Gloucester Sharpness Canal

Wednesday 1st August

Gloucester
We called into the docks at Gloucester on Wednesday morning to find plenty of available places, this was a relief as the moorings here can become very busy at this time of year.

Gloucester Docks

Once settled in we went off to look for the railway station and explore the town. The centre is interesting with the remains of three priories to explore, the Greyfriars, Blackfriars and Llanthony, little remains of them but there are useful information boards around.
Without doubt the town's gem is the wonderful cathedral, it is not dog friendly, unfortunately, so we had to visit in shifts.
One of the main tombs located here is that of Edward II, a king who was hated at the time and due to his "habits" was rejected in death by most of the bishops of the day, Gloucester took pity and allowed him to be buried there.

The building has a wonderful cloister and the surrounding passages are a delight with incredible stone roofs.

The town centre consists of the usual shops but the area around the docks, known as Gloucester Quays is amazing, there is a large shopping village here with many brand outlets along with pubs and restaurants along the quayside.

Gloucester Quays

Whist moored here we took the opportunity to take the train to Bristol to meet up with Vicky.  There is a frequent direct service for a very reasonable £6.20 return with our railcards. We enjoyed our day in Bristol but poor old Scruff suffered in the heat and took a few days to recover.

Friday 3rd August
We made our way down towards Slimbridge but first radioed Llanthony Bridge to request a passage through, the radio was handy here as the bridge keeper was able to inform us that the service jetty was free. The jetty lies just after the bridge tucked away in a corner and is not visible from the basin.
Leaving the services, we moved onto the moorings located right outside the huge Sainsburys store, to restock.

Our friends Pat and Ian phoned us to say that they were in the area so we arranged to meet them at Slimbridge. There are good moorings here close to the Tudor Arms pub, behind which is a large caravan and campsite. Pat and Ian are spending their summer in their camper van and were able to book a few nights on the site so we arranged to meet later in the day.

We left the store moorings and made our way down the wide and deep canal.

 All the swing bridges, over the 16.5 miles of the canal, are manned, the first few after Gloucester are high enough for a narrow boat to pass under, however all are traffic light controlled so even though you can pass through you still have to obey the lights, the bridge keepers tend to operate one way traffic through their bridges so be prepared to wait if the light remains red.

Saul Junction Basin

Busy boatyard at Saul

The lower bridges have to be swung, so again the lights must be adhered to. The keeper let's you know he has seen you by a flashing red light, this will change to green once your passage is clear. Junction Bridge at Saul has radio communication as it sits directly on the junction of the Severn Thames canal, heading down steam, the junction sits to the left just after the bridge, although this canal is under restoration the junction is still busy as there is a large marina situated close by.


When restoration has been completed this canal will form a link between the Gloucester Sharpness canal and the upper Thames at Lechlade, this will make a tremendous cruising ring and it is likely to be very popular.
There is still a tremendous amount of work to be done, including a couple of obstacles to be overcome to link the restored section through Stroud with the GS, not least of these is passing under the M5 motorway and A38 trunk road.

We called the bridge and were soon through passing the busy Saul basin before calling at the old Cadbury Wharf for diesel.

The Cadbury Wharf is currently being restored, half of the factory being a Flour Mill. Cocoa was brought up the Bristol Channel and unloaded here, before being processed into Queens Chocolate using milk from the local area. This crude form of chocolate was then loaded into narrow boats,  to be carried upto Bournville in Birmingham for finishing.
An hour or so later we arrived at Slimbridge, the moorings here are on the off side just after the bridge and are fairly extensive,  there are moorings on the towpath side here too.
Pat and Ian were waiting for us as we pulled in, and helped us tie up before coming on board to celebrate our meeting up.

Purton Hulks

The remains of a barge involved in the Lydney bridge disaster

We stayed the weekend, having a run down to Purton on Sunday to call at the Berkeley Arms and visit the Purton wrecks. We took the boat down to Sharpness before winding and returning back up to Purton. At Sharpness there were a lot of boats moored, each with strange aluminium covers, we realised that these had been used as props for some filming that had taken place that week,  rumour has it that it is a BBC production of the trilogy His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman.


