Friday, 24 July 2009
FRAGMENTED ENTIRES!
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.
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.
Monday, 20 July 2009
CAN YOU HEAR ME MOTHER?
Offenham Lock, River Avon, Monday 20th July
Radio 4 phrase of the day:
'Continuium of Civilianality'
Most of England embraces the year 2009. The river Avon seems to have its own time and charm to match; for the last two days we have been unable to receive Radio 4 and I am able only to receive a poor internet connection signal strength; once again, I will be posting photographs when the signal is stronger.
The Avon is beautiful, the locks are a real pleasure, paddle gear that is easy to move; gates that can be opened by one person and very small leakage past the gates.
Owing to the fact that all of the river banks are owned privately, moorings are a bit thin on the ground and tend to be close to locks. Most are in lovely surroundings.
Fortunately, there is so little boat movement at present that we have been able to moor at our chosen location each night. We moored above Pilgrim lock yesterday; Nb Jervaulx from Crick came by and we helped them with the lock and chatted to them.
They are going up the Severn from Tewkesbury, we are heading down to Gloucester so we will not see them again this year.
We wandered around Bidford this morning; a few good buildings and a nice church but lacked the small town feeling that I supposed we hoped would come across to us.
One fact worth a mention; all of the anglers along the Avon are really friendly!
They wave or smile first, chat as you pass them and I have lost count of the number of times that they have ended a short conversation with ‘enjoy yourself’ or ‘safe journey’
If only it was the same on the canals………
We have tied up above Offenham lock, some 3 miles from Evesham and I have been having a good chat with a fisherman on holiday from Feltham, Middlesex; an area that I know quite well from van delivery days.
2009 Totals: 410Locks – 693 miles – 18 Bus pass uses.
Radio 4 phrase of the day:
'Continuium of Civilianality'
Most of England embraces the year 2009. The river Avon seems to have its own time and charm to match; for the last two days we have been unable to receive Radio 4 and I am able only to receive a poor internet connection signal strength; once again, I will be posting photographs when the signal is stronger.
The Avon is beautiful, the locks are a real pleasure, paddle gear that is easy to move; gates that can be opened by one person and very small leakage past the gates.
Owing to the fact that all of the river banks are owned privately, moorings are a bit thin on the ground and tend to be close to locks. Most are in lovely surroundings.
Fortunately, there is so little boat movement at present that we have been able to moor at our chosen location each night. We moored above Pilgrim lock yesterday; Nb Jervaulx from Crick came by and we helped them with the lock and chatted to them.
They are going up the Severn from Tewkesbury, we are heading down to Gloucester so we will not see them again this year.
We wandered around Bidford this morning; a few good buildings and a nice church but lacked the small town feeling that I supposed we hoped would come across to us.
One fact worth a mention; all of the anglers along the Avon are really friendly!
They wave or smile first, chat as you pass them and I have lost count of the number of times that they have ended a short conversation with ‘enjoy yourself’ or ‘safe journey’
If only it was the same on the canals………
We have tied up above Offenham lock, some 3 miles from Evesham and I have been having a good chat with a fisherman on holiday from Feltham, Middlesex; an area that I know quite well from van delivery days.
2009 Totals: 410Locks – 693 miles – 18 Bus pass uses.
Saturday, 18 July 2009
BATTERY TERMINAL
Luddington Lock, River Avon, Saturday 18th July
Instead of a whirr whirr broom; on turning the key starter this morning, I was serenaded with aaarrrhhh aaarrrhhh aaarrrhhh. I know that the engine does not have an inhaler; ergo it probably does not suffer from asthma. The conclusion therefore must be that the starter battery is in a permanent dysfunctional state. For the non technical readers amongst you, it is k*******d.
A telephone call to the efficient River Canal Rescue resulted in Sean arriving accompanied by a new battery. After it was fitted, he tested the charging circuit and pronounced all was in working order. For us, it was another satisfactory result and confirmation of the good service that they provide.
We moved off after lunch and headed for Trinity or Colin P Witter (of towing bracket fame) lock; a boat had just entered from downstream which made the job a bit easier and friendly as Myra chatted to the crew. Owing to the nature of the ground at the location of this lock, a steel framework has been incorporated to ensure stability.
