Thursday 2nd May
2019
Brenda had a broken night’s sleep and I was up early so we had our
breakfast of kippers and poached egg before Brenda went to the butchers for
7:30, they open at 7. Meantime, I did the dishes and made the boat ready to
leave.
We stopped at the sanitary station, emptied the loo and filled with
water. According to a notice, the bins dotted along the moorings are for
boaters use. However, they are the normal sized bin you see on any street
corner, not the industrial size wheelie bins normally found at boats service points.
This is probably because the Avon is more used to, and set up for, day cabin
cruisers and not live-aboard, continuous cruisers.
We quickly came upon Pershore Lock, where the bottom gates were
incredibly heavy. Beside the lock is a hydro-electric generating station
consisting of two water turbines, a wonder there aren’t more of these on the river.
The lock was closely followed by the two Pershore Bridges, very close together
with a lot of turbulence around the piers of the first, older bridge.
Pershore Lock Electricity Generating
Station
Then, with Pershore behind us, we were in isolated countryside. The
banks were high so there was not a lot to see and all the villages keep their
distance from the flood-prone river. We had been seeing more and more herons lately.
They do not migrate, so where have they all been? The herons are always
amusing. They will stay stock-still while the boat approaches and then, just as
the boat reaches them, they will fly for 20 or so yards and land on the bank,
wait for the boat to approach, then repeat the process. This will go on
numerous times before they then decide to circle back on the boat, land behind
it and wait for the next one. Crazy birds. You would have thought they would
have learnt by now, that a boat is not going to hurt them, it must use a lot of
energy to fly short distances so many times.
We were treated to an aerial display of two herons doing a courtship dance
in the air. Another spectacle that we have seen quite a few times are crows
fending off buzzards. This display would be the envy of any Battle of Britain
Spitfire pilot.
Shortly after leaving Pershore, Bredon Hill came into view. The river
meanders so much on this stretch that, could you see it, the river would pass
in front of your line of sight three times. Bredon Hill is to dominate the
river over the next miles. It rises 961ft above sea level and it is said that
eight or more counties can be seen from the summit on a fine day. On the
southern slope is Bell’s Castle, a castellated folly, and on the top is a 2nd
century hill fort containing Parson’s Folly, a prominent tower built in the
late 18th century and clearly seen from the river.
Bredon Hill
At Nafford Lock there is a gorgeous, elevated cottage and nothing else
around. The lock was particularly difficult to navigate. Islands in the river
are difficult to distinguish. We had to pass one island before turning 90˚
to the right between two islands and then 90˚ to the left to enter the
lock. There was a very sobering sight here. A semi-submerged narrow boat with
its bow on the bank and stern below the water. A victim of the Avon floods.
Apparently, two gypsies bought the boat from Tewkesbury Marina when the river was
in flood. They would not listen to the advice of the marina staff or Avon
Navigation Authority and attempted to move the boat up river. They got as far as
Nafford Lock, some feat in itself, before the flow took them towards the weir, grounding
the bow on the bank and submerging the stern. With no licence or insurance, the
boat was subsequently abandoned and has lain there ever since. Nafford was an
interesting lock with a manually operated swing bridge over the lock and
flood-control weirs.
Nafford Lock
Beyond the lock there were a few occasions when the route of the river
was uncertain and the speed had to be kept down until the course of the river
revealed itself. There is a feature on this stretch called the “Swan’s Neck”. A
very tight hair-pin bend. The river becomes very narrow and then a 180˚
turn in about 50 feet. The power had to be kept on and the tiller hard over to
get round. Great fun but not if an oncoming boat was encountered. It seems as
though helmsmen from two boats coming at each other in opposite channels
approaching this bend, would almost be able to reach out arms and shake each
other’s hands.
Within a mile we came to Eckington Wharf where we moored. The wharf is
very small with only room for one narrowboat. Most villages, although set well back
from the river, seem to have their own, historic wharves. The wharf is next to
Eckington Bridge. This bridge appears to be contemporary with that at Pershore
but was actually built in the 1720’s although it appears much older. It replaced
a 1440 built bridge that fell into disrepair, this is turn replaced an earlier ferry.
Once the daylight started to fade, the light effects on this bridge were
amazing, picking out all the colours and shanding the worn stones.
Although we have travelled 6 miles on the river today, we are actually
just over 2 miles from Pershore, an indication of the amount of meandering on
the river.
The engine was serviced, this being a few hours overdue. Oil and
filter, gearbox oil and fuel filter. Now comes the problem of disposing of the
old oil and filters, there are very few facilities for this. The top plate of
the rudder stock and one of the stern dollies have been painted red and
brighten the back end no end.
Weather: nice morning, rain in the evening.
Day Total: 2 locks; 6 miles; 0 Tunnels; 0 Swing Bridges; 0 Lift
Bridges; 0 Boat Lift; engine running hours 2.6
Overall Total: 472 locks; 858 miles; 42 tunnels; 11 Swing Bridges; 3
Lift Bridges; 2 Boat Lifts; engine running hours 564.0
Comments
Post a Comment