Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th July
Phew it’s been hot! Yesterday the inside temperature reached over 31 degrees as it was so still. A slight breeze got up later but it was still stifling. We stupidly left all the doors and hatches open until well after dark, without making use of our vast supply of citronella candles and of course the boat filled up with all manner of insects!
Not wanting to risk mosquito attack in the night I closed everything and deployed the fly spray, killing everything in sight and nearly killing us in the process! Got a result though – no mosquito bites!
Going back to yesterday, we left Evesham at about 8-15 am and travelled 11 miles and 4 locks to Pershore and moored in the park about 4 hours later. After descending Evesham Lock we went under Workman Bridge and passed the Workman Gardens moorings where the festival preparations were under way. There were a few narrow boats moored at one end, then at the other end it looked like a Tupperware Party – all plastic!
When we got to the Trust moorings we discovered they were nearly empty so as it happened we could have moored there the day before but we were happy at Gas Works Wharf. There was a vintage steam rally going on on the opposite bank as well this weekend and we may have stopped for that but we decided it was just too hot for traipsing around with the Fred Dibnah enthusiasts!
Chadbury and Fladbury locks both provide some lovely scenery and I got some nice pics. At Fladbury there is a 2007 flood level marker. It’s hard to imagine, with the river being so benign today, what it could possibly have been like 6 years ago when they had the floods.
The channel as you leave Fladbury lock is rather narrow and it was made more difficult by the presence, on both banks, of a large group of ‘ grumpy maggot fiddlers’, err sorry I mean anglers! We just took the centre line and hoped for the best because it was impossible to avoid them.
At Wyre lock we shared with two nice lads on a sort of mini dutch barge type thing. It was shorter than us and we both fitted in the diamond shaped lock nicely. Then we came to Pershore.
The only thing to do after mooring up was to go to the pub we thought, so we did, visiting The Brandy Cask. This is a lovely pub where they brew their own beer and we went there with Alan when we came on Dabchick. At that time Ken asked for a pint of Greene King IPA only to be told by the landlord that IPA was only for shandy and he had to have one of their own beers!
There is a lovely garden at this pub stretching right down to the river with some vine covered pergolas so there are plenty of shady spots, just the thing to keep out of the strong sun and heat. We spent the rest of the day trying and failing to keep cool as the boat was in the full sun by this time. A bit later, when a cruiser in front of us left, we moved up a bit to a shadier spot but it was already too hot inside.
On a bench just outside our kitchen hatch we acquired a ‘neighbour’ who proceeded to drink a large bottle (1.5l) of Lambrini, smoke a couple of fags then lay down and go to sleep. I was just at the hatch later on when he woke up and decided to go behind a very inadequate bush for a wee! I didn’t know where to look! Then he had another bottle of Lambrini and a couple more fags, another kip, another wee and eventually staggered off to who knows where, bless.
Today, with Asda a stone’s throw away we have taken the opportunity to stock up. We did one trip for the food, Ken did one trip, with our trolley, for the beer and I did a clothes trip as well. I did some washing which, despite the fact that I can’t wring out very well, got nice and dry in the strong breeze which has graced us with it’s presence today. Indeed, it has been quite pleasant and no where near as hot as yesterday.
Tomorrow we are leaving Pershore and may stop at Eckington wharf, if not Tewkesbury.
