Shirley Draw Bridge

 We said goodbye to Graham this morning at about quarter to ten as he set off up the Grand Union to Birmingham and we headed to Kingswood Junction to join the Stratford canal, also to head towards Birmingham. The arms on the signpost looks as if they have started to droop a bit or maybe that is how it was made.As we passed through the link we passed this adaption on a Narrowboat, I wonder if the owner has told CRT that he has extended the length of his boat.Needless to say every single lock on the North Stratford was against us, including the one from the link, We arrived at lock 14 just in time to see a boat enter the flight ahead of us but they had a crew of 4 men, so they only held us up a couple of times. I don't know why all angling clubs can't give these instructions to their members.At lock 13 a gent appeared and said "you must be Brian" It was Neil who I last saw about 20 years ago and was actually talking about him in the pub last night. He had been reading my blog and guessed that is where we would be.
 Other than slowing down a couple of times due to catching up with the boat ahead we had a good run up the flight, but were surprised we didn't meet any boats coming down, in fact we didn't meet a boat until we were passed the second lift bridge. At the tail of the top lock, lock 2 there is this little door in the wall, I wonder if anyone knows what it was for and what is behind it.

We passed through this lock at quarter to one, so it had taken us 3 hours from when we left The Navigation pub on the Grand Union to get to here with every lock against us. Later in the day a Hire boater would say Hello Brian, sorry I didn't get your name in passing.
I waited at the second lift bridge for the sign to change to go, but nothing changed so I took a chance and went through.

This sign outside a canal side house always brings a smile to my face, I never manage to find these things.Of course we had to make a brief stop at bridge 20 to visit Wedgies Bakery just along the road. 
I must admit it has been hard going from the top of the locks with the water level a bit low and the silt level a bit high, it resulted in me making a right pigs ear of getting round the bend by the flats at Dickins Heath and I just went straight ahead, luckily I got it sorted before a boat came the other way. After that we met a convoy of hire boat by a bridge and again ended up in the treacle. 
At one point we nearly got run over by a train, if we had have been just a minute earlier we would have been under the bridge when it went over us.
I rather like the sign at the Draw Bridge, I know it was once a swing bridge but I don't know how many years ago it was, not since I have been boating.

Maybe CRT have not updated their records and that is why they ask you not to push it open with your boat. The must be working from old records as they say you need a BW key to operate the bridge, not a CRT one.
Diana opened the bridge while I hovered rather than mooring to reduce the time the road was closed, even so she held up 12 cars. Once through we moored for the night on the first available pair of mooring rings

Todays Journey 19 locks, 8¾ miles in 6¼ hours.