nb Bridge Street

Monday 29 th April 2019 I went, first thing, to the Chandlery, only to find they don’t stock black satin finish paint, only gloss which is no good. So after breakfast, we moved off. The Avon Navigation used to be two bodies, the Lower Avon Navigation and the Upper Avon Navigation before they amalgamated in 2010. Evesham Lock used to form the boundary between the two, so in some way we were now on a different navigation. Passing out of Evesham under the impressive Abbey Bridge, we came upon Hampton Ferry. This is a foot passenger ferry similar to that in Stratford only operated by a rope. A rope is suspended across the river about 3 feet above the water and the operator does no more than pull the ferry across, arm over arm. As we approached, the ferry was crossing from one bank to the other. He dropped his passengers off and then frantically starting pulling for the opposite bank with us, although we were in

Sunday 29 th April 2019 Today was a much better day. The wind had died right down and the sun was out. Yesterday there were eight boats moored but by 9am there was just us and one other boat. We had decided to stay, have a traditional Sunday and go to the chandlery first thing tomorrow for black paint. We went for a short walk along the river in the afternoon. It is so nice to see lots of families out enjoying themselves. After we sat in the front cratch watching the world go by, lots of activity from the rowing club across from us, lots of amusement watching the swans. Had our Sunday roast chicken dinner. A quiet day of rest and relaxation.

Saturday 27 th April 2019 We took Harvey for a long walk to a retail park that included a B&Q’s, Halfords and a big Morrisons. We were looking for string lights for the front cratch and car shampoo but found neither, at the end of the day however, the walk was to tire the dog out. We went to explore Evesham but we found the place uninteresting and uninspiring. The town had grown up around the great Abbey built in the 8 th century and reputedly the third largest in England. The Abbey became a victim of the dissolution in the 1540’s under the reign of Henry VIII, after which most of the buildings were demolished and the stone used elsewhere. Today all that remains is the Bell Tower, the churches of St Lawrence and All Saints and the Almonry. The outline of the Abbey itself Is marked out with rows of stones set in the grass of the Abbey Gardens. It was huge, the Bell Tower is a most impressive structure. We walked through the Abbey Gardens and visited the museum in t

Friday 26 th April 2019 We didn’t leave the mooring until 10am to time our arrival at Evesham for about 11 as we thought moorings would be difficult to come by. As it is there was plenty of space. The engine was checked over. While the oil level never moves, the water header tank always need stopping up and the gearbox occasionally. We set off for a very short cruise of 1 ½ miles, not even enough to heat the water. At the site of the Broadway Brook joining the river, there were a number of boats permanently moored on the small brook itself. The river had become very wide. We passed under the Simon de Montford Bridge carrying the A46 and shortly after, under a large railway bridge before reaching Evesham Lock. The notes in the Avon Navigation Guide told of all kinds of horrors of this lock, and not unfounded. It was a nasty one to negotiate. The start of the weir is unprotected and cannot be seen when approaching from upstream.   It would be so easy for any boat to

Thursday 25 th April 2019 We left the mooring and a very sharp left hand turn, against the river flow, brought us into the approaches to George Billington Lock. This was a lovely setting, indeed all the locks on the Avon are well maintained and the grass well-tended.   This lock was particularly interesting as it had a lighthouse on the lock island. While we were working the lock, the rain came on, heavily, and we were soaked. Once the lock was set a random guy turned up from a derelict looking cabin cruiser that had been moored in the lock approach. There are some pretty unsavoury looking characters on the canals. He left all the work to us. Once out of the lock I waved him on to pass us and, thankfully, we didn’t see him again. We had just a short cruise of 2 miles again, through lovely countryside. There was a section of very narrow river on a 90 ˚ bend, to the extent had another boat been encountered, it woul

Wednesday 24 th April 2019 At Stratford-upon-Avon we were treated to one of nature’s touching spectacles, the courting of a pair of swans. They dance majestically, rubs necks with each other and, when you are lucky enough to see it, as we were, their necks together, form a love heart. It is truly magical. In contrast this morning we had to witness a violent episode when five mallard drakes were fighting over a single duck. Continuously holding her underwater while each in turn mounted her with the other four fighting. It went on for about5minutes and eventually, when the drakes had had their fill, the duck floated away seemingly dead and twitching. Eventually the duck did revive and swim off but it was quite upsetting. We walked around Bidford, a pretty little place. The village centre itself is old but there are, as with everywhere, lots of more modern housing surrounding it. The Falcon Inn, now a large home, was one of the places frequented by Shakespeare. Lloyds Bank is

Tuesday 23 rd April 2019 St. George’s Day and Shakespeare Day when Stratford celebrates his death and, supposedly, the date of his birth. We had a slow start to our day to time our arrival at Bidford-on-Avon when the moorings were, hopefully, empty. We hung washing out, Brenda did admin and I pottered about on the boat, something that’s not been done for a while. While we were having our breakfast we were treated to a mother Mallard walking alongside the windows with the towpath being on the same level, followed closely by a tight line in convoy of nine new born ducklings. It looked so funny and a delight to witness so close. We were just having a cuppa when Eugene and Carol, aka Gary and Arabella, on the cruiser from yesterday turned up. They were also going to Bidford for the day, so we cruised together and shared the locks. The speed was much faster than we prefer to go as we are never in a rush and like to enjoy the scenery, however, I felt as though we couldn’t ho

Monday 22 nd April 2019 We had so enjoyed Stratford-upon-Avon, a lovely vibrant place. But we had been here for five days and it was time to move on. Rather reluctantly.                                                                                                                                                     Mooring on the River Avon, Bridge Street on the left I brought the anchor out from the bow locker and deployed it and fitted longer bow and stern ropes for the river, so we left the mooring later than we had intended. We had not seen one boat on the river with a deployed anchor. Not only is it a condition of any boats insurance but I regard it as very irresponsible, boarding on endangering life and the boat. No matter how slow a river seems to flow, there is a flow on it. Should anything happen to the engine or steering then an anchor would be used, especially around weirs. The anchor sits on t