Thursday 11th July
After a very peaceful night (we didn’t even wake up until gone 8 am!) we awoke to a lovely, sunny, breezy day. It hasn’t been too hot because of the breeze and that has been a bonus.We have travelled 3 miles and 3 locks (don’t want to strain ourselves) from Welford to Bidford.
We didn’t leave the mooring at Welford very early, we waited for 2 narrow boats which had also moored overnight to go down the lock first. There was a yoghurt pot on the opposite bank showing no signs of wanting to share with us and the boat in front of us, a sort of wooden cruiser, turned round and went the opposite way so we were Billy No Mates again!
The wooden cruiser did catch us up later, I don’t know why they went the other way to start with, just to avoid saying thanks but no thanks to sharing I expect but there you are! We did 2 locks, W A Cadbury lock and Pilgrim lock, on our own and I found the bottom gate on Pilgrim lock impossible to open so Ken had to get off the boat and help me. These locks are not deep but the gates are stiff. The rule is to leave the exit gates open when you leave which means if you are following someone you have to shut the lock before you can start. Of course it also means you don’t have to shut it behind you so it’s swings and roundabouts I suppose.
When we got to Billington lock (our last of the day) there was a boat waiting to go down so we shared with them. The wooden cruiser turned up just as we were leaving so we very kindly shut the lock for them. When we got to Bidford there was no one on the moorings in the park so we got on the end. After mooring we went off to Budgens and One Stop for a few supplies then went to The Frog, which was called The Frog and Bulrush the last time we were here. We sat in the garden overlooking the river and enjoyed a nice pint of Spitfire.
There are only 3 narrow boat sized moorings here and the other 2 have subsequently filled up. There were 2 narrow boats and a yoghurt pot outside the Frog (opposite) as well, although the last narrow boat in, an Anglo Welsh full of Norwegians, had to moor with their back end sticking out and tie on front and centre ropes only! They had a meal and then went.
Tomorrow we are heading for Evesham where my husband is hoping to find a fishing tackle shop, yawn!
