Your floating hotel on the Canals and Rivers of the UK

Our guide to the waterways of the UK in detail.

Pictures of the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal.

Lapworth to Stratford.

The canal starts at King's Norton junction on the South Western outskirts of Birmingham. In the first twelve miles It drops down nineteen locks to the junction at Kingswood with the Grand Union Canal. It continues for another thirteen miles down thirty five locks to join the River Avon at Stratford upon Avon.

From Kingswood junction the Stratford canal carries on through seventeen locks to Preston Bagot Bottom Lock. The locks gradually getting further apart and in more and more rural surroundings. One of the locks, Bucket Lock has a very short iron aqueduct immediately against it's top gate. After Lapworth the nature of the canal has changed, this section of the canal was built very much on a budget. Bridges are built without a towpath and a slit in them for the towrope. The lock keepers cottages are barrel vaulted, probably reusing bridge formers for the roof.

A six mile level pound follows Preston Bagot with just the one lock isolated in the middle of it. On this section there are with two cast iron aqueducts, one the Edestone aqueduct which crosses over a stream, railway and a road and is the longest aqueduct in the UK. Finally the canal drops down into Stratford through the eleven locks of the Wilmcote flight and the five locks of the Stratford flight. Under a low bridge you come into the basin alongside the river Avon and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. On the opposite, southern side of the basin, is a broad lock down into the River Avon.

Barrel roofed lock keepers cottages.	Wilmcote locks	Edstone aqueduct
Wotton Wawen aqueduct	Locks set in the woods.	Bridges with a slit in them for horse ropes to pass through.
Wilmcote locks		Yarninggale aqueduct

Some pictures of this canal?

Kingswood Junction to King's Norton.

A history of this canal. / General information on the canal.

Find our information about other canals and rivers on the canal index page.

We will not be on this part of the canal in 2008

If you have any questions then do ring us on 07977 229103
or email us at martinreed@reedboats.co.uk