To Pershore........

Todays journey was very pleasant as the sun wasn't blistering hot but it was very warm. Moored  up by 2pm then went for a stroll to the town centre which only happens to be 300 metres from the canal.

Pershore is well worth the stop, great moorings beside a park, supermarket, Asda, only 200 metres away, and a great selection of shops and real tidy too.

Did  the first lock of the day with a 70 ft hire boat. We exited the lock first and apparently their boat was to long and got jammed in by the rudder and they couldn't open the gate there side to leave. They had to reverse out and  turn the boat then reverse in. They passed us later when moored having lost about 2hrs, not good for a Hired boat on a tight schedule..

 At the first lock... So far So good....

This weir would be great for Boogie Boarding......  not by me though...

Open the gate paddles to fill the lock  and the water flow is scary......

 

The canal passes the village of Wyre Piddle with the houses built well up the river banks for flood protection. 
A selection of three thatched houses...

 

 
Fox and owl on roof...

 

NB Caxton older Bro,  A  Barn Owl No,6  build..



My turn to do the dishes so over to the take away selection...

 

Chicken Shish Kebab  for Leonie and Pam,  Cod and chips for me......

 

Tonight's mooring looking down stream....

 

 

 

 

 

Upstream the way we came from....

 

Looked outside and the Moon was RISING.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It wasn't  A BAD MOON....

Tomorrow Tewksbury.....

Forkin Hell....

 

Been hot as for days then last night the thunder rolled in followed by an impressive forked lightning display.  About 11.30pm it poured and continued on and off  during the night till about 10.30am when the sun appeared and the temperature and humidity rose for another hot day.

There's something about people who own and steer Plastic boats. It seems the bigger the boat the bigger the Dick Head..
Have passed a lot on this canal and always  acknowledge them with a minimum response back but after todays experience they can Suck The Kumara..
We approached a lock to see two vessels in it with the crew working the paddles to lower the water. We have tied up and are at the lock side to offer help when they all jump on board and exit the lock leaving both gates wide open..
Now I know the sign says leave one gate that you exit through open but two gates and when you've got a full crew doing the locking and you've watched the arriving boat tie up.. Where's the manners??

Two locks later two different plastics in the lock coming up, we  are  moored waiting..waiting..waiting, they're so pedantic not wanting to scratch anything, they open the gates then go and get a map out and start  Freakin planning there  trip  or something with the boats still in the Freakin lock.. 
And then as the first one emerges from the lock and passes us he's on the Freakin  RT/CB  speakers full volume talkin to the guy only 20 metre's behind that he's just discussed his and his neighbours life Freakin  life history with sitting up there  and talkin like he's the Freakin  Rear  Admiral of the
Eversham Navy...    Plus it was hot....

 

 

 

 They are big locks but all in excellent condition....

Wind the handle and the paddle is counter balanced with the weight on the chain...

 

 There's the first two plastics, or is it Gin Palaces, that left the lock gates open.....

 

 

 George Billington Lock has this flood proof lock keepers hut, Trendy....

Waiting to exit the lock...

 

The "A" team waiting for the water to lower in  Eversham Lock....

 

Approaching Eversham, at least this bridge has uniform arches....

Tonights mooring on the Avon......






Out the side hatch plenty going on with the rowers.  That's the Eights warming up on the rowing machines but it must have been a gym day, they never got in the boat,  Bummer...

Tomorrow more Avon...

 

Were Not Punting.......

 

 

To many motorized water craft travelling at speed to do that. Left the mooring at Bancroft Basin heading down stream.

There was a bit of cloud cover but by 2pm it got that hot working the locks it's the first time iv'e  needed to find shade necessary while waiting for a lock to fill. The water on the Avon is cleaner than the canals, you wouldn't put the old head piece under though, and when we passed some swimmers it was only my awesome willpower and mind control  that keep me from jumping in.

Apparently it has been the hottest day in 7 years in GB. When we moored it was straight into a cold shower and beer..

Leaving the Basin and the tourists are lining up... some even help with the lock...

































RH turn and motoring down stream..  Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare  is buried in the distance....

