Day 34 - 36 Tewkesbury to Pershore

Thursday 01 August leaving Tewkesbury headed for Eckington.

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

Saturday 3 August, Defford to Pershore 

 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
 

The swans are very numerous and, whilst not exactly tame, do expect to be fed

 

Day 32 and 33 Tewkesbury

Tuesday 30 and Wednesday 31 July moored at Tewkesbury

View of King John's Bridge from the 1920s

Nice take on a municipal flowerbed on the bank near our mooring
 

The abbey church tower

 

 Abbey church and graveyard

 The tiny Avon Navigation Trust (ANT) launch

 Bridge over the Avon leading to Healing's Mill

Tiny and very sweet cottages, with heraldic banners displayed of various participants in the Wars of the Roses and other events associated with the town

 The Old Black Bear, the oldest pub in Gloucestershire and sadly closed and run down - we hope it finds a good owner

Recently restored 15th century cottages near the Abbey
 

 Abbey church

One of two windows created by Tom Denny in 2002 to celebrate the 900th anniversary of the monks’ arrival at the Abbey, the theme being the Benedictine motto ‘to work is to pray’

We liked Tewkesbury, an attractive small city with an amazing number of old buildings of all types from small cottages to imposing townhouses.  Many of the shops are in old timber framed buildings one of which is the The Hide, a friendly cafe with a South African inspired menu which we enjoyed.  It's a pity though that there are some closed up and run down shop fronts, not least the Old Black Bear pub.  We couldn't help but wonder what would stimulate more visitors to this special place.

Avon Lock at Tewkesbury was our first contact with the Avon Navigation Trust (ANT) which is responsible for safety and facilities for boaters and maintenance for the whole river.  A charity, they have a mixture of paid and volunteer staff.  We were impressed with their guide and with the live webcams at various points on the river that allow boaters to check conditions before proceeding.

Day 30 - 31 Worcester to Tewkesbury

Sunday 28 July moored at Worcester and explored the city.

 St. Andrew's spire - all that remains of the medieval church

 It's also known as Glover's Needle in a nod to the Worcester glove making industry

 The promenade is particularly attractive with lovely views of the city and river

 The Worcester Dragons, going full pelt.  Each of the crew has a single paddle and the steersman a 'rudder paddle' attached to the side

 The ferry, an altogether more stately affair

 Obligatory shot of the cathedral

Shopping street

Monday 29 July and we're now Tewkesbury bound, 16 miles and two locks downstream.  

 Early morning, Worcester, Catnap under the tree on the left

View from the footbridge, showing Catnap and in front, Water Gypsy another boat built, like ours, by Stephen Goldsbrough of Knowle Hall Wharf

Heading out in bright sunshine

Through Worcester Road Bridge with the cathedral on the horizon

The area on the River Severn between the railway viaduct and the Worcester Cathedral Ferry has been designated as a Swan Sanctuary - a magical sight in the early morning light

Last sight of the swans and Glover's Needle

The striking King's School boathouse

Last view of the Needle and Worcester Cathedral

16 miles to Tewkesbury

“Believe me, my young friend,

there is nothing - absolutely nothing -

half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”

Especially when you know where you're headed

Between Ripple Wharf and a discharge point two miles upstream at Ryall there is regular traffic of large barges carrying aggreggate - we met this one and kept well away!

Passing Upton-upon-Severn

Ripple Wharf with moored barges Pike and Perch

Just past Ripple we were joined by a pigeon, ringed on both legs and, apparently determined to hitch a ride to Tewkesbury.  It flew off just before Mythe Bridge

Coming up to Mythe Bridge

Spot the sign marking the left turn onto the Avon!  We couldn't read it till we got up close and then had to do the narrowboat equivalent of a handbrake turn to head in to Avon lock

Turning towards the lock, the quay ahead and the lock entrance left

Engraving from the 1700s showing boats moored and loading up at Tewkesbury quay

Sounding the horn for the lockkeeper to open the lock gates as we approach

Healing's Mill on the quay, once one of the largest in the UK

In the lock and Denis opening the gate paddles

Once through the lock onto the Avon proper and our fee paid to the Avon Navigation Trust for our time on the river, the lockkeeper found Catnap a good spot for the night just before the historic King John's Bridge