Of all the villages we stopped at Pershore takes the cake for the best village, best moorings.
Evesham wasn't flash and seven Op/ charity Shops within about four hundred metres probably tells the story.
Tried to stop at a couple of riverside villages but you cannot stop because they don't have available moorings and it's impossible to find a landing spot.
Before Tewkesbury... Eckington Bridge... 16 century..
The moorings in Tewkesbury aren't plentiful for a place where a lot of canal uses pass through. Three Quid a night, no extra's pay the lock keeper....
Opposite our mooring, Nice house, Perfect for NBer's it fits in single locks....
All these town have Churches, Cathederals, Abbeys. Must have been a sign of wealth and power to have the biggest structure to be seen from miles around.
For a town it's size the Cathederal size proportions of Tewkesbury Abbey meant a lot of locals, Peasants, were going bloody hungry and paying taxes to the church.... Nothings Changed Then..
Front entry...... year 1120....
Was going to be demolished by King Henry V111 in 1539 so the towns people paid the price and bought it for 453 Quid to save it being ruined....
Lots of black and white timber framed buildings, some nicer than others..... Pub and clothes shop , had a bit of colour and nice Sagging lines ......
In the streets there are a lot of alleys that run between buildings. Interesting walking them not knowing what lays ahead. Narrow and with views in private court yards, back yards, some tidy, some the Pitts....
This one was tidy, started with a pub entry on the left side........
Been known to flood on the rivers in England. We passed moorings with poles and pontoons with 25-30 foot lift in the mooring height..
This is looking down on the River Severn side of the Avon Lock. This NB was deposited there Nov, 2012. It'd be 20ft up there....
In the Avon Lock with a hire boat, you always let them go in First. Lock keeper operated out of shed on RH side....
Dropped down to the Severn, turned Right from gap between first two LH trees...
Before we left Tewkesbury we caught the bus to Gloucester. Only 12 miles and would have canalled there but working to a plan that didn't allow the time. So we had a look around, nice dock area been refurbished with apartments and shopping arcade and cafes etc. The town was busy and with some pedestrian only streets plus a good crowd, it was better than working...
Haven't seen one of these before...
Mobile butcher shop, Twin steer, triple rear axles, front and rear walk in chillers, no wonder Red meats so Bloody Expensive in the Uk..
And Guess What??? Gloucester has a Cathederal too... Mines Bigger than Yours...
She's a 1089 model this one...
Had some remodeling and extensions after 1330.... Starved a few more locals...
The whole towns and surrounding population could probably have filled all of two rooms...
Now there's more restoration work going on. Some clever dude has been repairing and renewing these figures.. See the battens on the new re roofing... They tried to hit on me for some money, No way mate, I'm buying Pork Scratchies....
Up the Severn River with the first stop being Upton Upon Severn.. The side banks are higher than the Avon so a lot of the time is spent looking ahead at water...
Small village, Nice, with seven pubs within about 300 metres
Sun was shining and the riverside pubs had the punters outside enjoying themselves...
Across the road at the next pub we got talking to a fella, he was a real hard case, who was in town for a steam rally. He had two cars with him, a mate driving one, and they were doing a pub crawl...
Only one of his cars was eligible for the rally..
A 1918 Stanley Steam Car... Thought it was just hot and the radiator was boiling but it was dropping a little water and steam while he drank and answered many questions..
The Boiler and valves... A tank beneath the centre of the car holds 60 odd gallons of water.......
Has a pilot flame beneath the boiler that can be seen through the side door.....
Owned it for 9 years and it was in immaculate condition. When he drove off it was "Silent", as he said, "I can run you over you wont even hear me".....
His other car was a very original 1928 Model A coupe....
Firefly NZ moored way down on the river, this is the view from another pub...
But they have just added the glass panel extensions to the top of the brick wall to help stop the water coming over........
On the Severn the locks are Lock Keeper operated....
I'm keeping an Eye on the lock keeper who's keeping an eye on us in the lock....
Having a few showers but mostly at the end of the day, 3pm onwards, and still very warm...
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