Approaching the first lock, Colin P Witter Lock....

Exiting lock.. Big double locks the paddles are easy to raise and lower with a lot of winding but it takes two to move most gates....  Lucky only one needs to be open to enter and exit one boat and the sign says to leave exit gate open which is a bonus...

Passed under a rusty rail bridge..

 

 

 

The Weirs that bypass the over flow of water past locks are not to be tried in a NB....  Seriously.....

 

First the nice garden appears......

Then the Thatched  roof  cottage under going a Hair Cut with a touch of styling...

All the moorings along the river have high poles with rings that you attach the rope too so when the river rises so does the boat and the poles help to stop it going to far inland...

Plastic boat on the river and over the bank in the marina all the moorings have poles as well...  Looks like they get about a 10ft rise here.....


Moored at Bidford on Avon. Had a peek at the village, one street of shops. The chippie looked the best pick.... after the pub...

Enter under the bridge with different arches... built 1482.... there was also a ford across the river until 1970...

Not your average one up one down.......

 

A couple of historic photos from on the  Birmingham to Stratford route.
There was a stretch of  13 miles where it wasn't desirable to stop and we did get ambushed in a cutting with apples. Three hits but luckily they missed the windows by inches...

 

Approaching the Kings Norton Stop Lock.. two Guillotine gates to stop water entering the oppositions canal at the junction..  Raised  and lowered by cranking the handle which uses counter weights to balance the wooden gates..  You can see the Shit Bags of the area have been at work...





Through the first gate... They are   permantley  open...

 

 

Through the second....  The Mother In Law looks up and says " I can see what's  jamming it open".....

 

I told you never to touch the Bloody controls again... That was last time....








In the heat of the day just hard out.....   (for JO).......

 

Six  Double locks down eleven to go....   more tomorrow...

 

For Loan Oft Loses Both Itself And Friend............

Heard about the big earth quake in Wellington Sunday night. Hope there's no serious injury and it's not another Christchurch......

It's all about William Shakespeare this Stratford. The tour buses roll in and anything with a Shakespeare Trust sticker gets mobbed. Still that's great for the town and retailers and with hot weather it's working out just fine.
Mooring in the basin is excellent but you feel a bit of the gold fish syndrome, so many
AAAAAAAA........SSSSSHHHHOOOONNNNSSS....
You got to watch the tourists as well, they'll be on taking photos  and looking in the boat quick as.

Had a good look around town and well worth the time and effort. Along the Avon river banks it's tops for strolling or just sitting and watching there's plenty going on.

 

 Shakespeares birth place..... centre of town or they built the town around it....

 

 

 

He's buried in the church behind those walls...  The church goes back to 1210,  the grave here was 1790....

An out buiding in the church grounds.... Could have been the groundsmans  Smoko  shed....



There's plenty of old buildings to see. Getting a photo without you no who in the photos can be time consuming. I actually went back in the evening to get some shots...

Nice buildings through an entrance way.....

 

Genuine cobble stone I reckon, doesn't look like the local council workers have intervened.....

 

All looks original......

 

From across the road... Two parking meter wardens look on....

 

Tidy pub......   There's  ALOT  in this town......

Shakespeares sister lived a couple of doors from this pub and they reckon he'd had a few here......

 

Moored in  Bancroft  Basin.....

 

Sunday morning  market nearby, must have been 50 or so Gazebos up.....

Looking over toward the lock onto the Avon...

 

Had live music... Money goes to cancer charity.. Is on way to  Fairport Convention Concert...

 

Tram way bridge over Avon...  For pedestrian use....

 

Looking down stream on Avon toward Tewkesbury...

 

Ferry Cross The Avon... A Chain runs across the river and  through the Blocks on the side of the ferry. You wind the handle and  it pulls the punt across by gripping the chain links....

Some actors doing a Shakespeare impersonation....  didn't get the blood pumping....

 

On the other side of the Avon the band stand was rocking.....

That's taking the Unicycle thing Tooo  Faarr.....

 

Nice Day, Nice Car, Nice Missus,    Bentley Convertible....

Only 48 HR moorings here so move onto the Avon tomorrow....