Evesham

 Today's Navigation - River Avon

Today's schedule was dominated by the desire to reach Evesham Marina before they close for the weekend at 5 pm. We were getting down on diesel and there are few places that sell it along the river. The nearest at Bidford is currently not selling any as they only have enough to meet the needs of their hire boats.

We set the alarm to make sure that we did not oversleep and were ready to start untying from the pontoon not long after half past eight. Just metres away was out first lock hat dropped us down onto the River Avon.

Once on the river we swiftly passed the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the church that we visited yesterday.

All of the Avon locks are a bit different from each other and the first is even more unusual. It is said that this design was devised to keep the lock walls stable in otherwise inadequate ground.

Between this lock and the next, which is quite close, we passed the entrance to a new marina, Shakespeare Marina (innovative name?)  which should have opened by now but work was delayed by the worst of the pandemic. They are now pushing ahead as quickly as they can and are hoping to be operational by next April.

As with the Southern Stratford restoration, the Avon was able to draw on sources of labour that perhaps would not be so easy today. In any case the phrase 'Borstal Boys'  is very much of its time.

The fall of each lock is very variable but some, where it is not in normal water levels very great, were built to permit navigation even when the river was in flood. As a result coming into the lock from above felt as if it was already an empty lock!

By midday, as promised, we had some much warmer sunshine and blue skies.

We passed a number of churches very lose to he river - here at Bidford we could also see the former Vicarage alongside. It is a reminder of times when a vicar of a country parish expected to live in a substantial house, no doubt at one time also with a large family and several servants!

On the way to Bidford Bridge there were signs warning about problems with the one navigable arch (the small one on the right!). We were asked to take care in case there was falling masonry (not sure what we could about it) and all passengers should stay inside. The packhorse structure dates from the 15th century and has been repaired, rebuilt and extended several times since then. It looks as if the current repair work is having to rectify significant cracks but it is a very important link an used by many people every day.

The final lock before the marina was Offenham, more colourfully named at first as George Billington Lock - they chose names of benefactors to honour in this way but nowadays a geographical name is preferred. The seemingly purposeless tower alongside the lock is also a memorial to its builder who played a prominent role in organising the restoration of the navigation.

We passed a number of water extraction pumping stations along the way - this one seems to feed a very large set of polytunnels.

Thanks to taking our lunch 'on the run' we arrived at the entrance to the marina just before 4 pm. However, the chap there was busy with a couple of pumpouts so we had a bit of a wait, during which we were at least able to fill up with water. eventually we were re-fuelled - perhaps the first time (other than from a fuel boat) was the tanker brought alongside us rather than the other way around. They were very pleasant and chatty whilst the fuel was being taken on.

By now it was almost 5 and the light was fading fast so we needed to make a swift departure with one more lock to go and then a mooring to find. Fortunately at this time of the year there was plenty of space on the town centre moorings next to Workman Bridge. A photo will have to wait for better light tomorrow.

17.6 Miles - 11 Locks