We're getting ready to dredge sections of Bancroft Basin, making it easier for visiting boats to moor up and explore the town.
The two week operation will see a floating digger pull up around 700 tonnes of mud and silt which has built up on the bed of the basin over a number of years. The silt will be loaded into a floating skip known as a ‘hopper' and taken away.
Bancroft Basin, the point where the River Avon meets the Stratford Canal, is a popular place for boaters to stop off and is also home to trip boats, a tourist information boat as well as a number of floating food stalls.
Before the dredging begins we will temporarily remove a pedestrian footbridge enabling the basin's popular Baguette Barge to go off for important maintenance. The footbridge will be lifted out of position by a crane enabling the barge to cruise to a nearby boatyard.
Our colleague Paul Fox said; "Stratford upon Avon is a popular destination for boaters and this dredging will ensure that Bancroft Basin is a welcoming place for people to stop off and explore the town.
"As a charity our work is focussed on improving waterways so that they can play an important part in people's lives – and these works will help us to do that.
"Boats add colour and life to the basin and help to make it an attractive place for local people to escape to. However, they also bring important economic benefits, boosting the local tourism industry, and that's why this dredging operation is so important to the town."
