Here's the next stage (in orange on the map), upstream on the Avon to Stratford where we'll enter the canal there and travel north, eventually back to Sawley. At Lapworth Junction, we hop eastwards across the short link onto the Grand Union for the now familiar route via Knowle locks to Birmingham.
ANT's colourful map of the Avon showing the meandering course of the river
Getting ready to start from Tewkesbury - the central arch of King John's Bridge is the one to aim for and there's a sharpish turn left afterwards to avoid a wall
What was once watermeadow is now grazing land
A wide and quiet river - as so often, we have it to ourselves
Cruiser moorings, showing the extended mooring posts which allow boats to rise and fall with the water levels
Under the M5 motorway
Park homes overlooking the river, with optional mooring
First lock is Strensham and a surprisingly fierce weir, given there's been little rain the past week. We aren't used to these on the canal and need practice on steering through the side current
Phew! After the two weirs coming up to the lock, the landing stage is tiny. Fortunately, someone's tied a rope around a tree so Jan can hang onto it while Denis prepares the lock
After the swing bridge and about to enter the lock
View of Bredon Hill from the river
Riverside flora
Approaching the 16th century Eckington Bridge. These old stone bridges are a beautiful feature of the river
Lining up
Normally only one arch is navigable, a white arrow shows which one - and they're one way so we always have to watch carefully for oncoming boats
Evening reflections
Looking back at the bridge from our evening mooring, breasted up with a friendly family on a week's hireboat holiday
Friday 2 August, a walk into Eckington village then heading for moorings at Defford some 4 miles upstream
The village book exchange, 'Bring a book and take one away with you'
Village cross
Terrific gargoyles on an otherwise rather straightlaced building
View from the churchyard
Cloudy, but we like it that way - good boating weather
Undertaken and by a canoe!
Nafford lock and a sharpish right turn after, to avoid the weir and rejoin the main river
Only saw this as we turned right from the lock - a graphic warning for the unwary boater
Handsome rare breed Gloucester cattle, which have inhabited these parts for over a thousand years
Fleeting shot of a deer on the riverbank
This heron has its own fishing jetty
Young willows catching the light
Jan catching the sun
Coming in to moor for the night at Defford, we could hardly believe this mink waiting for us
At Pershore lock, the landing stage is some way from the lock entrance...
and the lock gates are protected by a grille, to stop people falling off
Our locking system is that we both get off the boat and one manages the ropes at fore and aft while the other works the paddles
Arriving at Pershore to a paddle board class
Having filled with water, moving to a free space for our evening mooring
Saturday 3 August, Defford to Pershore
The swans are very numerous and, whilst not exactly tame, do expect to be fed
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