Day 6

We survived the night without floating up the adjustable moorings or disappearing down the weir, and what a morning to wake up to.  The predicted warm sunny weather looks like it was a day late so with dog walked & engine checked we set off through the Robert Aickman Lock at  around 7.30am.  Breakfast on the run again as we have quite a bit of travelling ahead of us.

After the George Billington Lock we had a 'nice' surprise.  Services not on the normally reliable Nicholson guides were available, water and elsan points.  This allowed the 'blue' job to be activated and the water to be topped up (neither blue or pink, just a job!).

We travel through some beautiful scenic countryside leading up to Evesham with it's Workman Gardens.  It's a lovely warm, Sunday morning and canoeists are everywhere like a swarm of bees! The horn was sounded on more than one occasion as the rowers have their backs turned to oncoming traffic.  Alfie, for some unknown reason, thinks the horn is a signal to run to the back (stern) of the boat.  He's had quite a bit of exercise already this morning!

Workman Bridge, Evesham

Sankey Marina

The sunshine is highlighting the autumnal colours as we glide by.  We are on the look out for the passenger ferry before Glovers 'island' (3 blasts of the horn is needed for the ferryman to lower the cable).    No need to worry, he's seen us and surprisingly, no one wants to cross this early on a Sunday morning. Alfie is relieved and settles himself for a nap!

The weirs along the river create powerful turbulence but the Vetus engine in Angel is dealing with these and the cross winds expertly.  At Fladbury Lock there's an unusual Lock hut which is apparently floodproof.  We meander through the countryside which affords us glimpses of wildlife, we see herons, flashes of kingfishers and in particular, this Cormorant who dutifully posed for this shot!

Cormorant

Wyre Lock

The lock at Wyre Piddle is diamond shaped and is the last of it's kind on the river.  Not really sure why this was built this way, but it does stand out from the norm.

At Pershore we come across two bridges, Pershore Great Bridge and New Bridge, the navigable arches are not aligned so takes a little concentration at this point.  Arrows above the arches help enormously.

Eckington Bridge - looks so harmless!

Arrows didn't help however at Eckington Bridge! After traversing a swan neck bend we find ourselves coming into a cross wind which takes the boat awkwardly towards the arch. The current pulled us sideways towards the pillar, time for evasive manoeuvres, full reverse thrust.  Onlookers watched in anticipation, but after resetting the boat position and pointing across the current, I managed to swing the backend around for a second time, and traversed centrally through the arch. A round of applause was heard from the bystanders, no 'when boats go bad' moments on my watch!!

This photo captures most of our day today, makes you glad to be in England this time of year.  We moan about the rain, but it makes our landscapes lush and green.

As the sun is beginning to set on the day, our minds focus on mooring for the night.  Our plan is to stay near Strensham.  However, we can see as we approach that it's a popular place with the cruiser boats and there's no room.  The lock here is hidden and we soon see that there are two boats waiting for it and no where else to stop and wait! We are now contending with a cross wind and current which gently pushes us past the lock. After a not so perfect turnaround we were back on track and lined up for the lock, unfortunately although plenty of room, the boats haven't waited for us and have closed the gates.  We moor up and wait, glad to have a breather, and work out where else we can moor up.

The M5

With our planned destination full, we carry on to option 2, the Fleet Inn at Twyning passing under the M5 en route.  I have passed over the Avon so many times on this stretch of motorway and kept thinking over the last few weeks that eventually we will be going under it, and here we are.

As we approach the Fleet Inn we think that although it would be a popular place in Summer we are sure it would be ok this time of year.  There is tape across the moorings, we are a little concerned as the windows on the pub are boarded up and there's little sign of life.  We pull over just outside the pub and find ourselves grounded!  After sorting this we reverse back to a couple of friendly locals who inform us the moorings have been condemned by the council and we would have to carry on to Tewkesbury!  Great, the sun is setting quickly and we have another half hour to get there, full diesel ahead!  

We breathe a sign of relief when we see Tewkesbury marina, a sign confirms overnight visitors are welcome.  It's another popular place but luckily we spot an opportunity to moor just outside the entrance, not great the metal sidings are high and we have to lift Alfie out!  We're pirates tonight, although we did try to pay, but no one was around at that time of night! Relieved and ready for a well earned rest, nearly 29 miles under our belt and another dusk drive done.

Todays Map