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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3071 |
4th June 2018 Mt. Biking: Lapworth Junction to Warwick Castle Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: cloudy and cooler :( Max Speed: 16.65 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 28.38 (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Monday 4th June – bike **** Lapworth Junction to Warwick Castle – cloudy and cooler :( OK night by the Stratford Canal at Lapworth, the forecast sunny periods failed to arrive and it was cloudy and much cooler so were not in any hurry. Both did exercises and were entertained by the squirrels, tits and robin – all either eating or trying to eat from the feeder :) Then around midday with picnic packed we headed along the road to join the Grand Union Canal which is much wider than the Stratford as it meanders towards Warwick. It had a variety of tow path from fairly wide to much too close to the water, Mag’s favourite! one day I will end up in the water! It was much quieter today with only the odd narrowboat out and the first feature we came to was Shrewley Tunnel which is 433 yards long, there are two tunnels to start with - the canal and one for the tow path which is steep, cobbled and slippery! You then had to cross the road in Shrewley village and head down a lane to re-join the canal. After nearly five miles of cycling we came to our first lock and the start of the Hatton Flight an impressive set of 21 double locks dropping steeply into Warwick. The boats could use them two at a time in order to save water, we passed a café and a large Canal Trust place including a dry dock. Being downhill we whizzed down, the canal then skirts north of Warwick and we had to watch out for a sign to the town centre. There was a map so we found it easily and after passing through a grubby industrial area we headed for a large church which turned out to be St Marys with its 15th Century Chapel. We had just parked our bikes at the entrance to take some pics when a smartly dressed lady opened the tower door to allow visitors up, it was an opportunity too good to miss so after paying my £3 (Mag passed and looked after the bikes) I was climbing up the very narrow spiral staircase to the top of the 134-foot tower. Although it offered a good view of Warwick it was a bit underwhelming and the castle was nowhere near as impressive as I expected:( Then we explored the town which once again on our exploration of canals was nothing to write home about. It is quickly becoming clear that the bike ride along the beautiful canals are always better than the town which is our destination! We headed down to the River Avon hoping to have our picnic with stunning castle views. We were sadly disappointed as there is no access to the meadows opposite and the castle itself is a bit Disney, surrounded by trees and tall fences so you had to pay an extortionate fee to get in but to be fair they run all sorts of Medieval stuff there so would be great for the kids. We saw flashes of the castle, stocks, even an archer in period costume firing arrows rapidly at a target. I then followed Mag past the themed village where you could stay the night, even get married, past many carparks costing £6 to a large field by the river. By cycling to the very bottom, you could just see the castle across the River Avon and as it was gone three we decided that it would do for our lunch. The sky had blackened and it was threatening to rain but luckily it didn’t! Refreshed we headed back to town to get a few things in Smiths and back to the road bridge with the best views of the castle for a pic, it was now very busy with posh kids leaving school and heavy traffic too but we managed to cross and then biked the river path which joins up with the canal. The river path summed up Warwick as for long sections you couldn’t actually see the river, a bit like the castle which they had hidden pretty well too! The canal actually crosses above the river and we had to carry our bikes up several steps:( Now all we had to do was bike the eight miles home! There was some nice old warehouses and a narrowboat hire place called ‘Kate Boat’ who had a boat called Stephen:) Then we had to cycle up the Hatton Flight which was tough with tired legs! We stopped at the last lock for half a banana and kit-kat each to help us do the last 5 miles. We whizzed along and did it in under an hour. At the pub before Lapworth Mag turned left down Dicks Lane to the Stratford canal (our walk route yesterday) while I continued along the Grand and we made it back at exactly the same time which made us laugh as we were supposed to be seeing which was the furthest – obviously neither! Back at the van knackered we were amazed to find we had been out 5 hours 10 minutes covering 28.28 miles with a top speed of 16.56 knots. I but the bikes on the rack while Mag made a welcome cuppa before having a delicious