Internet at last

After over a week, we have an internet signal.

We left Stratford on Avon last Tuesday and headed up the Stratford Canal. The canal is 25-1/2 miles long with 54 locks.

 The bridges on the Stratford canal are very narrow, some, like the picture above have rubber strips running through them to prevent damage to boats. Also, unique to this canal, the bridges have 2 spans with a 1 inch gap between. The gap was designed for horse drawn boats. As the boat went through the bridge, the rope could be fed through the gap, allowing the horse to continue without the need of untying.

Also unique are the lock keeper cottages. This particular one sold fresh eggs, herbs and vegetables.

Our first night after leaving Stratford, was spent at Wilmcote. This is where Mary Ardens house is. (pictured above) 

Mary Arden was the mother of William Shakespear.

We continued our cruise to Wootton Wawen. crossing the Edstone Aqueduct

The weather has changed and we have continued under the threat of rain every day, so very few photos.

We finished the Stratford canal yesterday and joined the Worcester Birmingham canal at Kings Norton junction.

Shortly after we went through the Wast Hill tunnel 2726 yards long. Stopping shortly after at Hopwood for a well deserved pint.

We have so far covered 96 miles, 72 locks, 7 swing bridges 3 aqueducts and two tunnels.

Tomorrow we will be at Tardebigge. 36 locks in under 4 miles. Hopefully the weather will improve giving us a photo opportunity


 

Stratford Upon Avon

Arrived at Stratford this afternoon after a very pleasant cruise from Bidford.

9 miles and 6 locks

Some very quirky boats on the way

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 Some very unusual houses on the way.

We will be staying in Stratford until Tuesday morning. So if anybody would like to visit, please feel free. We are opposite the Shakespear Theatre.

 We will be going into the town tomorrow, so will update you as and when.

Evesham to Bidford on Avon

Despite the early rainfall, we decided to set off around 11.15am.

We had to travel 8.5 miles including 4 locks to reach Bidford. Although we had a few small showers of rain, we completed the journey in 3.5 hours.

Evesham Lock

Having Richard & Sally as companions certainly helps. Last year we really struggled with the Avon locks on our own. (They can be a bit fierce)

When we arrived in Bidford, the weather changed and the sun came out.

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Bidford Bridge

Bidford is a lovely little town, well worth a visit. Although for boaters the visitor moorings are very limited, so Richard and Sally had to moor up next to us.

We had a very pleasant evening in the Red Bull Inn, and will continue our travels to Stratford today

 

 

Pershore to Evesham

Another hot sunny day.

We set off from Pershore around 10.30am, having filled up our water tank

The scenery on the River Avon is stunning. We have both said, "You forget how nice the Avon is"

The distance from Pershore to Evesham is 11 miles including 3 locks.

Chadbury Lock is usually interesting as you have to steer past a weir to get to the lock.

 However the flow was very slow which is unusual as it usually pushes the boat towards the bank, and you have to use full throttle to negotiate the boat to the lock landing stage.

Chadbury Lock

The trip took four and a half hours, and we are now in Evesham.

We were told by other boaters that there is a problem with drunken Polish people at Evesham moorings, but we found no such problems, (Never listen to other boaters)

We woke up this morning to rain, so not sure what the plans are yet.

Tewkesbury to Pershore

Following a very enjoyable evening in Tewkesbury

We set off for Pershore on Tuesday morning.

The weather has so far been very kind and it was a great cruise up the Avon to Pershore.

Reaching Pershore we found only two moorings available, which we gladly took.

As evening approached more boats came looking for moorings. It was only Richard and ourselves that offered other boats the opportunity to moor up alongside our boats for the evening. It is sad that boaters are now becoming very selfish.

 Our mooring in Pershore

We decided that as Pershore was such a nice Town, we would stay on Wednesday, and let the other boats continue, so we would not have the same mooring problem as we had in Pershore. All the other boaters had told us they were moving up to Evesham the next day, which is where we were heading

So, on Weds we visited the Pershore indoor market and bought all local fresh produce, and in the evening, sat by our boats and had a fantastic BBQ. This is the life.

Gloucester to Tewkesbury

 Approaching Tewkesbury

We left Gloucester Docks at 11.00 in glourious sunshine. This continued throughout our travels to Tewkesbury.

The tide was coming in, so as we met the tidal section at Upper Partings, our speed increased quite noticably. Good news for us, very fuel friendly.

Entering Upper Lode Lock

We completed the 13.71 mile trip in a record 3 1/2 hours, not including 45 mins going through 3 locks.

On approaching Tewkesbury we did notice a rather unusual way of boating.

 We don't think it will fit in the bins provided.

After settling in to our mooring, we decided an Indian meal would be a good way of celebrating.

We are setting off for Pershore today.

Well here we go again.

We left Saul marina around 11.00am.

The weather was warm & sunny, better than last year. We stopped at Sainsbury's to top up supplies, arriving in Gloucester Docks around 1.00pm.

Richard & Sally joined us in their boat (Indecision) around 5.00pm.


 At 7.00pm we decided to eat at Nando's. (very good meal)

When we came back to the boat, we were met by security guards who informed us that 4 drunken youths had untied our boat, climbed on the roof, and pushed it away from the mooring. one was apparently naked.

This was all being filmed on CCTV, and the police were called. Evidently all four were arrested and detained. The security guards managed to pull our boat back and secure it.

A good start.

Anyway we have not noticed any damage (yet)

So, for the next 21 days, we will be writing our blog again, and hopefully, you will enjoy following us.

Today 02/09/13 we will be going up the Severn to Tewkesbury.