Shops missed, aqueducts cruised and locks too

Tuesday, 03 January 2012 14:36

For a moment I thought that we had finished locks for a while! Wrong - I forgot the two Cape Locks on the Grand Union Canal and they were to be done "today"! We had a couple of towns to go through and then a good nights sleep before tackling the "Stairway to Heaven". We also needed to visit the shops.

I thought you might like to see me writing yesterdays blog for you to read

So we set off from Radford Semele for the short distance to some shops, a couple of aqueducts and those two locks  ......

Leamington Spa came all too soon and here we stopped briefly for John to wander to the shops from Bridge 40. We hope to come back to Leamington Spa to have a proper look at the town another day.

Ah, but what about the shops we missed? That was a little later, as you will see. We passed canoeists in Leamington but the town is not too prominent alongside the canal. The occasional estate, warehouses and main road appear.

Canoeists

There is even a green space near a main roundabout at bridge 43, with a new pub, The Moorings, beyond. 

The Moorings (http://www.themoorings.co.uk)

This is the first canal-side shop we missed (on Google, when we did a search) - it has its own moorings and BW sign post - but it was closed anyway!

Lidl by Bridge 43

Myton aqueduct crosses the railway and a little further on we crossed the River Avon on the second aqueduct.

River Avon aqueduct, with yet more canoeists

Now this was a really big shop for Google not to find - Tesco at Elmscote. There are moorings and the store is just a few minutes walk from Elmscote Road Bridge. This would have been our best bet for a top up shop!

Canal-side Tesco moorings before Elmscote Road Bridge 46

This modern 1999 bridge contrasts with the characterful bridge 47

Now we were well into Warwick as without us noticing, Leamington Spa had morphed into Warwick (hence the "miss" when searching for "Supermarkets near Leamington Spa"). I was much amused by a van parked at the Wharf Centre in Warwick - just the thing for us narrowboaters who try and squeeze our goods and chattels into a narrowboat. Some are more successful at this than others. The secret is plenty of storage space - then the clutter can be behind closed doors!

Van with a good logo - Elegant Clutter, the Art of Atmosphere?

Kate Boats Warwick base was well and truly closed up - but their hire boats were in evidence - a winter of sprucing up will make them look rather smart I think.

Kate Boats' hire boat Martin

Cape Locks arrived and we filled up with water below the bottom lock - for some reason the lock looked rather daunting - perhaps it was the grey day and the light industry around.

Cape bottom lock

There are only two locks and at the top lock is the Cape of Good Hope (http://www.hunimex.com/warwick/pubs/c_inns.html) - not the real one! We would have travelled far if that was the case and I would have been thoroughly sea sick.

Cape top lock, looking back

Bridge 51 is the end of the Wawrick and Napton Canal (http://www.jim-shead.com/waterways/canal.php?wpage=WKNC); the Saltisford Arm is off to the left. We moored just above the bend - the weather was closing in and Hatton Locks were just around the corner. We would have a good night and dream of the "Stairway to Heaven", our adventure for the morrow.

Grand Union Canal, Radford Semele to Saltisford Arm
2 hours 43 minutes, 4.93 miles, 2 locks