hire boatyard, is a charismatic place to linger with the excitement of a boating holiday ahead. When you set off from the marina, you’ll turn left on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal and under the bridge to head northwards past the village’s back gardens. As you leave Alvechurch, the canal turns sharply under the noisy M42 then crosses the valley on a high embankment past Lower Bittell Reservoir. There are two reservoirs at Bittell, the larger of the two are used to feed water down to the canal via the feeder next to the cottage at the far end of the embankment. They are now idyllic spots for bird watching and angling, and the larger Upper Bittell Reservoir also has a sailing club. A footpath from bridge 66 leads the short distance to the shore of the upper reservoir.

Warwickshire 

After a short wooded cutting you arrive at Hopwood, before leaving the lush Worcestershire countryside behind as you disappear into the immense Wast Hills Tunnel (2,726yds/2,493m long), one of the longest canal tunnels in the UK. The tunnel forms the boundary between Worcestershire and Warwickshire. So, you emerge from the tunnel into a new county and in King’s Norton, the straggling outskirts of Birmingham.

A short distance beyond the tunnel, you turn right at King’s Norton Junction to take Stratford-upon-Avon Canal as it heads off east towards Stratford-upon-Avon. Separate canal companies used stop locks at junctions in order to ensure that their water was safe from the other canal company, and the stop lock at King’s Norton was somewhat different to the traditional lock. The company built a guillotine lock and although this is no longer in use, boats now cruise beneath the mechanisms and two guillotine gates.

A swing bridge is swiftly followed by the short Brandwood Tunnel (352yds/322m long), and the canal now winds its way past the back gardens of Birmingham’s suburbs. There are a number of bridges and a short aqueduct before you reach Shirley Draw bridge, next to the Drawbridge Inn. The bridge is a lift bridge operated by using both a windlass and key. The railway over the canal marks the end of the built-up area as you wind gently through pretty countryside to Earlswood. Earlswood Motor Yacht Club is evident from the boats moored just beyond bridge 16 – if you want to explore, a footpath from bridge 17 leads just half a mile to Earlswood Lakes. There are three separate lakes or reservoirs to supply water for the canal, built over nearly five years in the 1820s using labourers which included Napoleonic prisoners of war, now popular for walking, sailing and fishing.

The M42 encroaches on the peace and quiet for a while, and Hockley Heath is the first tiny village with a welcome pub, then the 26 locks of the Lapworth Flight spread over nearly two miles, with the first & last four straggling away from the main flight. 

Halfway down the flight, Kingswood Junction, with its moored boats, split bridges and white-washed cottages, connects the Stratford Canal to the Grand Union Canal via a short boat-filled branch line.

Stratford-upon-Avon Canal

Stratford-upon-Avon Canal is famous for its split bridges. They were built in two halves with a tiny gap to allow ropes to pass through so that, in the days of horse-towed narrowboats, the boatman would not have to untie his horse from the boat as he walked along the towpath. The canal is also renowned for its barrel-roofed lock keepers’ cottages – there is one at the junction. The engineers building the Stratford Canal knew more about building bridges than houses, so when they had to build lock cottages for the lengthsmen, they adapted their skills, resulting in cottages with these curious barrel-shaped roofs.

The M40 crosses the canal just before Lapworth Bottom Lock though its noise can be heard for some time before and after. Peace soon returns however as the canal continues its way through a rural landscape of fields, trees and sheep. Next to Lock 31 is a traditional lengthsman’s cottage (now cared for by the Landmark Trust). A sculpture looking into the lock by Antony Gormley was placed here in May 2015 as part of LAND project.

The Fleur de Lys opposite provides a welcome break, before reaching the first of the Stratford Canal’s three unusual aqueducts – Yarningale, Wootton Wawen and Edstone. The towpath is level with the base of the cast-iron canal trough so the walker’s eye is level with boats which appear perched in a bath tub. Yarningale is merely a few feet long, Wootton Wawen Aqueduct carries the canal over a main road, and Edstone Aqueduct, the longest, is suspended dramatically over road, railway and river below. All are Grade II*-listed, and Edstone holds a Transport Trust Heritage Plaque.

It is worth taking the time to moor up at Wootton Wawen and explore the timber-framed buildings of the village which is dominated by Wootton Hall and its parkland, before your surroundings become more isolated as you cross the magnificent Edstone Aqueduct.

The canal then passes through the outskirts of Wilmcote before descending towards Stratford via the 11 Wilmcote Locks. Mary Arden’s House is only a short diversion from bridge 59 if you need a Shakespearian fix before reaching the main event in Stratford. The canal meets the River
Avon in Bancroft Basin, where there are visitor moorings. Allow plenty of time to wander the beautiful timber-clad streets, visit Shakespeare’s birthplace and tomb, and perhaps take in a play at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. When you can drag yourself away, retrace your tranquil route back to Alvechurch Marina. 

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