Category Archives: General

Standing at the Crossroads

After the delights of a Gloucester Monday morning and lunch, the Captain decided he wanted to get out of town for somewhere more rural, so later that afternoon we cast off for pastures new.

The Gloucester & Sharpness canal is unusual: once one that too significant commercial shipping, it is wide and almost river-like in feel, but the sides are normally piled, and there’s a towpath, and you can moor up rather more freely. There are no locks, but loads of low swing bridges, each of which – at the moment – is manned by a bridge-keeper. But there’s mutterings about automation…

Once out of the industrial bit we found a pleasant spot for the night, and were rewarded by a sunny Tuesday morning.

Setting off late morning, we passed this abandoned barge, complete with resident swan on the nest, and were soon mooring up at Saul Junction for lunch.

Saul Junction is a unique spot on the British canals: it’s the only place were two canals cross at a genuine “crossroads”. The Stroudwater Canal starts in Stroud (where it joins the Thames & Severn Canal), and crosses the G&S at Saul just before dropping down to the River Severn. The Canal & River Trust are talking about restoring the lock just visible in the second photo, because it will look pretty, although entirely useless to boaters: restoring any further is a bit pointless as no one in their right minds would nowadays want to go down onto the tidal Severn there.

Meanwhile, the Cotswold Canal Trust are trying to restore the Stroudwater Canal and make it navigable to Stroud initially (currently only about half a mile is navigable), and eventually restore the Thames & Severn all the way to Lechlade-on-Thames. That would make a huge difference to boating in the South West, but will probably only take a couple of centuries to achieve… We won’t hold our breath!

You don’t often see RNLI lifeboats on a canal, or seemingly top-heavy pirate ships either. Don’t know what either was doing there, but with access for big boats at Sharpness, the boatyard here clearly had more than narrowboats and tupperware jobs to manage.

First time we’ve seen anyone actually taking a dog for a swim…

And walking back to the boat after lunch we were delayed by a tow-path hog who was disinclined to let anyone pass.

Harry Potter and More Ceilings

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Monday morning, and it’s off to the Harry Potter Theme Park, aka Gloucester Cathedral. And very impressive it is too. Although with all the abbeys, priorys and churches on this journey of two rivers, one can’t help but be reminded of the newly-wed bride, who – when asked what she wanted to see on her honeymoon – said simply “ceilings!”

It’s apparently a local joke that if you ask the whereabouts of someone in Gloucester, the reply always includes “you can see the cathedral from here”; and indeed you can glimpse the tower from almost anywhere, but getting a decent overview of the outside is nigh-on impossible.

It rapidly became clear that a quick whizz around wasn’t really going to suffice, so we did just that, BUT determined to come back and get a proper guided tour when we returned back this way after going down to Sharpness.

The impressive West window is popular with tourists because it’s nice and bright (because it’s Victorian), and there’s some lovely modern glass in a side chapel. The columns just visible in in the right of the West window picture are all different, and relate to different periods of construction. The crowning glory is the mediaeval East window, but not easy to photograph on this day of clouds and sunshine. We’ll have another go in a week or so,

The Lady Chapel is much more modern, with an interesting side-line in garish tombs and wordy inscriptions. The one for the impressively named Sir Joseph Onesiphorus Paul Bt. was fascinating – clearly an early prison reformer.

The cloisters are just stunning – although familiar to anyone who’s seen the Harry Potter movies. The reminder for the Fifth Form seemed the icing on the cake. Speaking of which, noshing in the cafe we fell into conversation with a lady from Holland, who was touring with her husband and – presumably Potter mad – daughter. They’d come over on the overnight ferry to Newcastle and driven up to do Edinburgh; the next day they’d driven down to a B&B in Oxford; today, having driven to Gloucester and done the cathedral in the morning/lunchtime, they were off to do Laycock Abbey then Stonehenge before returning to Oxford that evening. Made us tired just to even think of it!

Just off the cloisters was this place: no obvious indication of it’s purpose. Perhaps a giant communal wash-hand basin. If anyone knows…

And a confession (appropriate in a place of worship) – the photos or the photographer got mixed up, and this one is the real tomb of Edward II, not the one photographed in Tewkesbury Abbey last week! Mea culpa!

