Upper Avon

Captains Log


Canal Date                21st October 2011
Travels                        River Avon.

Tuesday, 18 October 2011 Evesham to Billingham Lock
Miles 4 - Locks 2
Still cool this morning, a few layers required.
After an earlier than usual breakfast we set off. The fist lock was only a few hundred yards away and we had to help some new hire boaters through. They were the sort that had no idea at all but would not accept any advice.
Once through the lock we were at our first location – Evesham Marina. We were booked in for a service on the Webasto heater at 10.00 Because of the time lost using the lock we did not get there until 10.30. This is boating times and it was considered to still be early. The engineer soon came to the boat complete with a laptop and set to work on the unit. He spent about 1 hour with the laptop before he took the unit off and into his workshop. He was working on it for an other hour, then he refitted it and did even more diagnostics and settings before saying that all is now fine. All this for £45.00 I think that was good value.
We then continued our cruise. This time we were travelling at least ½ mile to the next stop. This was to plastic plumbing bits. The company was on the banks of the Avon but the only way to get there was to moor under the road bridge, walk ½ mile along the main road then ½ mile back along a farm drive. While I was doing this Pam was stuck on the boat hoping that the rather weak mooring points would hold.
We then set off once again. We had been on board for 4 hours and only travelled 1 mile, slow even by our standards! We continued as far as Billington Lock. A very nice spot. We went to the De Montford pub for our evening meal. We have been in many pubs but this one was better than most. Certainly not cheapest but the quality and presentation is second to none.

Wednesday, 19 October 2011 Billington Lock
A lovely morning, bright blue sky, no wind but very cool.
Pam did a machine wash so I had to get the generator out. It’s all work work work these days! We had a lazy evening; Pam did a rather large jig-saw. I don’t know why but for some reason she did not want my help. Perhaps I was a bit too playful!

Thursday, 20 October 2011 Billington Lock to Luddington
Miles 11 - Locks 6

A beautiful morning. Sun shining, no wind. It is going to be a good day if a little on the cold side. We had a very slow cruise up the upper reaches of the river Avon. It was just so beautiful. Some stretches are wide some are narrow. As we are in an official drought, there is not a great deal of flow and the water is crystal clear. You can see fish every where you look. We eventually called it a day when we reached Luddington. The sun was starting to go down and I was beginning to feel the cold. I soon had a cosy fire going and Pam started dinner. Life is so good.

Friday 21 October 2011 Luddington to Stratford upon Avon
Miles 3 - Locks 3

The top bit of the Avon is very twisty but just as nice as the rest of the river. It’s our last day on the river. We had a 1 week permit. This runs out today.
We are moored in Bancroft Basin opposite to the RSC theatre in the centre of Stratford. There are still plenty of tourists about but know where near as many as last time we came through. We shall stay here for the weekend before setting off along the Stratford Canal towards Kings Norton.

Its that time of year now. We have to be on the lookout for closures. Some of the system is already closed due to low water and others will soon shut down for winter maintenance. We have another 56 locks to go before we get to Kings Norton Junction. Lets hope we get there before the BW engineers or the Ice!
It would be terible to be marroned in Stratford with all the pubs and restaurants. It would be just as bad for my waist as it would for my wallet!

Pershore to Tewkesbury

Captains Log Canal Date 18th July 2009 Travels 13.5 Miles 3 Large Heavy River Locks Current Location On Avon Outside Croft Farm OS Ref SO 902 – 355 Lat – Lon 52.1’02.8N 2 8’37.7W Time to go to Croft Farm, we need to look at our caravan and to make sure it is ready for its next outing. The journey down the river was all very nice. It could have been much better if the weather had been a bit better but at least the weather was much better than forecast! We meet our first miserable boater today; he has a mooring in a nasty place close to a lock on a sharp bend. Not a place to moor a “Tupperware” boat. If you get it a bit wrong it would be very easy to hit it amidships. I would imagine that 22 tons of steel narrowboat would come off a little better than 3mm of expensive fibre glass. He was trying to tell everyone how to steer there boats. I bet he does not sleep well. We had a late start it was getting quite late as we approached Croft farm, and not knowing if we could moor there we decided to play safe and moor outside a pub a few hundred yards up stream (The Fleet at Twyning) This of course meant that we would have to have another pub meal. The food was nicely presented and looked very good but once started to eat, it was to be very average and quite expensive. Shall not bother to go there again. Next morning we go direct into Tewkesbury town centre to do a bit of shopping. Unbeknown to us it was Tewkesbury water festival today. Nowhere to moor. After a bit of shuffling about we managed to moor in very shallow water about 5 ft from the bank and using the new gang plank to exit the boat. After a look around the town, we went back to the boat. It took ages to get off the shallows and to a point where the boat was floating again. We went to Croft Farm to find a suitable mooring place. Now it must be understood at this point that we had been invited to moor there by the land owner. We found a suitable looking bank and aimed at it. No chance. We were grounded good and proper. This time I had to resort to pushing with the boat pole whilst running the engine at full power, eventually we got off and had another go further down stream. Exactly the same again. After another two attempts we eventually we managed to get close enough to the bank to use the gang plank again. It’s never been used before and now twice in one day. We are firmly on the bottom, if the river level drops much we may well be here until the next flood!! If we can get off the bottom we shall go to Tewkesbury Marina on Tuesday.