Stratford-upon-Avon chain ferry

Last updated August 26, 2019

The Stratford-upon-Avon chain ferry is a manually operated pedestrian chain ferry across the River Avon in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon in the English county of Warwickshire. The ferry is owned by Stratford-upon-Avon District Council. It links Waterside, roughly halfway between the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and Holy Trinity Church, with the water meadows on the opposite side of the river. The vessel used on the service is named Malvolio, after the character of the same name in William Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night.^[1]^[2]

The River Avon or Avon is located in central England, flowing generally southwestwards; it is a major left-bank tributary of the River Severn, of which it is the easternmost tributary system. It is also known as the Warwickshire Avon or Shakespeare's Avon, to distinguish it from several other rivers of the same name in the United Kingdom.

Stratford-upon-Avon, commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon District, in the county of Warwickshire, England, on the River Avon, 91 miles (146 km) north west of London, 22 miles (35 km) south east of Birmingham, and 8 miles (13 km) south west of Warwick. The estimated population in 2007 was 25,505, increasing to 27,445 at the 2011 Census.

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to the west and Scotland to the north. The Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

The chain ferry opened in 1937, and it was the last of its kind to be built in Britain. By 2006, the ferry was carrying 100,000 people a year, and it was proposed that it be moved to make way for a new bridge. However, in 2010, the ferry vessel resumed service at its original location after an overhaul and restoration work, undertaken by the local boating firm, Avon Boating Ltd.^[1]^[2]^[3]

The chain ferry is currently run by Avon Boating Ltd under licence from the district council, and is in operation daily from mid March to the end of October.

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The Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) is a 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is located in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon – Shakespeare's birthplace – in the English Midlands, beside the River Avon. The Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres re-opened in November 2010 after undergoing a major renovation known as the Transformation Project.

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Chambers Crossing Halt railway station was a timber-framed railway halt on the Stratford-upon-Avon to Cheltenham section of the Honeybourne Line. The station was located two miles south-west of Stratford upon Avon. The site of the station is now part of the Stratford greenway and may in future form part of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's northern extension from Toddington.

Laverton Halt railway station was a halt on the Honeybourne Line from Honeybourne to Cheltenham which served the hamlet of Laverton in Gloucestershire between 1905 and 1960.

Startford-upon-Avon Cricket Ground is a cricket ground in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. The ground is next to the River Avon and also located next to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, on Swans Nest Lane.

References

1 2 "Stratford-upon-Avon chain ferry service resumes". BBC. 29 March 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
1 2 "Shakespeare's Stratford, Warwickshire". The Guardian . 6 June 2009.
↑ "Bridge plan puts ferry on move". Coventry Telegraph . 14 March 2006. Retrieved 22 September 2014.

Coordinates: 52°11′21″N1°42′20″W / 52.189035°N 1.705475°W / 52.189035; -1.705475

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.

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[bbccfsr-1] 1 2 "Stratford-upon-Avon chain ferry service resumes". BBC. 29 March 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2016.

[tgssw-2] 1 2 "Shakespeare's Stratford, Warwickshire". The Guardian . 6 June 2009.

[3] "Bridge plan puts ferry on move". Coventry Telegraph . 14 March 2006. Retrieved 22 September 2014.