Friday 10^th May 2019

We woke to a sunny day and so, after breakfast we finally got the opportunity to explore Upton properly. It really is a delightful little place with many old timbered buildings from the early 1600’s and many early Georgian properties. The most iconic building is the old church tower with its copper-covered cupola. This is all that remains of the 13^th century church with 18^th century cupola, the church was demolished in 1937. 

There has always been a river crossing at Upton. Firstly, a wooden structure built in the 15^th century that replaced an earlier ferry, then a Tudor-built stone bridge that survived until 1852 when it was washed away by floods.  This was replaced by an iron swing bridge which was subsequently replaced by the present bridge. This bridge was built in 1940 and is the last riveted structure in Worcestershire.

Upton also has a cholera burial ground located outside the town where 50 victims of an 1832 pandemic lay. We had never seen a cholera burial ground but apparently, most towns would have had one, where victims were buried separately, and away from habitations as it was believed the corpses were infectious.

Cholera Burial Ground

The pontoon mooring at Upton is flood-safe. The pontoon is held on tall round metal pillars and floats up and down these pillars as the water level rises and falls. The pillars are about 30 feet high and marked on one of them are the flood levels for different years. The 2007 floods were the worst on record and caused much damage on all towns along the Severn. Upton was badly affected and the whole town suffered. There were many marks and indications around the town showing the flood level. The mark for the 2007 flood was right at the top of the pillar. Unbelievable. It must have been a terrifying sight. Today the river front has a flood wall along its length and the town is surrounded by an earth dyke with properties outside of this surrounded by their own walls.

Upton-upon-Severn Flood Defences

We left Upton at 10am and set off upriver. While the river is picturesque, there is not a great deal to see. The banks are high as a form of flood defence and any villages keep their distance. Just beyond Upton we saw the loading point for the gravel barges. At Severn Stoke there was a curious, turreted house high up and surrounded by tall trees. At one point we happened to glance behind us to see the Malvern Hills and the town of Great Malvern. We could see the hills from Upton but were surprised to suddenly find them behind us. Just before Worcester we came upon a big party of canoeists that were all dressed up and decorated as pirates. A real funny sight.

Presently we began to see the high Worcester Southern Link Road Bridge, with all the traffic at a standstill. The river here, passing the Worcester Yacht Club became quite narrow and the flow increased considerably bringing the boat almost to a stop until more power was applied.

The River Teme joined just below the 1651 Civil War Battle site and we rang the lockkeeper at Diglis Lock to inform him of our arrival. Diglis Lock seemed big and completely dwarfed us. The pull of the weir just beyond the lock was particularly strong.

A few hundred yards upriver, we passed into the first of the two Diglis Locks onto the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. Just above the locks are the two large Diglis Basins. We passed through here on a hire boat in 2004 when the basins were surrounded by semi-derelict wharf buildings and workshops and the basins themselves full of decrepit boats, some submerged. It was a dingy place, dark and foreboding. Today it has all been developed with nice apartment blocks, many of the older buildings have been converted and the basins are now marinas full of nicer looking boats.

   

                                       

                                                                                            Diglis River Locks                                                                        

                                                                                            Diglis Canal Locks

Diglis Basin, Worcester

Beyond the basins we watered up but found the Elsan out of use and so had to walk into the basin to empty the loo. This was the first Elsan we had encountered since Pershore, there are very few on the Avon or Severn.

Once serviced, we moved just 200 yards further down the canal and moored in the rain just before bridge 3. We had a short walk into Worcester to suss the place. That’s the trouble with hiring boats, you set a goal and go for it, never really seeing anywhere or spending much time.

We had a Chinese takeaway for dinner, in front of the tv with the stove burning, listening to the rain on the roof.

Weather: a nice sunny day mainly, but rain in the afternoon and evening.

Day Total: 1 lock; 10 miles; 0 Tunnels; 0 Swing Bridges; 0 Lift Bridges; 0 Boat Lift; engine running hours 3.7

Overall Total: 475 locks; 881 miles; 42 tunnels; 11 Swing Bridges; 3 Lift Bridges; 2 Boat Lifts; engine running hours 574.9