Before the next lock, you pass under the new road bridge; care has been taken to soften the visual impact of the concrete by adding brick infillings. We thought that the end result looked good. We went down Weir brake lock and immediately we were in open countryside. We arrived at Luddington lock and tied up on the beautifully situated moorings above. We had a wander around the village and the church.
I spoke at length to David who owns the boathouse at the top of the moorings. He has a steel river launch by an unknown builder that was steam powered but now is electric. During our chat, it transpired that he had worked in The Causeway at Horsham and had kept a boat at Dell Quay in Chichester Harbour. Both of these places, I know very well and we reminisced about sailing and dinghies. Hooray for nostalgia!
2009 Totals: 406 Locks – 680.5 miles – 18 Bus pass uses.
Instead of a whirr whirr broom; on turning the key starter this morning, I was serenaded with aaarrrhhh aaarrrhhh aaarrrhhh. I know that the engine does not have an inhaler; ergo it probably does not suffer from asthma. The conclusion therefore must be that the starter battery is in a permanent dysfunctional state. For the non technical readers amongst you, it is k*******d.
A telephone call to the efficient River Canal Rescue resulted in Sean arriving accompanied by a new battery. After it was fitted, he tested the charging circuit and pronounced all was in working order. For us, it was another satisfactory result and confirmation of the good service that they provide.
We moved off after lunch and headed for Trinity or Colin P Witter (of towing bracket fame) lock; a boat had just entered from downstream which made the job a bit easier and friendly as Myra chatted to the crew. Owing to the nature of the ground at the location of this lock, a steel framework has been incorporated to ensure stability.
Before the next lock, you pass under the new road bridge; care has been taken to soften the visual impact of the concrete by adding brick infillings. We thought that the end result looked good. We went down Weir brake lock and immediately we were in open countryside. We arrived at Luddington lock and tied up on the beautifully situated moorings above. We had a wander around the village and the church.
I spoke at length to David who owns the boathouse at the top of the moorings. He has a steel river launch by an unknown builder that was steam powered but now is electric. During our chat, it transpired that he had worked in The Causeway at Horsham and had kept a boat at Dell Quay in Chichester Harbour. Both of these places, I know very well and we reminisced about sailing and dinghies. Hooray for nostalgia!
2009 Totals: 406 Locks – 680.5 miles – 18 Bus pass uses.
EXPLORING
River Avon, Stratford on Avon, Friday 17th July
Judging by today’s performance, we will never get our long distance badge.
We moved a few hundred yards up river to the water point and having refilled the tank, moved on under Clopton Road Bridge (yes the boat did go underneath!)to have a look at the Bathing place further upstream. The river above Stratford is lovely as it twist and turns; then it opens right out next to a gently sloping grass area and a car park, about half a mile from the main road bridge.
There is a water point, rubbish and elsan disposal on the north of the grassed area I was surprised to see that the rubbish was just thrown into a gated compound. I am sure shovelling that lot into a bin must contravene some health and safety rules.
We moved back to a mooring opposite the church, slightly north of our previous one.
Walking back from another visit to the town, nb. My Gosh was in the basin with Gordon shouting a greeting from the cabin steps.
The heavens opened soon after we arrived on Martlet, a combination of luck and looking at the very dark clouds heading in our direction.
We will move down river tomorrow, weather permitting
2009 Totals: 404 Locks – 677 miles – 18 Bus pass uses.
Judging by today’s performance, we will never get our long distance badge.
We moved a few hundred yards up river to the water point and having refilled the tank, moved on under Clopton Road Bridge (yes the boat did go underneath!)to have a look at the Bathing place further upstream. The river above Stratford is lovely as it twist and turns; then it opens right out next to a gently sloping grass area and a car park, about half a mile from the main road bridge.
There is a water point, rubbish and elsan disposal on the north of the grassed area I was surprised to see that the rubbish was just thrown into a gated compound. I am sure shovelling that lot into a bin must contravene some health and safety rules.
We moved back to a mooring opposite the church, slightly north of our previous one.
Walking back from another visit to the town, nb. My Gosh was in the basin with Gordon shouting a greeting from the cabin steps.
The heavens opened soon after we arrived on Martlet, a combination of luck and looking at the very dark clouds heading in our direction.
We will move down river tomorrow, weather permitting
2009 Totals: 404 Locks – 677 miles – 18 Bus pass uses.
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