Before leaving Upton, Mike and Andrew walked into the town centre to visit a newsagent and a bakery. They returned with plenty of goodies including a large pork pie for lunch.
From here there are no locks until after we turn off the Severn onto the River Avon at Tewkesbury. The day was dry but for the most part overcast and at times almost chilly. However, by mid afternoon the sun emerged through some increasingly large blue gaps and we had some great views with the low sun lighting up the colours of the trees.
Upton was at one time an important place with a busy river trade. As a result there were many inns and pubs around the waterside and plenty still survive although some look like much more upmarket eating places now.
The main street no longer heads straight to the river but is diverted around the Pepperpot onto the new steel girder bridge which replaced the third bridge crossing here.
There are no large shops but a great number of small traders selling many different specialities including a well-known Map Shop. Alas the sweet shop held no temptation for Mike as it does not open until 10 am!
hosts a popular annual Blues festival as commemorated by an appropriately coloured bench right under the road bridge.
The views from a boat on the Severn are fairly limited as the normal water level is well below the general ground level of the surrounding area. Much of the banks are tree lined but at this time of the year they are much more varied in colour than earlier in the year.
There is still some freight traffic on this stretch of the river - carrying gravel and other aggregates from one quarry site to another for processing. Here it is being unloaded at Saxons Lode.
We could not discover what this cable span is for but it does follow the line of a former railway that crossed the river at this point. The bridge abutment can just been seen behind the control tower.
Just after the M50 crossing is the aggregate loading point - there is quite a mountain to shift. How many barge loads will it take? better than lorries anyway!
Before long we passed under Mythe Bridge and, immediately afterwards, the large water treatment works.
At the point where the River Avon reaches the Severn we turned upstream to find Tewkesbury Lock. The Avon is separately owned and manged so a special licence has to be bought. (£50 from the lock keeper)
There are many more bridges over the Avon than we had seen on the Severn and some are important historical structures. The first was King John's Bridge as we turned left after the lock.
We could immediately see that the landscape is now very different and we had views across the fields. The animals can come down to thew water's edge to drink.
At this time of year there are no volunteer lock keepers on duty so we had to work the locks after Tewkesbury ourselves. Signs states that bow and stern line must be used - the keepers will enforce this, but the flow of water through the top gates makes it a necessity anyway to avoid the boat from being thrown around quite violently. Even so, the paddles have to be lifted with care.
Eckington has another ancient and distinctive bridge.
At Nafford Lock there is a swing bridge that carries a footpath across the middle.
By the time we passed Defford Road Wharf, now private moorings, the sun began to brighten up the views.
At Pershore Lock, Mike spotted this fungus around a tree close to the lock.
A large former mill stands guard below the entrance to Wyre Lock. The Offices of ANT (Avon Navigation Trust) are located here.
The lock itself is an unusual shape. Unlike the two similar locks on the Oxford Canal (used to ensure that enough water flows from a crossing river into the canal) it is not obvious why the shape was chosen here.
The next moorings we could find were not until above Fladbury Lock. The official leaflet which the lock keeper at Tewkesbury gave us states that overnight mooring is permitted here but it was not signed - earlier locks did say this. relying on what the leaflet says and that there was little moving traffic and also that the light was fast fading, we tied up to the far end of the landing.
26.5 Miles - 6 Locks
No comments:
Post a Comment