Editing Stratford-upon-Avon Canal (section)

==Route==
[[File:Stratford-upon-Avon Canal Map.png|thumb|Geographic map of the canal (zoom in to see detail)]]
The Stratford-upon-Avon canal connects the [[Worcester and Birmingham Canal]] at [[Kings Norton]] to the [[River Avon (Warwickshire)|River Avon]] at [[Stratford-upon-Avon]] in [[Warwickshire]]. It consists of two sections, divided by a junction which connects it to the [[Grand Union Canal]]. The northern section from Kings Norton in the suburbs of [[Birmingham]] to Lapworth is level for the first {{convert|10.8|mi|km}}, following the {{convert|453|ft|m|adj=on}} [[Birmingham Level]], but then descends quite rapidly through the Lapworth flight of 18 locks, to reach the junction. There is a choice of route to reach the Grand Union, as there are two locks side by side, one on the main line of the canal, and one on the branch, but a channel joins the bottom ends of both locks. The junction is almost exactly halfway along the canal.<ref name=jane>{{harvnb |Cumberlidge |2009 |pp=282–284}}</ref>

The southern section continues the descent with the final seven of the Lapworth locks, passing under the [[M40 motorway]] just before the final one. The locks are closely spaced until those at [[Preston Bagot]] are reached, after which there is a {{convert|6|mi|km|adj=on}} section with just one lock in the middle. This nearly-level section includes two of the canal's three iron aqueducts. The easy cruising is interrupted by the Wilmcote flight of eleven locks in just over a mile (1.6&nbsp;km), soon after which the canal reaches Stratford-upon-Avon.<ref name=jane/>

Along the {{convert|25.5|mi|km|adj=on}} route of the canal, there are a total of 54 narrow [[Lock (water transport)|locks]].<ref name=jane/> Near King's Norton Junction there is a disused stop lock, which used to prevent the canal taking water from the Worcester and Birmingham Canal when they were separately owned, but is now left permanently open. It is unusual in that it has two guillotine gates which are made of wood. When operational, they moved vertically in iron frames, and were counterbalanced by weights.<ref name=nic138>{{harvnb |Nicholson |2006 |p=138}}</ref> A barge lock connects the terminal basin (Bancroft Basin<ref>Formerly the ''Bank Croft'', a piece of common land by the river used as pasture: {{cite book|last1=Lee|first1=Sydney|title=Stratford-on-Avon: From the Earliest Times to the Death of Shakespeare|date=1890|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781108048187|page=126}}</ref>) with the River Avon.

[[Earlswood Lakes]] in [[Earlswood, Warwickshire|Earlswood]] are feeder [[reservoir]]s to the canal. The three lakes were built between 1821 and 1822 and have a total capacity of 210 million gallons (950 megalitres (Ml)). The lakes consist of three separate pools; Terry's, Engine and Windmill Pool. They are retained by earth embankment. Until 1936 the water was pumped into the feeder by a beam engine, whose engine house can still be seen. The feeder was navigable for coal boats to reach the engine house and is now used for moorings.