The view that greeted me this morning
My very own 'Turner'
Our first stop after casting off at 8.30 was 100metres down stream for a waterfall and a bit of boat washing and polishing. The bow, roof and one side of Aqua Life are now all spruced up for her visit by Jason and Lynden.
Watering and preening done, we cast off again and departed Pershore. After Pershore Lock we came to the 14c Pershore Bridge. Luckily it withstood the Cavaliers attempts to demolish it as they retreated from the Battle of Worcester in 1651
Going under Pershore New Bridge, built 1928, the first concrete bridge in Worcestershire.
Today was the first sunner day we've had and where better to spend than meandering through the countryside.
Passed the odd permanent mooring
And less than 10 mins later thisn18th manor house, The Courtnhouse. This des.res. was recently sold for Gbp2.3m and the new owners are spending a heap more. A bit of trivia for the movie buffs out there. Sammy Davis jnr and Peter Lawford rented it in 1968 whilst filming 'Salt and Pepper'.
A River idyll
Bredon Hill, which because of the meandering nature of the River,
popped up on our left, then on our right etc for the whole morning. Because it's peak falls short of 1,000' at 981' a mid 18thc Squire of Kemerton Court erected a folly on top of the remains of an Iron Age Fort so he could stand 1,000' above sea level. The current owners lease it out as a mobile phone tower and the folly now bristles with larger aerials.
Down the River we go
Another bucolic English scene
Nafford Lock with a swing bridge across the middle of it.
Bredon Hill, again.
Ekington Bridge, built in the 1720's.
Arthur Quiller-Couch wrote an ode to the bridge which speaks of "eleoquent grooves worn into the sandstone by labouring barge men".
Under we go
Oh look, Bredon Hill is behind us now
And now it's beside us again
Passed the village of Bredon
Twyning Green coming up
Passed a mini mansion
Under King Johns Bridge into Tewkesbury and our mooring which in between the two boats in the background.
We moored up around 1.00 and checked in with the lock keeper. Contacted Carolyn May from whom we purchased 'Willowbank'. I can be there in 1/2 hour with Cora, the lovely Flora and the pissant Angus Jock McDonald. So directions from the lock keeper sought and relayed to Carolyn, it was a quick sandwich on the boat. Discussion between mouthfuls was spent wondering who Lovely Flora and Pissant Angus might be. A hurried clean up took place and they were here. The lock keeper very kindly allowed Carolyn to park under a shady tree as Flora and Pissant Angus turned out to be West Highland Terriers Carolyn was dog sitting , and who according to Carolyn had "spent the past five days f...ing each other stupid uphill and down dale, on the bed, in the kitchen"; every time she turned around, "they were at it" she said.
Thankfully, during her visit Angus and Flora restrained themselves (as one does when mixing in polite society). However Angus lived up to his sobriquet when we took them for a walk along the towpath to the Abbey Mill House and back through the water meadow by cocking his leg at every opportunity and trying to eat any other dog that so much as glanced at Flora. As this included such dogs as a Rottweiler and a 'Hooch' dog, the walk was not without it's moments of excitement.
Dogs walked, weed and watered and back in the car it was time for a boat inspection and a cup of tea. Carolyn pondered the marvels of the loo, always of interest to the uninitiated, and marvelled that neither of us had needed to call emergency services to be extracted from the shower.
Carolyn presented us with a gorgeous little tea pot painted in the Castle and Roses style synonymous with canal life. We were delighted as we had been keeping an eye out for a small piece of Castle and Roses to bring home.
As we nattered away the afternoon quickly slipped by. We had an early dinner; our staple boat diet - A Marks and Sparks quiche and fresh salad, followed by some Herefordshire strawberries courtesy of Carolyn - much better than that tastless tat from Spain, she assured us.
One last www for the dogs and once again Angus lived up to his nickname and cocked his leg on everything that was more than two inches high and had to be dragged back to the car hopping on three legs, the other still being cocked, very funny.
And then they were gone. Very sad for a moment, for who knows if we will meet again.
12 miles, 3 locks in 4 hours
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