HOGs for Lunch, Gloucester Old Spot for Dinner

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It was warm and sunny, we’d been invited out for a late Sunday lunch cum early dinner of roast Gloucester Old Spot, so a mornings mooch around the docks seemed the best bet.

As we walked across Llanthony Bridge, there was a long roaring roll of thunder in a cloudless sky; turning the corner we found the Birmingham chapter of the Harley Owners Group on a day out. We felt sorry for the solitary Mod if things turned into a bank-holiday dust-up, but none of the H.O.G.s looked under 65, so he might have been OK.

The Barge Arm was where we’d had tea at the narrowboat, but the impressive looking Waterways Museum was closed for refurbishment.

Just around the corner, CaRT were running trips in an old Dunkirk Little Ship (and for the avoidance of doubt, that’s the bigger one in the picture).

The lock itself is indeed pretty big (particularly when you’re at the bottom, with no way off the boat)…

… and the visitor moorings close to the action, but obviously not to Sir’s liking on a Saturday night!

And with good food, drink, and most important, company later on, a pretty good way to spend a day…

Gloucester Here We Come

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Saturday morning dawned bright and gloomy, and we set off, starting with locking down through Avon Lock onto the Avon link, then a left turn onto the River Severn proper. Very shortly we came to Upper Lode Lock, below which the river is sometimes tidal (at high Spring Tides), and hence bad news for little boats. There was to be a Spring Tide on the Sunday morning, so we really needed to get tucked up in Gloucester before then.

Upper Lode Lock is ENORMOUS. Safely descended, the far gates were opened, and Song & Dance was fully up to deep river cruising speed before we even reached them. And there’s also a wide pool at that end fully big enough to wind/turn a 58ft narrowboat round or moor a flotilla of sailing yachts.

Just down the Severn from Upper Lode, you come across the premises of the Avon Sailing Club, but that’s all right as the Severn Sailing Club is situated near Bredon, about 6 miles up the Avon from Tewkesbury. Must be something in the water.

Making good time we stopped at The Boat Inn at Ashleworth for lunch and a short wander. Although the village itself is a way off, just behind the pub is a fine collection of 15C buildings huddled together: a manor house, church and tithe barn.

This barn is still seemingly used for storing useful things like dead sinks, but at least there was little in the way of guano underfoot. More impressive were the giant “half doors”. Don’t know about lifting one off so you can clog dance – these are big enough to hold a small ceilidh on! An instant hernia at the mere thought.

The church had an unusual – but probably not 15C – stile, and their bell ropes matched the chief cook’s fancy mooring warps, so if we need some more we know where to come.

And just around the corner were some Gloucestershire Old Spots – an early inspiration for several other Morris sides and the Morris movement in general – one even looks suspiciously like Ken Langsbury…

During the pub lunch break, the Captain had braved the open weave pontoons for a good rummage around in the bankside weeds and woods. Needing to get going, and after watching him seemingly sitting quietly in a chunk of long grass for some while with no sign of wishing to go boating again, the navigator picked him up as per normal. Only to find him in mid wee. After a wash, and a clean shirt, we set off with a very grumpy Skipper muttering to himself.

We’d been warned about the approach into Gloucester Lock, which takes you up from the River Severn into Gloucester Docks: it was as interesting as promised, and we were glad of the detailed briefing; even gladder there wasn’t actually much flow on the Severn that afternoon, or it could have easily become exciting – something we try and avoid.

With us as the only occupants, the lockkeeper filled the large lock very slowly, and before we’d made it all the way up to the busy bedlam that is Gloucester Docks on a sunny weekend afternoon, our friends Moira, Graham and family were peering over the edge and forming a welcoming party. We’d seen them all several times in passing last weekend at Chippenham, but never got a chance to chat, so tea and buns at the narrowboat cafe rapidly ensued.

All in all, we’ve had worse days, even if the Captain was still sulking, and The Guv’nor was nowhere in sight.

Bredon At Last-Take 2: Optical Illusions and Guano

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A sunny Friday morning – and as the car needed taking home – the Captain allowed us to use it to drive the 3 miles or so to Bredon, to see what we’d missed when passing by boat a week or so ago.