The Berkeley Arms is unusual as when closed it is a working farm, the opening times are listed as 12 until 2pm Saturday and Sunday and 7 until 10pm each evening.
The opening times are subject to the will of the landlord so they are not guaranteed, do not be disappointed if you arrive and find it closed. Stepping into this pub is like going back in time, the inside hasn't changed much over the years, even the beer garden feels ancient with great views across the estuary. The landlady is a real character so be prepared for a bit of friendly ribbing!
Leaving the pub we made our way down to the Purton Wrecks, these are a collection of boats, beached over the decades to protect the canal from erosion of the narrow bank separating canal and river. There a are a number of unusual concrete barges along with various wooden boats. Most are now covered in sand so they have done their job.
We returned to the moorings at Slimbridge before making our ssecond visit to the Tudor Arms for dinner.

Monday 6th August
We plan to go down the Severn Estuary later in the month, this requires a pilot and they insist that the diesel tank be cleaned before making the trip as the movement of the open water can dislodge the sludge and so stop the engine. We had arranged to get this done by Peter of Diesel-bug.com.
We arrived at Saul junction just as he pulled up on the bank, he set up alongside, one point to note, if any boaters are thinking of getting this done, is that his pump system requires a 240V ac supply. The equipment he uses consists of a pump and filter system, the pump draws fuel from the tank, passes it through a centrifuge to remove any water then filters the fuel before returning it to the tank at high pressure dislodging any sludge. He ran the system for around 40 minutes. Once complete he supplies a certificate as proof of the work being done. The cost for the service is £100.

We moored up opposite the Cadbury Wharf for the night before returning to Slimbridge for the rest of the week.

Cadbury Wharf

Slimbridge is close to where Lucia's sister, Rosa, lives. She kindly picked us up from the moorings, on several occasions, so we could spend the day at her house whilst also catching up on the washing and shopping. On one occasion I chose to walk the three miles, walking up Halmore Lane, just below Rosa and Andy's house, I came across Halmore Mill.
I called in to have a closer look at the waterwheel that was running, it turned out that this was a new wheel installed in the old wheel pit of the Mill. The Mill was destroyed by fire some time ago but the current owners have restored the dwellings and since rebuilt the water wheel. The wheel powers a generator capable of delivering a useful 10KW.

Hademore Mill

I also took advantage of our time here at Slimbridge to catch up on some more painting and general maintenance.

The following Saturday Vicky and Ian joined us for another visit to the Tudor Arms and an enjoyable lunch.

Monday 13th August
We moved back up to Saul junction and spent the night there before moving into Saul Junction Marina, we left the boat there for a week whilst we called back up to Leeds. The marina is a great spot with a well stocked chandlers and all the usual facilities. We found everyone here to be very friendly and the place makes for a very pleasant spot to moor up.

Tuesday  21st August
Following a journey back on a very busy train we were met by Rosa at Stonehouse Station, some 5 miles or so from the marina, she very kindly gave us a lift back to the boat as well as bringing some useful shopping.
On returning to the boat we decided to leave the marina and moor up out on the canal once again.
The following morning we cruised the five miles or so back up to Quedgeley and the large Tesco store to restock before returning to Slimbridge for the bank holiday weekend.
I phoned the Gloucester Pilots to discuss the trip down the estuary, we have penciled in the 30th August, they will confirm the date closer to the time once the weather forecast and tide times are confirmed, I also called the Bristol pilots to discuss the trip up the tidal Avon to the Floating Harbour in Bristol. Once we get confirmation for the trip down the estuary I will contact CRT at Sharpness to book a lock down on to the river, as well booking a lock up into Portishead marina where we will overnight until the tide on the following day.
We will move closer to Sharpness after the holiday weekend in readiness for the trip.

If anyone chooses to moor at or visit  Slimbridge we recommend a visit to the Blackshed Cafe Bar immediately north of Patch swing bridge. The new owners are working very hard to establish a venue for music, a cinema and theatre, they are also providing very useful facilities for boaters, they have a pump out, Elsan and water as well as a small chandlers, they also stock useful groceries and diesel.
There is a small charge of £2 for the Elsan, very reasonable as they are using the fee to support SARA, the Sharpness life boat station, as well as raising funds for a Defibrillator to be installed at the cafe. As well as all this they also serve great food and are licensed and held several events during our time here.

