Tuesday 7^th May 2019

About 10am we got the boat ready and passed into Avon Lock and off the River Avon. We had spent nearly three weeks on the river and thoroughly enjoyed it. It passes through some gorgeous countryside and largely unspoilt villages although moorings are few and far between and, apart from the major towns, are too short to accommodate more than one narrowboat being mainly arranged for cabin cruisers. Stratford was vibrant, Pershore and Tewkesbury interesting, but Evesham a disappointment.

The Avon Lock is manned but the automatic operation had broken down and so was having to be operated manually. Nicky, the lockkeeper works a 55-hour week during the summer with her off duties being split between several other keepers. Nicky lives in the flat next to the lock which comes wth the job. Beside the door of the lock operation hut is a brass marker showing the level of the 2007 flooding. With the marker being level with the top of the door, it is hard to imagine the water being so high.

Avon Lock

You pass out of the lock onto what is known as the Old Avon, the overflow from the weirs beyond St. John’s Bridge. It is a tight, 90˚ bend coming out of the lock but the flow carries the boat around. The manoeuvre though, was made difficult due to a cruiser attempting to enter the lock, despite being waved back by Nicky, and a narrowboat reversing passed the mouth of the lock.

A short passage down the Old Avon brings us to the River Severn. Just before the confluence we were treated to a Kingfisher diving right in front of us and emerging with a fish. We could also hear the tantalising call of another cuckoo but again, couldn’t spot it.

The navigational notes all warn of passing from the Avon onto the Severn, turning north. Apparently there is a submerged sandbank that projects from the northern bank of the Avon out into the Severn. Craft are warned to pass onto the Severn far enough that the whole of Mythe Bridge, a ¼ mile up the Severn, can be seen before turning. It actually doesn’t look as though the turn can be made, passing this far out into the river, it is very tight.

Mythe Bridge is an attractive looking bridge built by Thomas Telford in 1826. It is cast iron, spans 170 feet and carries a single lane. Telford described it as the “most handsomest bridge” he had built. Bridges on the Severn are few. In the 41 miles from Gloucester to Stourport, there are just 9 bridges, and 3 of these are in Worcester.

Mythe Bridge and the Water Treatment Works behind.

Next to Mythe Bridge is a huge water treatment works that provides drinking water for the towns of Tewkesbury, Cheltenham and Gloucester. During the 2007 floods the plant was inundated with water from the Severn that led to the loss of tap water for 150,000 people. Today the plant has flood defences surrounding it.

After just a 100 yards or so, the river opens out and you get an idea of its scale. After the Avon, it is very wide. With high banks and the wide flood plain, there is not a lot of interest. The occasional riverside cottage, the odd abandoned quay and the intrusion of the M50 passing over the river and flood plain on along, high viaduct. There was a lot of floating debris in the river, mainly logs and tree branches, all of which had to be avoided.

   

Ryall Wharf and the gravel carrying barges

At Ryall Wharf, just before Upton-upon-Severn, there is a discharge point for regular aggregate barges. There are five of these barges that operate a regular run, to and fro. One of these barges pulled out ahead of us and we followed him to Upton where we moored up, although not easily. There were some landing steps on the waterfront just before Upton Bridge, but these had a wide step sticking out below the water and very little to moor to. The pontoon above the bridge was full. We attempted to moor to the steps along with another boat. The other boat gave up and set off for Worcester 10 miles away. We were in the middle of mooring as best we could on the steps when a boat moved off from the pontoon. We quickly moved and, with a little difficulty, onto the pontoon. It was very tight and we only just fitted. It was only, once moored, that we realised just how fast the current in the river was running.

Upton-upon-Severn from the river

Our run up from the Avon had covered a distance of 6 miles. Apart from a short spell of doing 2000rpm to see how the boat handled, the bow wave was a joy, we mainly did 1700rpm and, at this engine speed, we estimated we were doing 6mph. It will be interesting to see what speed we do going downriver in a few weeks’ time. 

There were two wide-beam boats breasted up on the pontoon behind us and one of the guys helped pull us in. These moorings are 48 hour moorings only and yet he told us they had both been there for 10 days. There had been a popular music festival in Upton over the weekend and moorings must have been at an absolute premium. They had moored early to be assured of attending the festival. Very naughty.

We had a quick walk around Upton, it looks a quaint and cosy place, and had a bit of a pub crawl back. There are lots of pubs for such a small place, everywhere you turn there’s another.

Weather: a nice day although with abut of rain coming up the river.    

Day Total: 1 lock; 6 miles; 0 Tunnels; 0 Swing Bridges; 0 Lift Bridges; 0 Boat Lift; engine running hours 3.9

                                                                                                                 (including running for hotwater etc)

Overall Total: 474 locks; 871 miles; 42 tunnels; 11 Swing Bridges; 3 Lift Bridges; 2 Boat Lifts; engine running hours 571.2