Monday, 27 July 2009
MISTAKEN IDENTITY?
Gloucester docks, Sunday 26th July
Last evening, we joined a group of boaters sitting outside the lock cottage at Strensham; we were made to feel at home and enjoyed their company.
One of the younger children had asked her Dad if I was Father Christmas.
He told her to ask Myra: she took the girl to one side and explained that I was Father Christmas, but that I was on holiday and she must keep it secret. When she left with her Mum and Dad at bedtime, she smiled and gave me a big wave. Oh, the wonderful
innocence of the young.
This morning, we moved away down the lock at 8am for the run down to Tewkesbury and the River Severn beyond. There were a number of anglers setting up for a competition, most of them gave a friendly wave; I will really miss this on the canals.
We arrived at Tewkesbury where the lock keeper had just penned a boat up from the Severn, he took our front rope and warped us into the lock. He gave me a lot of useful advice for the trip and contacted the Gloucester lock keeper to tell him of our journey.
In no time we were leaving the lock and heading down the River Severn and Upper Lode lock which we left at 10am.
There was a bit of fresh water in the river, the journey took us just two hours for the 14 miles to Gloucester lock; we tied to a pontoon in the docks and later, we visited the Waterways museum where we spent nearly two hours. It was well laid out and interesting, the bucket dredger was one of my favourites, as it was identical to one that I knew at Shoreham where I was mucking about in boats some 55 years ago.
They have a ferro cement (concrete) narrowboat, only two were ever made; Guest and sons of Stourbridge did the work but the boats were too heavy to carry a full load and were easily damaged.
2009 Totals: 420 Locks – 734 miles – 20 Bus pass uses.
Last evening, we joined a group of boaters sitting outside the lock cottage at Strensham; we were made to feel at home and enjoyed their company.
One of the younger children had asked her Dad if I was Father Christmas.
He told her to ask Myra: she took the girl to one side and explained that I was Father Christmas, but that I was on holiday and she must keep it secret. When she left with her Mum and Dad at bedtime, she smiled and gave me a big wave. Oh, the wonderful
innocence of the young.
This morning, we moved away down the lock at 8am for the run down to Tewkesbury and the River Severn beyond. There were a number of anglers setting up for a competition, most of them gave a friendly wave; I will really miss this on the canals.
We arrived at Tewkesbury where the lock keeper had just penned a boat up from the Severn, he took our front rope and warped us into the lock. He gave me a lot of useful advice for the trip and contacted the Gloucester lock keeper to tell him of our journey.
In no time we were leaving the lock and heading down the River Severn and Upper Lode lock which we left at 10am.
There was a bit of fresh water in the river, the journey took us just two hours for the 14 miles to Gloucester lock; we tied to a pontoon in the docks and later, we visited the Waterways museum where we spent nearly two hours. It was well laid out and interesting, the bucket dredger was one of my favourites, as it was identical to one that I knew at Shoreham where I was mucking about in boats some 55 years ago.
They have a ferro cement (concrete) narrowboat, only two were ever made; Guest and sons of Stourbridge did the work but the boats were too heavy to carry a full load and were easily damaged.
2009 Totals: 420 Locks – 734 miles – 20 Bus pass uses.
Saturday, 25 July 2009
GOOD SERVICE FROM SMALL SHOP
Strensham Lock, River Avon, Saturday 25th July
I called in to the electrical shop yesterday on our return to Pershore; I wanted a suppressor as the new fridge interferes with the radio. They did not have any in stock, but the owner said that he had some at home, he could bring one for me next morning if that was of any use. It was; he did, and I left the shop a happy bunny.
You don’t get that sort of service from Currys, which is one of the reasons that I try to use locally owned shops whenever possible.
We called into Tesco Metro for a paper. There was one checkout womaned (how PC can you get!) and a queue almost one aisle in length. We put the paper back; Myra will just have to carry on using her 7 week old TV and Radio guide.
Returning to Martlet, we moved off and prepared the lock, there was a hire boat milling around and they shared the lock once we had done all of the filling and gate opening. They had eight people on board, they knew what to do; they were just lazy.
At the next lock a cruiser had joined us, and two boats were waiting to come up; the crews told us to stay on the boat and they would do it all. That evened things out nicely. We stopped for the day at Strensham lock, another mooring with open countryside views.
2009 Totals: 417 Locks – 715.5 miles – 20 Bus pass uses.
I called in to the electrical shop yesterday on our return to Pershore; I wanted a suppressor as the new fridge interferes with the radio. They did not have any in stock, but the owner said that he had some at home, he could bring one for me next morning if that was of any use. It was; he did, and I left the shop a happy bunny.
You don’t get that sort of service from Currys, which is one of the reasons that I try to use locally owned shops whenever possible.
We called into Tesco Metro for a paper. There was one checkout womaned (how PC can you get!) and a queue almost one aisle in length. We put the paper back; Myra will just have to carry on using her 7 week old TV and Radio guide.
Returning to Martlet, we moved off and prepared the lock, there was a hire boat milling around and they shared the lock once we had done all of the filling and gate opening. They had eight people on board, they knew what to do; they were just lazy.
At the next lock a cruiser had joined us, and two boats were waiting to come up; the crews told us to stay on the boat and they would do it all. That evened things out nicely. We stopped for the day at Strensham lock, another mooring with open countryside views.
2009 Totals: 417 Locks – 715.5 miles – 20 Bus pass uses.
WORCESTER, BY ROAD
As we are unsure of the mooring availability at Worcester, we decided upon a land based visit and caught the bus from Pershore this morning. We took the scenic one which went through a lot of villages; the driver did warn us that it took nearly an hour, but the journey was very nice owing to the greetings from each passenger as they joined the happy band of pilgrims on board. After passing through some beautiful countryside, villages and a torrential downpour with lightning, we arrived in Worcester. We headed for the cathedral.
