Cruising the Avon

We took the short cruise down towards Gloucester knowing that there were no moorings available for the long weekend. We moored on moorings outside a new housing estate a ten minute walk from Sainsbury's and a further few minutes to the docks. After stocking up the cupboards from Sainsbury's we headed over to the docks to see what was going on having seen the set up a few days earlier. Only a brief look around having seen the tall ships close up and the usual fare at the tent market, it was a drink at Wetherspoon's then back to the boat.

It was a bit of a wait to pass through the docks on Sunday with no mooring room in the docks it was all coordinated by the Bridge Keeper who made sure the lock was ready to enter as we moved across the dock. Rachael was busy snapping a few pictures as I dodged the jumps littered around the docks for the jet ski demonstration.

Entering the docks

We finished our cruising day by leaving the River Severn and locking up on to the River Avon at Tewkesbury. When we arrived the lock keeper had just gone to lunch for an hour. By the time she had returned it was rather chaotic with boats queuing to go up or down the lock. Moorings were at a premium when we arrived so we breasted up.

Business as usual as we locked up the boats and headed into Tewkesbury town centre for a look around finishing at one of the locals for a cold drink after a warm day. Monday we headed straight to Tewkesbury Abbey, built in 1102, where they were running a fete where I managed to pick up some beautiful locally made cheese and there were plenty of opportunities to look over the abbey.

The secret garden

The Abbey took care of our morning so it was lunch at 'the spoons' before we hit the high street after yesterday's reconnaissance. However, the weather didn't hold out and we finished off dodging heavy rain showers to get back to the boat.

Today the weather had improved as we headed off, firstly picking up fuel from Tewkesbury Marina (74p domestic) and heading for Pershore. We were back to manual locks and bridges after a couple of weeks of keeper operated. Three locks today, two of them, Nafford and Penshore where rather awkward to get out of, Nafford in particular. This boat found Nafford Lock too difficult or more likely the result of flooding?

A late bloomer! Two cygnets and one egg to go.

 And passing under Penshore New Bridge, Penshore Old Bridge in the background.

First one of these we've seen but you would think well worthwhile at most weirs, a corkscrew power generation unit at Penshore Lock.

We moored at Penshore just after lunch, plenty of room, probably enough for ten narrowboats. We headed straight off to Penshore Abbey. Previously a Benedictine Monastery and much smaller now than it once was, this building is over a thousand years old.