Walking from our mooring by the lock back to the marina to collect the car, we discovered what had happened to our chums Cilla and Artie’s now retired/redundant collection of tea making equipment – they’ve turned it into a narrowboat. Unless they’re starting a new, small scale, floating show, like the Mikron Theatre lot, who we haven’t seen anything of this season so far.

Bredon turned out to be a very pretty, and pretty much unspoilt, village with an interesting parish church, an old pub that does food, and a National Trust Tithe Barn so famous they don’t even bother to list it in their membership book. Unfortunately the village is disturbingly close to the M5.

The church’s steeple is visible from far and wide, but the first surprise is the flooring. Fancy knotwork heating grids, and optical illusion tiling isn’t the usual parish church fare.

The totally OTT marble tomb seemed out of place, but the stained glass was lovely.

Just down from the churchyard was a fine tithe barn, for storing the local “taxes”: these days it’s seemingly mainly used as an enormous dovecot. We wonder if they harvest the significant quantities of guano flooring.

Walking back, the cook noticed this lovely – if somewhat out of character – cottage and gardens, and decided that it would be nice place to retire to…

After lunch at the pub, the cook was dropped back at the boat, and the car returned to home.

Memo to self 1: don’t try driving from Tewkesbury down the M5/M4 and returning via an Oxford bound train on a Friday afternoon at the end of half-term holidays.

Memo to self 2: don’t believe the bus timetables and signs for the Ashchurch for Tewkesbury to Tewkesbury “rail link” (sic). It’s complete figment of someone’s imagination.

Still, we hope the weather holds: it’s time to go boating again.

An Abbey a Day…

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Making a mental note to check why the River Avon has so many abbeys close together (Evesham, Pershore, Tewkesbury): an Abbey a Day keeps something at bay. And whether you’re deeply religious, an atheist, or a even a committed Pastafarian, there’s something undeniably awe inspiring about these old religious sites and buildings from Stonehenge and Callanish onwards, and the faith of the people who built them without the aid of modern day cranes and cherry pickers.

Well surrounded, it’s not altogether easy to get a decent outside shot of the Abbey, although the fledgling blackbird (taken from the same spot) clearly had an unusual “bird’s eye view”.

The vaulted and decorated ceilings are quite astonishing, as is the stained glass.

And the almost filigree stone work on some of the tombs and side chapels does make you wonder, even if it clearly needs a lot of attention. The one on the left is apparently the grave of Edward II (the king, not the folk/reggae/rock band that our mate Simon played in).

Tewkesbury and the Two-Hanky Poppadum

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We were rather taken with Tewkesbury, and on our return from Chippenham/home had resolved to explore further and visit the Abbey. There seem to be lot of Abbeys on the Avon for some reason.

Anyway after driving back with a car load of clean clothes, and with the Captain safely reinstalled in his Captain’s chair on the boat, we set off for a quick curry. Most curry houses these days have “Chef’s Specials” or “House Recommendations” above and beyond the bog-standard standard CTM/Biryani/Bhuna/Madras/whatever concoctions, and if one goes off-piste on the menu, one occasionally comes across a dish rather hotter (or sometimes less hot) than expected. We can safely say that at Panache we came across our first two-hanky poppadum. Ordering the standard “two plain, two spicy” to nibble while we cogitated, halfway through the first spicy one we were already wondering if we had enough napery to make it through to dinner proper. The food was indeed excellent and memorable.

But enough of runny noses: some pictures of a wander around Tewkesbury in some pleasant warm sunshine on the Thursday morning…

Some doorways and cottages on main street.

This ginnel led to an Old Baptist Chapel complete with graveyard looking out over the Ham lands, lying between the River Avon and the River Severn…

… and it came complete with a snoozing Old Baptist Chapel Court Cat.

These cottages at the “end” of the Avon navigation – where a big sluice drops the water down to the Severn level – have a lovely view of the Ham, definitely the largest wild-flower meadow we’ve seen this trip!

Some more old buildings (and another cat) – and we haven’t even been round the Abbey yet.

An Evening Twixt Avon and Severn

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Having agreed that we could go to Chippenham Folk Festival for the Bank Holiday weekend, while he deigned to visit home and be spoilt by our neighbour, the Skipper was anxious to be off and resume hostilities with Otto, the new kid in town, who had taken up residence next door. But by the time we’d sorted out everything, it was too late to get a train and fetch a car, so the evening was spent on a quick exploratory look around Tewkesbury.