carbonara. So, we will have an easy day tomorrow, relax in the van before heading off to Stafford to pick up another £50 yellow windsurfing board:) Photo Gallery Here Tuesday 5th June – Relax, pick-up new yellow board, travel and walks ***** started cloudy and cold then sunny and warm later :) Our third night by the Stratford Canal at Lapworth and time to move on as I had arranged to pick up yet another yellow board, a F2 Xantos 310 from up Stafford way. Had a relaxing start as in no hurry but no exercises as it was cloudy and cool. Even remembered to get our birdfeeder down from the tree and one whole fat ball had been eaten so proved a big success. Set the sat-nav with the provided post code for the board, approximately 45 miles stopping at a Post Office to send some postcards and a little something for Arlo. The route took us right through the middle of Birmingham which was slow going but amazing to see as we travelled past a huge Asian community with hundreds of small shops selling a variety of produce including many full of brightly coloured silk saris :) and on the streets the ladies were wearing them although the sight of females in black in full face Burkas is slightly off putting and in this day and age perhaps it’s time to rethink the need for them? Then it was out onto the motorway having luckily missed the toll section and we ended up at a village right by the Shropshire Canal called Wheaton Aston where we quickly had the new board on the roof. We set the sat-nav again for Pontcysylite Aqueduct in Wales stopping at the carpark at Westen Park for lunch. Then near Telford we saw a sign to the famous Ironbridge and then to Bridgnorth. Well that was a blast from the past as I had had a holiday there with Michael Knights and Peter Fulcher fishing the River Severn for barbell when I was 17/18 nearly 50 years ago so couldn’t resist making a detour. We missed the Ironbridge out all together and ended up parking near the River Severn in Bridgnorth. Excellent place to stop by the bowls club, built on an island originally made by Monks apparently. We couldn’t believe our luck as it was pay car parks, some with height restrictions everywhere! By now the sun had come out and it was lovely and warm so time for a stroll:) It was only a short walk to the stone bridge crossing the magnificent fast flowing river leading to the wharf and Bridgnorth High town. I spotted the hotel I am sure we stayed in with a fishing tackle shop just up the road right by the entrance to the old cliff railway. Having left our wallet in the van we walked up the steep steps to discover a fantastic little town full of interesting old buildings and shops. We took the castle walk offering superb views leading to the picturesque Castle Park with its tumble down tower. I went into St. Marys Church then on to the centre with its Tudor style walk through town hall and town gate. I had noticed an old railway station at the bottom of the hill so we headed down stopping off at the library for some leaflets. We had just missed the steam train leaving but got chatting to a volunteer railway man dressed very smartly who told us the full history of Thomas Telford who had lived in the town and what an amazing man he was! He said that there was an old diesel train arriving soon and to have a look around. It was a lovely old station with a diesel waiting to leave and the carriages were fantastic with comfy settees in the front observation car. We crossed the footbridge to get a better look and the 5.05 arrived right on time from the return trip from Kidderminster! We were impressed to see a large lorry which had been delivering a load of coal make the most tricky manoeuvre to get out of a tight space! We got speaking to another nice volunteer who worked as a waiter on the train before heading back towards the river over a long pedestrian bridge. We decided to stay the night so Mag made a cuppa and we enjoyed the hot sun. Pasta for tea again this time with tomato sauce, yummy. A member of the bowls club on the island spoke to us saying their members were playing tonight and we should be fine parking here:) Then after tea two old girls walking a beautiful border collie puppy called Evan, got chatting. They were very friendly and were giving us the full history of the area but said we might be disturbed parking here at pub closing time:( Being a quiet Tuesday we have decided to risk it! Then as the sun was starting to set behind Bridgnorth we went for a walk downstream, through a nice campsite, where Mag made friends with a cat which jumped on her lap! We only turned back when we came to a flock of 20 noisy geese blocking the path. We ended up bumping into our two old ladies with puppy a couple more times for more history before returning to the van. The bowls members have now gone home as have most of the walkers along the river path so fingers crossed for a quiet night! |
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