A tall ship on the G&S canal
After spending 2 and half month on the Gloucester and Shaprness Mike had finished the fitout and we headed up towards Gloucester with the aim of doing the rest of the Severn to Stourport and the River Avon all the way to Stratford.The Gloucester and Sharpness had been great. It is so wide, you can wind pretty much wherever you are. Plenty of water points and moorings. There are a lot of swing bridges but they are all manned!! Al in all a very easy, laid back style of boating. It was very well maintained. It made us realise quite how hard the Kennet and Avon can be!!
Gloucester docks
We spent the weekend in Gloucester docks which I can imagine would be brilliant in another 5 years time. It is still being developed and it hadn’t quite ‘come up’ in the up and coming stakes!!
The only wide beam!!
Purely by chance we had timed it so we cruised through Upton on Severn while their annual blues festival was on. So we decided to join all the other boats and stay for the weekend. We have never moored abreast of so many narrow boats. Quite amusing after a few pints. The dog obviously was not so amused having to be carried!!
Worcester Cathedral
Our next stop was Worcester. The Cathedral looked pretty amazing as we cruised by. Beautiful inside too.
Pea soup anyone?
Again, purely by chance we had timed it so that we were passing the entrance to the newly renovated Droitwich Barge canal.It had only been open for about a week. They were still trying to get the flow of the water right with the locks and pumps. There was a lot of head scratching but mostly they were amazed to see a wide beam. They had never seen one before!! We hadn’t really noticed but when we thought about it we had passed many many cruisers and the odd narrow boat but hadn’t seen a wide beam since the Gloucester and Sharpness.
The end - quite literally for us!
It took us a day to do the Droitwich. It got to a point where we though ‘this is getting worryingly narrow’ We knew we could not get into Droitwich itself as the locks became single but we had been told there was a winding hole. We had no map as the canal was to new! I was trying to read a sign in a bridge in the distance and suddenly it went from a wide canal to a narrow canal under the bridge. That could have been messy! We also realised we were now stopped in a winding hole. We hadn’t noticed as it was so over grown. So with a lot of huffing puffing we managed, only just, to turn around. We didn’t tell each other at the time but we had both had thoughts of having to reverse all the way back down to the entrance!
We made it back down the Droitwich feeling pleased it was another canal we could tick off our list.
Stourport on Severn
Next stop Stouport on Severn. Perfect as there was a cider festival on! We were getting good at this! Stourport was the end of the road for us as the Severn becomes unavigable and the adjoining canals are narrow so back we go, down the Severn and take a right onto the Avon at Tewkesbury.
What a picture!!
The Avon is a lot prettier than the Severn. The Severn is a big wide mighty river with high banks but not a lot to see. The Avon twists and turns through villages and meadows. We even cruised through a sailing school partaking in a race. A great scene but we were slightly nervous we might run one down! We were told just keep at an even speed over to the right and they would get out of our way. They did but it was close!
A diagonal lock?! River Avon
One thing that really stands out about the Avon is the locks. Nearly every one is different.
Ummmmm? the worlds most confusing lock paddle
The photo’s speak for themselves I think. It made the journey very interesting.
Our first mooring was at Pershore. A fantastic open space perfect for a BBQ.
We were aiming to get to Stratford for the weekend so we could go to the Royal Shakespeare company to see A mid summer nights dream. Our good timing for the rest of the trip had caught up with us. The theatre was closed for rehearsals for another week!!
Bidford on Avon
Never mind we would stop off in Bidford on Avon for a couple of days as it was so pretty.
Moored right outside the RSC.
We spent a few days in Stratford on Avon which was really great. We did all the touristy things and got to the theatre too. Before long it was time to turn around and head back down the Avon. We waved goodbye to some narrow boaters we had met that were continuing to do the Avon ring. It is a narrow section so no chance for us.
We made it back to Tewkesbury and called ahead to check it was ok to get out onto the Severn as there was a spring tide. we were told it was no problem to come out but Gloucester lock is out of action and they have divers in to fix it. We didn’t fancy hanging off the wall on the mooring chains at Gloucester so we stayed put for the afternoon. We soon heard that it had actually been fixed but the spring tide was coming up about 8 meters. We decided to wait until morning when we could time the tides. We woke up to the sound of……….rain!!!! The first we have had for weeks. The temperature had been averaging 25 degrees previously. It didn’t last long but we couldn’t wait anyway we had a tide to consider! We were advised to find a mooring as soon as we could after leaving Tewkesbury as the tide was so high. We looked on the map and headed for Ashleworth which is about 5 miles outside Gloucester. We were following a cruiser headed for the same moorings so we thought great, we’ll follow them. Within 5 minutes they were out of site!! We could feel that we were going against the tide but at this point is wasn’t to strong. We pushed on and got to Ashleworth just at the right time. We moored up leaving enough slack to allow for the tide rise. We popped to the coffee shop overlooking the moorings to have some lunch and by the time we had sat down the tide was flooding upstream at such a rate.