A first glance made it clear that sitting at the junction of the rivers Avon and Severn, and being prone to flooding recently, there was some heavyweight water manipulation stuff all around.

Tewkesbury is apparently renowned for its myriad little alleys off the High Street: here are a couple (including one especially for some reneging crew members). Not sure if it’s renowned for strangely named Estate Agents, but it’s got one of those too.

There were plenty of interesting looking buildings, too…

… as well as the famous Abbey at the other end of town, so we determined to spend a day or so exploring on our return, and soon spotted some decent visitor moorings outside the marina, right by the bridge and the lock down onto the Severn.

The bridge lies between two famous old pubs: The White Bear and The Black Bear. They have build a new block of flats between the two pubs, and the access road into them shows that some councils have a sense of humour.

And so, having travelled home by train and returned avec voiture on the Tuesday, an early start to the chauffeur’s birthday on Wednesday saw us driving Sir home, then going out for a splendid steak dinner, while looking forward to resuming the exploration of Tewkesbury after the Chippenham festivities.

Bredon at Last – Or Not

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With Bredon Hill in view from various directions for several days, it was something of a relief to actually circumnavigate it: we were actually trying to get to Tewkesbury.

It really is lovely countryside around here, even if it is impossible to sail in a straight line.

Some mandolin musician friends of the Captain had once hoped to do an arrangement of Ralph Vaughan William’s treatment of Houseman’s Bredon Hill, but Ursula ran some kind of interference so they wrote their own tune. Wonder what they’d make of this boat… it’s very big, and a strange way to spell ukelele!

Bredon church and village looked interesting as did the Tithe Barn, and the book said there were moorings: nothing for a narrowboat, though. Another day, maybe. We did like the sentiment behind the blue-and-white Tupperware job’s name!

And so, in the early afternoon, in glorious sunshine, we eased into Tewkesbury Marina, which is vast, with several basins on both the Avon and the Severn, and moorings on both sides of the river. They even have their own private Bailey bridge across the Avon as well. Still, they were friendly and helpful, and the moorings were all flood safe, so it was a good place to leave Song & Dance for a week or so, come hell or high water.

School Runs, Storms, Strensham, and Summer White-Outs

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When we woke up on the (nice and sunny) Monday morning, the Eckington Quay/Bridge car park next to Song & Dance was empty, but not for long. A car pulled up – early morning dog-walker, we assumed. But no, a young-ish man got out, accompanied by two young boys smartly dressed in school uniform. Out came a folding table and chairs which were duly unfolded, followed by provisions for a picnic breakfast. They ate and happily chattered away in what sounded like a Eastern European language for half an hour, before fairly rapdily packing everything up and heading off. A whole new slant on the school run!

Earlier in the trip we’d noticed just how much wildlife there was in the hedgerows, presumably due to the mild and wet winter. Another benefactor seemed to be dandelions, which seemed to be rampant – we’d never seen so many covering the fields by the canals and river. And with the warmer weather and a significant breeze, the seeds were coming off the dandelion clocks in such numbers that several times it was like boating in a snow storm. Again.

Setting off for Strensham Lock, and yet another attempt at actually getting around Bredon and Bredon Hill, we soon came across a reminder that the Avon is not always so docile.

Another plant we’d noticed was a yellow flowered jobbie that we originally thought might have been escaped rape, but after a day or two decided it wasn’t the right colour. The banks of the Avon were covered with it: any suggestions as to what it is will receive the customary award.

And as for Strensham Lock… the top gate and paddles leaked so much that we actually had significant waves in the lock. Song & Dance isn’t exactly seaworthy, and by the time we exited the lock we were feeling decidedly seasick.

Biggles Goes Boating

… or a right Song & Dance.

Category Archives: General

Standing at the Crossroads

Harry Potter and More Ceilings

HOGs for Lunch, Gloucester Old Spot for Dinner

Gloucester Here We Come

Bredon At Last-Take 2: Optical Illusions and Guano

An Abbey a Day…

Tewkesbury and the Two-Hanky Poppadum

An Evening Twixt Avon and Severn

Bredon at Last – Or Not

School Runs, Storms, Strensham, and Summer White-Outs