Late summer fruits

Airborne visitor

The River Avon

Monday 23rd July
After an enjoyable few days in a very hot and busy Stratford Upon Avon it was time to move on downstream and explore the river and its towns and villages.
We got an early start in more lovely sunshine travelling slowly with the flow of the river. Just after passing Trinity Church we arrived at the first of the six river locks taking us round the weirs, these are necessary to provide sufficient depth for navigation and on this part of the river they occur frequently.

Trinity Church Stratford

The river is quite narrow and twisty below Stratford but passes through beautiful country side deep in the heart of England, in many places in these parts it easy to forget that we are in the 21st century, with thatch roofs and timber framed buildings in abundance.

Upper Avon

Another of the Avon Locks, many are named to
honour those who dedicated themselves to the
 reopening of the navigation.

One of the many restored locks

We made good progress and at the third lock at  Luddington we met another boat waiting, in the lock  chamber, for us to join them. They kindly waited for us to use the services there before we joined them.

After the lock we passed under the medieval bridge at Binton, a very pretty spot.

Binton Bridge

We progressed quickly with the help of the other boat, arriving at our planned stop for the night at Bidford around noon, moorings are somewhat limited on rivers so it is advisable to get an early start arriving at moorings in good time, this way there is usually a space to be found.
We tied up alongside the large recreation grounds before heading off to explore. The village has a very old centre close to the river but housing extends northwards. We walked down the high street, there are a few pubs and a few food outlets here and a local butchers (closed  during our visit) but very little else. We walked up to have a look at the church again closed. The heat was really building so we headed for the pub in the centre of the village, The Bulls Head, a lovely old local establishment.

Bidford on Avon

We returned to the boat and with all doors and windows open we stayed inside away from the blistering heat, we had a short walk later in the evening once some of the heat had subsided, poor old Scruff was suffering with the heat but glad to be out in the cooler evening air.
The following morning saw an other early start, the locks were a little more spread apart and the river had become wider and deeper making for quick progress, our destination, Evesham, was only 8 miles and 4 locks downstream so we took our time soaking up the wonderful environment as we cruised along through some of England's finest scenery. We passed under the new bridge carrying the bypass around the town before passing beneath the railway bridge carrying the Oxford to Worcester line overhead. The approach to Evesham lock requires careful negotiation, when arriving from upstream there is a large weir to the left and a large sluice to the right, the flows can be strong here so it is necessary tie up to the weir barrier before setting up the lock.
We had to wait for a boat to come out of the lock before we could enter, there were two others waiting the come up, so there was plenty of help to get us through. Once underway we immediately passed under the old bridge in the town, the moorings are on the left bank after the bridge, we were advised to moor towards the far end of the moorings away from the bridge, there was plenty of space available and we were soon secured and ready to explore.
Evesham is another historic town however it is showing signs of neglect in a few areas, the moorings are alongside the Workman Gardens, nothing to do with hi-vis, hard hat wearing personnel but named after  a long serving mayor of the town, Henry Workman.
The town appears to have a large eastern European community and the seemed to congregate in the gardens, drinking and smoking copious amounts of various substances. There is a determined campaign to stop these habits from being undertaken here and the morning of the day we arrived we were told that fifty or so had been moved on by the police. The anti social behavior here has given the area a bad name among the boating community but we didn't experience any problems or feel intimidated even though there were large numbers of people around during the warm evening.
The town does have a lot of people hanging around street corners but is generally ok and certainly worth visiting. We walked over the bridge and up the street arriving at the old market square to the left, this was a bustling spot with cafes and bars around the square all with large out door seating areas. We entered a narrow lane through an old archway and into the abbey grounds. Very little remains of the abbey buildings other than the Bell Tower, lying between the parish church and the older St Lawrence Church the latter under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. The inside of the church is a must see with the vaulted, ploughshare ceilings and old stained glass.

Ploughshare Roof - St Lawrence Church- Evesham

The bell tower contains a carillon and we were treated to the sound of the bells many times during our stay here.

The Bell Tower, Evesham

Evesham

The heritage centre - Evesham

Wednesday 25th July
Up early again this time to make our way to Pershore, we are now on the Lower Avon, this navigation used to be divided into two separate operating companies but soon after restoration they amalgamated. Our trip down consisted of three locks over a distance of eleven miles making for long stretches between the locks, Chadbury, Fladbury and Wyre Piddle, just three of the intriguing names around here.

