Pershore, Thursday 23rd July
Hooray! At last, decent signal strength on the modem. I am certainly discovering the areas that have a poor T-mobile reception; perhaps I should seek employment as a trouble shooter on their behalf.
Tuesday 21st – Evesham.
Plenty of space on the town moorings below Workman Bridge, named after a former Mayor rather than a tribute to the constructors. We were opposite Abbey Park, which helped us with the location of our main reason for visiting; we were not disappointed.
Evesham Abbey was founded in the early 8th century by Egwin, Bishop of Worcester.
By the 11th century, the Abbey had become dedicated to St Mary and St Egwin, growing rapidly from then; by the time of the Norman conquest it was one of the leading Benedictine houses in the country.
In 1540, Henry V111, taking a leaf from Dr. Beeching’s book, dissolved the Abbey; All Saints and St Lawrence churches, the 16th century bell tower and the 12th century Almonry building are the remaining buildings of the enlarged Abbey church.
All Saints, the present Parish church, has a lovely interior with many interesting features including an ornate pulpit and rood screen dating from the Victorian restoration. The gardens have a spring fed lily pond and a beautifully set war memorial looking over the gardens and the river.
Wednesday 22nd - Wyre lock.
Showers were the order of the day as we left Evesham for Wyre lock. I can remember looking at an atlas whilst at school and the schoolboy pleasure of pointing out to classmates the wonderfully named village of Wyre Piddle. Strange word; Wyre.
I noticed that the engine was ‘hunting’ occasionally and not running as it should. The stop for lunch enabled investigations to be carried out. The prime suspect was the fuel filter; it was indeed very dirty and once the replacement had been fitted and the system bled, normal service was resumed. We found the moorings above the lock in the weir stream, managing to tie up before the arrival of yet another heavy shower.
2009 Totals: 414 Locks – 706.5 miles – 18 Bus pass uses.
