Mid Worcestershire Ring - Week 2

Sunday 30th September - Bidford






We decided to spend the day moored in Bidford and went for a walk along the river to Barton where we had a delicious Sunday Lunch at the Cottage of Content.

We also found Harry, the proud owner of a beautiful 6.3 litre Rolls Royce, very similar to the one we had on our wedding day!

The tiniest thatched cottage, makes me feel like I'm in a fairytale.








Monday 1st October - Bidford to Stratford

A panoramic view across the fields as the sun rose on the first day of autumn.  

Sunrise over Bidford, another glorious morning with a splendid day ahead of us for our cruise into Stratford.

We passed through the bridge at Bidford, passage was decidedly off centre and very clearly marked.

Some stunning properties along this part of the river, many of them built on stilts to avoid being flooded.

As we approached Stratford the bells rang out from this church, a wonderful welcome.  This church, Holy Trinity Church, is where William Shakespeare was baptised and where he was buried on 25th April 1616.










We moored up for two days just opposite the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, and spent the time exploring the town and the surrounding countryside.








Tuesday 2nd October - Stratford Upon Avon

On our walk we found Stratford Upon Avon Racecourse, a national hunt racecourse.  There has been a racecourse on this site since 1755 and apart from a few breaks during the 19th Century racing has been continuous.













An excellent opportunity for an enterprising person in a prime location, rent or buy, any takers?












We have come to the end of our time on the River Avon, it has been a wonderful experience and a delightful voyage of discovery.  I know we have been lucky with the weather and the river has been very kind to us and we shall return to stop in those many places we didn't have time to explore this time.

This poem by Sir John Betjeman sums up our feelings:

He who by peaceful inland water steers

Bestirs himself when a new lock appears.

Slowly swing the gate: slow sinks the water down;

This lower Stratford seems another town.

The meadows which the youthful Shakespeare knew

Are left behind, and, sliding into view, Come reaches of the Avon, mile on mile,

Church, farm and mill and lover-leaned-on stile,

Til where the tower of Tewkesbury soars to heaven

Our homely Avon joins the haughty Severn.

Sweet is the fluting of the blackbird's note,

Sweet is the ripple from the narrow boat.

Your Majesty, our friend of many years,

Confirms a triumph now the moment nears:

The lock you have re-opened will set free

The heart of England to the open sea.

Wednesday 3rd October - Stratford to Wootton Wawen

We left our mooring and turned left, locking up from the river onto the Stratford Canal.  

Back onto narrow locks for narrowboats.

Part of the Wilmcote Locks, a flight of 17 locks in total, hard work and in a poor state of repair.

We crossed the Edstone Aqueduct, the longest aqueduct in England and is supported on brick piers.  It is unusual because the towpath is at the same level as the base of the canal.
There are two much shorter aqueducts at Wootton Wawen and Yarlingale.

A new marina has sprung up since the last time we came by, Hill Farm Marina opened in October 2017 and has 50 berths, with work on the building under way.

A beautiful mooring on a bend with open views across the fields.  Very peaceful indeed!
We took a walk to The Yew Tree Farm Shopping Village and bizarrely enough, found balcony furniture for our apartment!
Also a lovely farm shop.








Thursday 4th October - Wootton Wawen to Lowsonford

We stopped at the end of this aqueduct to fill up with diesel before continuing on to Lowsonford.

It is an Anglo Welsh hire base and many of the boats were already moored up for the winter.  Not many hirers at this time of year, apparently it is too cold and wet!

We found this poster attached to a lock beam.  I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment, but "Two in a lock", made us laugh!

Very attractive barrel roofed lock cottages, the one at Lowsonford Lock is owned by Landmark Trust and can be hired out for holidays.









We moored up at Lowsonford opposite the Fleur de Lys pub and decided to stay for a couple of days.  A lovely meal on Thursday evening, a walk on Friday and a quiet day on the boat on Saturday as it was raining!

We found a farm shop selling Dexter beef and Gloucester Old Spot pork...

and a ford for Toby to paddle in on our walk.









Map Key

Week 1 - Brown                                 Week 2 - Purple

Mid Worcestershire Ring - Week 1

Tuesday 25th September - Worcester to Tewkesbury

We have completed our move into our new apartment and ordered furniture etc to furnish it.  As nothing is going to arrive for a good few weeks we decided to slot in a short cruise around the Mid Worcestershire Ring.  The weather is glorious, warm, sunny and very settled so the River Severn and River Avon are very slow and calm.

Very impressed to see such large bunches of mistletoe on the trees along the River Severn.  You would need a long ladder to reach them though!

Whilst we were in the apartment there was some very heavy rain for several days.  The photo clearly shows how high the river level rose during this period.  Also how quickly the levels dropped once the rain had stopped.

When we arrived at the junction with the River Avon we turned left avoiding the shallow spit and headed for Avon Lock.
Avon Lock allows you to lock up onto the River Avon.  It is the only manned lock on the River and we had to buy a licence in order to use the River.