We had thought that Pershore Abbey was a fine building.
Worcester Cathedral is magnificent. It was founded in 680AD and dedicated to St. Peter, in 983AD St Oswald founded a Benedictine monastery with a church dedicated to St Mary; this took over as the cathedral. The present building was commenced in 1084 by Bishop Wulfstan. The monastery was dissolved in 1540 and extensive damage was done by the parliamentarians during 1640 -1660; during this time they had troops housed and horses stabled inside. Around 1857, the victorians began an extensive restoration over the next 20 years. A further restoration was started in 1988 and is ongoing.
We spent over three hours on our visit; we will return as we were by then
suffering from an overload of information. The quality of craftsmanship is breathtaking. We had a very informative personal tour from Henry, not one of the guides on duty. He saw us admiring some fine stone tracery and politely enquired if he could show us something that he thought may be of interest. He showed us an unusual effigy of a knight.
There is a story which Myra raised and Henry chooses to believe: when a knight has been on one crusade, his effigy has legs crossed at the ankles. After two crusades, his legs are crossed at the knees; for a third crusade, his legs are crossed at the thighs.
Worcester cathedral has an effigy of a knight in the third category. Over the next 45 minutes, Henry shared some of his passion for this wonderful place, by showing us various little things that are not usually part of a tour. This lovely man made our visit that much more enjoyable; our visit to the top of the tower (255 steps) was another high point (ouch!). The weather was sunny and the surrounding area laid out beneath us was spectacular. The aerial view of North Road ground with the home team playing the last day of a match against Somerset was a scene that was essentially English. We travelled back to Pershore on the same circuitous route with the same friendly passengers; this time the sky was clear and we could see all of the views this time. We have had a really enjoyable day.
2009 Totals: 415 Locks – 707.5 miles – 18 Bus pass uses
We had thought that Pershore Abbey was a fine building.
Worcester Cathedral is magnificent. It was founded in 680AD and dedicated to St. Peter, in 983AD St Oswald founded a Benedictine monastery with a church dedicated to St Mary; this took over as the cathedral. The present building was commenced in 1084 by Bishop Wulfstan. The monastery was dissolved in 1540 and extensive damage was done by the parliamentarians during 1640 -1660; during this time they had troops housed and horses stabled inside. Around 1857, the victorians began an extensive restoration over the next 20 years. A further restoration was started in 1988 and is ongoing.
We spent over three hours on our visit; we will return as we were by then
suffering from an overload of information. The quality of craftsmanship is breathtaking. We had a very informative personal tour from Henry, not one of the guides on duty. He saw us admiring some fine stone tracery and politely enquired if he could show us something that he thought may be of interest. He showed us an unusual effigy of a knight.
There is a story which Myra raised and Henry chooses to believe: when a knight has been on one crusade, his effigy has legs crossed at the ankles. After two crusades, his legs are crossed at the knees; for a third crusade, his legs are crossed at the thighs.
Worcester cathedral has an effigy of a knight in the third category. Over the next 45 minutes, Henry shared some of his passion for this wonderful place, by showing us various little things that are not usually part of a tour. This lovely man made our visit that much more enjoyable; our visit to the top of the tower (255 steps) was another high point (ouch!). The weather was sunny and the surrounding area laid out beneath us was spectacular. The aerial view of North Road ground with the home team playing the last day of a match against Somerset was a scene that was essentially English. We travelled back to Pershore on the same circuitous route with the same friendly passengers; this time the sky was clear and we could see all of the views this time. We have had a really enjoyable day.
2009 Totals: 415 Locks – 707.5 miles – 18 Bus pass uses
PERSHORE
Pershore, Friday 23rd July
We arrived at Pershore Abbey knowing that the reformation had dealt harshly with it.
The monastic buildings, the Norman nave, the Lady Chapel and St Edburga's Chapel were demolished and their building materials were sold. The parishioners bought the monks' choir for £400 to be their parish church.
During the late 17th century, the north transept fell and the north buttress was built to support the tower. In 1861 during a gale, the east parapet blew down and a large scale restoration took place under the auspices of Giles Gilbert Scott. During these works, the belfry floor was removed and the ringing room replaced by a metal cage suspended high above the chancel crossing. The fine lantern tracery of the tower was exposed by this removal. A ring of eight bells hangs here. Altogether, a fine building.
The town itself has some good buildings, but suffers from a busy main road running through the centre. It has a few empty shops, but not as many as a lot of small towns we have seen this year.
2009 Totals: 415 Locks – 707.5 miles – 18 Bus pass uses.
We arrived at Pershore Abbey knowing that the reformation had dealt harshly with it.
The monastic buildings, the Norman nave, the Lady Chapel and St Edburga's Chapel were demolished and their building materials were sold. The parishioners bought the monks' choir for £400 to be their parish church.
During the late 17th century, the north transept fell and the north buttress was built to support the tower. In 1861 during a gale, the east parapet blew down and a large scale restoration took place under the auspices of Giles Gilbert Scott. During these works, the belfry floor was removed and the ringing room replaced by a metal cage suspended high above the chancel crossing. The fine lantern tracery of the tower was exposed by this removal. A ring of eight bells hangs here. Altogether, a fine building.
The town itself has some good buildings, but suffers from a busy main road running through the centre. It has a few empty shops, but not as many as a lot of small towns we have seen this year.
2009 Totals: 415 Locks – 707.5 miles – 18 Bus pass uses.
Friday, 24 July 2009
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