Lower Avon

As we approached Wyre Piddle we got our first glimpse of the imposing Bredon Hill, this will be with us nearly all the way to the end of the navigation at Tewkesbury. At Fladbury there is a large mill overlooking the lock, this was water driven later becoming the site for two 20 hp turbines.

Fladbury Mill

The river meandered its way down to Pershore where we reached the moorings in time for lunch before heading off to explore.
Pershore is a delightful town again with its abbey church providing welcome relief from the stifling heat, fortunately they are dog friendly so Scruff was able to take advantage of the cool stones of the abbey floor. The church is incredible with the local cotswold stown almost glowing inside and out. as with Evesham the church is all that remains of the abbey buildings and is set in peaceful parkland, the park was full of many of the local office workers having their lunch while sat in the shade of the many trees.

Pershore Abbey

Pershore Abbey

Pershore Abbey

The town is linear with most of the shops along the high street, we had to avail ourselves of a punnet of the famous Pershore Plums, small and sweet. I also tried a Pershore pork pie, equally delicious.
There is everything you require on the high street but if you require large supermarket shopping there is a large Asda just across the playing fields from the moorings, adjacent to the leisure centre.
Opposite the Asda there is also a large indoor market, all in all a good place to restock.
The moorings had filled up quickly after our arrival so we were glad we opted for an early start.
Whist only ten minutes from the centre of the town the moorings are very peaceful with a large playing field and cricket pitch adjacent, that evening barbeques started to appear everywhere, presumably cooking the locally produced Gloucester Old Spot pork chops!
There is an elsan point at these moorings, it looks a bit like a stainless steel phone box stood away from the bank in the park we utilised the facilities before retiring early.

 We enjoyed Pershore but needed to move on down to Tewkesbury where we had arranged to meet Lucia's sister Anna, Nick and Nat. Due to the popularity of the moorings there we decided to get underway early so started the engine before quickly untying and slipping quietly away downstream at 0645 just as the steam rising from the river had been diminished by the warm, early morning sun.
Very quickly we arrived at the deep Pershore lock, adjacent to the lock are two large Archimedes turbines, we were later told that these power the leisure centre. There was only one running at that time however as we filled the lock we noticed that the generator slowed down, an indication of how low the water levels had become during the prolonged dry spell.

Our journey down the river was really enjoyable, being early, we had the river to ourselves, soon arriving at Nafford lock, here we found a boat moored on the limited lock mooring making dropping crew off quite a challenge, the chap on the boat came out to apologise for the inconvenience and helped us through the lock, he had struggled to find a mooring the night before so had no choice other than to moor there and was getting ready to leave, I did offer to wait but he declined as his wife was still asleep, so we got on our way.
Thi stretch of river is dominated by Bredon Hill with its large folly and iron age fort atop.
The passage through here reminded of our trip on the river Aire near Eggborough where the power station seems to dance around, Bredon Hill was in front one minute and behind the next, such was the meandering, whatever its location it provides a stunning backdrop to the area. Across the fields we had good views of the Malvern Hills away to the west.
The river continued its twisting course between the hills before reaching the lock at Strensham, below which the scenery opened up on the north bank and the village of Bredon on the hillside to the south. Shortly after passing the marina at Bredon we passed under the M5, striding across the valley on concrete stilts, I have crossed this bridge may times and it was satisfying to finally pass under on the boat.

With the roof tops of Tewkesbury coming into view we passed the large sailing club and the enormous marina stradling across both sides of the river, before passing under the old King John's bridge to arrive at the moorings adjacent to the Avon lock. We reported at the lock office paying six pounds for two nights mooring just beyond the lock entrance.
There are quite a few moorings here but as with Pershore they soon filled, we invited one disappointed boater to breast up to us.

Tewkesbury 
Anna, Nick and Nat joined us on the boat before we set off into town, we called into the Berkeley Arms for lunch, thoroughly recommended, the food was faultless and must be one of the largest Ploughman's ever encountered, the only disappointment was the fact that they had sold out of the intriguing flavored ice cream, such as rhubarb  or blackberry crumble another result of the heatwave.

Berkeley Arms - Tewkesbury

I have always loved Tewkesbury, with its heraldic banners hanging from the pretty timber framed buildings, each displaying a notice stating whose banner was being displayed. Each banner represents the families involved in the medieval battle fought here in 1471.