Once through the lock, helped by Nic, a very helpful lock keeper, we turned left and reversed back onto the empty visitor moorings, where we stayed for our first night.

We had a very pleasant explore of Tewkesbury including Tewkesbury Abbey.  The Tower dates back to the 11th Century, but there has been a place of worship on the site since the 7th Century.

The Hop Pole Inn is an historic pub which is mentioned in Charles Dickens' Pickwick Papers, but is now run by Wetherspoons and unfortunately doesn't allow dogs in the pub or garden, so we had to give it a miss!

Ella moored in Tewkesbury with the Abbey tower behind her.  The river is barely moving and it has been a glorious day.

An early evening photo catching the setting sun and the view of King John's Bridge in the distance.  There is no problem with clearance under the central arch as the river is very calm.






Wednesday 26th September - Tewkesbury to Birlingham Wharf

We passed through the largest arch of King John's Bridge making sure that the way was clear for us.
The bridge dates back to 1190 and was commissioned by King John as part of improvements to the main road from Gloucester to Worcester.

The River Avon is much windier than the Severn and all the way today we could see Bredon Hill, part of the Cotswolds.  On the flat top of the hill is Broadway Tower, a folly built by the squire of Kemerton Court so that he could stand 1,000 feet above sea level!  We visited the tower when we walked the Cotswold Way in April.

We were lucky to be able to share Strensham Lock with another narrowboat, here we are waiting for a small cruiser to exit the lock.

We passed through Eckington Bridge and moored up at the visitor moorings to have some lunch, but as the road was quite noisy we decided to move on again and headed for Birlingham Wharf where there is a single mooring just big enough for us.

We had a lovely walk down to Nafford Lock and on into Eckington and then returning along the river.

A very quiet, rural spot with no light pollution and a lovely sunset.










Thursday 27th September - Birlingham Wharf to Pershore

Today we left our peaceful mooring and headed for Pershore.  Some wonderful looking craft on the river, how about living on this?

As you approach Pershore Lock, there are two bridges, I much preferred Pershore Great Bridge, which no longer has to take traffic.

We moored alongside the recreation ground and walked into the town to visit Pershore Abbey.

Pershore Abbey is similar to Tewkesbury Abbey except that it suffered more during the dissolution of the monasteries and all that remains is the nave and the tower.

In the gardens is a sculpture on a beech trunk by Tom Harvey and inspired by local school children.












We enjoyed visiting the town centre, it has a lovely indoor market and some interesting local shops and it also claims to have the finest Georgian Street in England.


Friday 28th September - Pershore to Evesham

Today is Ella's 3rd birthday.  She was launched on this day 3 years ago at Rode Heath on the Trent and Mersey Canal.  In the three years we have had her we have:

completed 2340.7 miles
worked 1564 locks
and cruised for 1343.5 hours.

We are pleased with these facts, it shows we are getting excellent value for money on our investment!

We left Pershore on another sparkling sunny morning and headed for Evesham.

Fladbury Lock is most picturesque with Cropthorne Mill above the weir.












We have cracked the issue of descending these river locks.  The water enters the lock with such force that just using the centre line is not enough to control the boat.  So the skipper hands the bow line and stern line to the crew on the lock who collects it with the aid of a boat hook, then secures both lines and hey presto the boat stays against the lock side.  No more bashing against lock walls!!! 

Dave was intrigued by the beautiful white cow, could be a British White young heifer?

This is the site of a ferry across the River Avon.  As we approached we had to sound our horn so that the ferryman would drop the chain in order for us to proceed safely.

We moored up in Evesham opposite the rowing club and set off to explore the town.  The river divides the town, on one side is the original town and on the other side is a wide variety of Eastern European shops.  Evesham is the centre of the fruit growing and market gardening activity in the surrounding area and draws heavily on Eastern European labour to fulfil the work required to harvest the fruit and vegetables.

In Evesham is the stunning Bell Tower, all that is left of the huge Abbey Church.  The town grew up around the monastery founded in 702, but this was destroyed under the reign of King Henry VIII in 1539.













Saturday 29th September - Evesham to Bidford

Another beautiful day as we left Evesham and headed for Bidford.  Evesham marks the midway point of the River Avon and we pass onto what used to be the Upper Avon. This part of the river has been more recently improved and many of the locks are relatively new.  They are named after people who have sponsored the restoration work. 

Coming down to the waters edge we could see the glass houses used to grow fruit and vegetables, vast swathes of glass containing thousands of tomato plants.

We moored in front of Bidford Bridge on the Bidford Visitor Moorings, a small area of moorings but we managed to find a space.

A walk along the river bank brought a beautiful view, a typically English riverside scene.  It is thought that William Shakespeare indulged in a drinking bout in the Falcon Inn and whilst wandering home caught the chill which eventually led to his death!

We celebrated Ella's Birthday today at The Bridge Riverside Eatery, the building bedecked with lights, a lovely meal in an idyllic setting.









Map Key

Week 1 - Brown