It doesn't look it but these trees were flying upstream.
There was such a lot of debris rushing upstream. It has all been pulled up from the weir with the tide. Branches, gas bottles, even fridges!! I felt very relieved to be moored but we scoffed our sarnies and went to check the ropes. 20 minutes later the tide turned and the cruiser set off. We didn’t want to be caught up in the racing outgoing tide so we waited for it to calm slightly. An hour later we thought we have to go at some point let’s do it!! We untied and we were off……literally. We took off and tried to keep out the way of the debris. We knew the only moorings to wait for Gloucester lock was ‘the wall’. We didn’t fancy trying to moor up along here we wanted the lock ready and open for us to go straight in!
Racing a fridge back to Gloucester
We called ahead and we were told to call again at 3 miles, 2 miles and 1 mile. The lock keeper was so lovely. We were going at quite a speed with the tide and the lock keeper told us he wished more boaters would call ahead as there oftern come into difficulties trying to hang off the wall. There is no barrier to stop you going over the weir so we were a bit nervous. He also told us “good job you did call as I’ve got a cruiser hanging off the wall at the moment who had a near miss with the weir”! We wondered how they had got on!!
Up the lock and into Gloucester docks again for the weekend and then onto the Gloucester and Sharpness. We were heading to Sharpness to get in touch with pilots to take us back down the estuary. The weather had turned wet and windy so our passage would be delayed. I have to say I was pretty anxious as to how the journey back would be in this wind. We waited a week at Sharpness and there was quite a queue forming with narrow boats wanting passage back to Portishead. There were 6 narrow boats who were all travelling together. I won’t say the cruising club they were with!!! One had done the estuary before but still they all wanted us to go first. We went into the lock and there was a lot of faffing while they moored up along side each other.
Getting ready to depart Sharpness lock into the Severn
Turned out that they hadn’t booked a pilot and wanted to follow us and basically get free passage.
The pilot wasn’t cheap but worth every penny. Our pilot told us to hang back and make them go ahead as he can’t be responsible for us and 6 other boats.
We got out onto the Severn and it was so calm it was almost a little disappointing! The narrow boats were ahead but had already told us that they would go so slowly we would have to overtake them. With it being so calm you could pretty much be at a standstill you wanted. I thought seeing as it’s not rough and I’m not needing to hold on I may as well do something useful. I put 4 loads of washing on to make the most of engine being at full pelt!!
They're behind you!
So in the end they followed us all the way into Portishead where we stopped over for 4 hours to wait for the tide to turn. Again they followed us out of portished and into Avonmouth. Now this is the bit where we don’t have a pilot so we did feel responsible for the 6 narrow boats snaking behind us.
Don't panic!
We left Portishead lock and we were confronted with a ship!! We just hung back and got well out of the way. A bit of a shock when the lock opened and there it was!
They're still there!
Again the Severn was calm. It was beautiful as the sun was setting.
We got close to Bristol lock and just as at Gloucester the tide wants to take you round to the right but the lock is on the left. We kept left and glided in beautifully. We tied up and watched what I can only describe as chaos unfold before our eyes.The first narrow boat had kept left but not quite as much as us.
5 has made it back and 6 is only just going to make it!
They got in the lock ok but each one that followed drifted further right until number 5 missed the lock altogether!! Luckily the weir is some way from the lock and somehow they managed to turn the boat and fight the tide to get back into the lock. It did take about 15 minutes and we couldn’t see them so we had no idea if they would be back!!
Getting there - getting dark!
Boat 6 saw there mistake and managed to correct the problem but came into the lock at a very jaunty angle!! Once they were all in the lock it took forever for them to tie up. It was getting dark.
Finally we came up the lock and into Bristols floating harbour. We moored up and went straight to the pub!! We had been on the go for 12 hours and we were knackered!
We spent another few days in Bristol but reality was looming and we had to get back onto the Kennet and Avon for work.
By now it was almost 4 months since we had left the K&A. Part of us was looking forward to familiar sites and faces but we knew we would find it hard to settle back into work.
'Home'
Up the river Avon and onto the K&A. We went up the first 2 locks including Bath deep lock no problem. Lock number 3………………..we ran aground!!!!! All we could think was Welcome back!!!!!
We were instantly reminded what hard work the K&A is. We had already decided that come spring 2012 we would be off again probably to London…………….!!!!!
So now, finally we are all up to date with last years antics! We spent the rest of the winter on our old patch doing what we do best wondering what spring will bring. Little did we know we would be offered a place in the Queens diamond jubilee Thames flotilla AND get an Olympic trade mooring for 6 weeks!!!!!
So that is where we are at. In 3 weeks we going in for Blacking. We’ll sell the car and make our way to London.
Watch this space!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In September of that year we took 6 days to cruise from her mooring in Reading and bought her ‘home’ to Bradford on Avon where we ‘camped’ on board with basic facilities while we set about building the inside.