Tewkesbury Abbey

This battle  the last Yorkist victory of the struggle for the crown, know since Shakespeare's time as the war of the roses.
The war was not a war of the counties, as is often implied these days but basically a tug of war for the throne of England between two factions of the families descending from Edward III.
The war arose mainly from the ineffectual reign of Henry VI, he was crowned as a young child and his reign was controlled by a close group of advisers who held the power of the throne until he came of age. The king married Margaret of Anjou, who became the real power behind the weak king. Richard Duke of York, who some historians believe had a greater claim to the throne persuaded the king to make him the successor to the crown, however Queen Margaret contested the agreement, insisting that their son Edward, Prince of Wales should be the next king.
Following the death of Richard, Duke of York and his son Edmund at Sandal Castle during the battle of Wakefield, one of his other sons, Edward sought revenge. A few months later at the bloodiest battle fought on English soil, at Towton. Edward was victorious becoming Edward IV. Henry VI was incapacitated by one of his many bouts of illness but recovered sufficiently to regain the throne Edward and his supporters fled the country eventually to  return, victorious, to retake the throne.
Queen Margaret returned to France, she returned in 1471 with an army of French and Belgian mercenaries, along with the many nobles devoted to her cause. The army travelled up the River Severn attempting to cross at Gloucester, only to be thwarted by Edwards supporters. They continued their march towards Tewkesbury to be met by Edward and his Yorkist army.
Battled ensued on May 4th 1471, the Lancastrian forces being heavily defeated, Edward Prince of Wales fell here along with many others. Many of the lancastrians fled to seek sanctuary in the Abbey, however Edward decided that the victory needed to be completed and broke the sanctuary of the church by entering the abbey and dragging out the enemy, they were then quickly charged and beheaded in the town soon afterwards. Queen Margaret escaped to Little Malvern, only to be arrested and brought back to London, here husband Henry was killed the same day.
Many of the nobility are buried in and around the abbey, Edward Prince of Wales  is buried in front of the altar, in the choir, beneath the sun in splendor, the symbol of Edward IV.

Roof detail in Tewkesbury Abbey - the sun in splendor

The church was resanctified following these events and there is a cross scratched into the stonework to the left as you enter the church.

The carved cross

The following day our brother in law, Andy picked us up and drove us back to their house near Dursley,  we spent a very enjoyable evening with family and an excellent barbecue hosted by Andy and Rosa, Vicky with cousins Sarah, Catherine  and  partners came up from Bristol too.

On Saturday morning we arrived back at the boat, the weather had changed significantly and we, at last, had some welcome rain. The forecast for Sunday was poor so we booked an additional 2 nights mooring. 

Riverside cottages - Tewkesbury

Gupshill Manor - next to the battlefield

On Sunday we took a walk around the battlefield, this is a signed route with interesting information boards along the way.  We also walked up to the roundabout at the southern end of town,  here there is a sculpture of two horses, victorious and vanquished,  they are inspired by a contemporary account of the battle known as the Arrival,  this is the name given to the sculpture.

The Arrival

Victor

Vanquished

Monday 30th July
A much better day today with a return to warm sunshine,  the rain had raised the level a little but only to return to normal summer levels. We decided to set off down the lock and onto the river Severn heading for Gloucester. Shortly after entering the river we arrived at Upper Load lock, this was l ready for us as I had radioed ahead.

Upper Lode Lock

River Severn

On spring tides the section below this lock is tidal and the river was full as we left the chamber, there was not much flow in either direction at first but the flow downsteam increased as we progressed.  We were instructed to radio the lock keeper at Gloucester as we entered the parting, here the river splits in two, the passage to the lock is down the East side,  the mooring before the lock is notorious due to the high flow that can be experienced here,  fortunately the  lock keeper called us to say the lock was ready and we could go straight in. We had to wait for a large cruiser following us to join us in the lock then we were soon lifted into the impressive Gloucester docks and the Gloucester, Sharpness canal. 

Glouscester Lock

We moved on down the canal for a couple of nights before returning to the docks for our 2day stay.
We plan to remain on the canal here for a few weeks, after which we will investigate the possibility of heading down to Bristol via the estuary.