Stroudwater Canal Rally

Come steaming in the Cotswolds! 27 June 2015

A number of SBA boats and members came together in 2012 when the Cotswold Canals Trust after years of extraordinary work, opened a significant section of the historic Stroudwater Canal from Stonehouse to Dudbridge using a precipitous temporary slip installed for the Annual IWA trailboat rally and removed just a week later.

A good slipway and trailer parking too

In 2014 a further short section was opened up when both Dudbridge locks came back into service giving boaters access to a workable concrete slip able to take craft up to 21ft.  The restoration work is well on the way to Stroud itself but some of us wanted to try what was currently available and launched last year for an excellent day on what is a really interesting and rather beautiful 3 miles or so of waterway.

We have therefore fixed Saturday June 27th this year for anyone who would care to join us to steam on the Stroudwater Canal once again. We have use of a secure pen close to the slip where we can park our trailers/tow vehicles for this one-day SBA event.

Why just one day? 

We would have gone for the whole weekend but accessible loos presented a challenge.   However, a detailed map will be supplied showing the slip, mooring, parking, loos etc.

In addition, one day should give us plenty of time to navigate the section of available canal, complete with its special features – the huge Ryeford double lock and the beautiful St Cyr’s reach.

Plan of the day

The day will begin at 10.00am for launching, and we’ll steam west to ‘The Ocean’ at Stonehouse, before a return run. We’ll aim to eat together in the evening, probably in The Clothiers close to the slip and trailer pen.

We need to nail the numbers fairly quickly for this event, so if this is for you, please notify Colin Rudall  (colnnicky@talktalk.net) or call him an 01453 821948 to discuss details.