Tuesday 30th
April 2019
We visited Wyre Piddle village. What a lovely little place. It has not
long had a road by-pass; it must have been a chaotic place beforehand. There
are many timber-framed thatched houses and a number of ultra-modern properties
being built beside the river. At one end of the village was a field many 100’s
of acres in size. Half was covered in plastic sheeting and the whole had
sprinklers showering water. In the distance were dozens of people cutting
cabbages and loading them onto tractors. Who will be doing this type of work
post-Brexit?
We left the mooring and went the short distance to Wyre Lock where
there should have been a service station in the pound above the weir. We duly
passed the lock only to find the service point had disappeared and a static
caravan site in its place. There were however, hoses at the waters’ edge in the
caravan park so, being short of water, we took the chance, watered up and did a
wash. The toilet disposal was located on private moorings beside the caravan
site but the bank was completely full of permanently moored boats so preventing
us getting alongside.
Diagonal-shaped Wyre Lock
Once watered, we reversed past the lock entrance before moving into
the lock. Wyre Lock is the first of the iconic Avon diamond shaped locks. Very
strange it looks. There are numerous reasons for their shape but none are
definitive. Entering the lock is a weird feeling and, once the level started to
recede, it was difficult to know how to best position the boat. The Avon guides
and notices beside each lock advise boaters to secure both the bow and stern
lines in locks. Personally, I don’t see the reason behind this and prefer to
hold the boat in position using short bursts of the propeller. With only two
people working the boat and lock it would be totally impractical anyway.
Below the lock is Wyre Mill said to be “the ugliest, of which the Avon
is ashamed”. It appears to be by far the largest, but not ugly. So far, below
Evesham, there has been a mill at every lock and possibly, in the past one at
every lock above Evesham.
Wyre Mill
The run to Pershore was only short, just a mile. At one point at a
kink in the river, we had to slow right down because we couldn’t see which
direction the channel took, even with the guide in front of us. There is a long
line of moorings at Evesham beside the town’s recreation grounds. With only
three other boats moored, there is probably room for at least six more.
While mooring up an old couple sat on a bench welcomed us to Pershore.
We made them a cup of tea and chatted for a good while, a lovely old couple. At
Wyre Piddle there was mistletoe growing out of a holly bush in a front garden.
I had never seen mistletoe before and yet right next to the mooring is a hawthorn
bush with two clumps of mistletoe growing out of it. A parasitic plant, it actually
burrows into its host plant to draw nutrients from it.
We had a quick walk around the town. Pershore is said to be a Georgian
Riverside town, it is just that with a wide range of independent shops. We were
looking for a pub with outside seating where we could have lunch but couldn’t find
anywhere suitable. Instead we bought pies and pastries from the local butcher and
sat outside the boat until it got too chilly and then moved to the front cratch.
In the evening, taking the dog out, I found the sanitary station so we
will avail ourselves of that tomorrow.
Weather: a lovely day. Chilly in the evening.
Day Total: 1 lock; 2 miles; 0 Tunnels; 0 Swing Bridges; 0 Lift
Bridges; 0 Boat Lift; engine running hours 1.5
Overall Total: 470 locks; 852 miles; 42 tunnels; 11 Swing Bridges; 3
Lift Bridges; 2 Boat Lifts; engine running hours 561.4
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