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THE AVON RING

22nd - 29th June 2024

Building on the success of their last Llangollen trip in 2023, the entire year had been spent diligently planning their next adventure.   To the amazement of all seasoned narrowboaters, they announced that they planned to transverse whole of the Avon Ring in just one week!!!   This entails all the Tardebgge flight of locks, the whole of the Stratford Canal and then joining the River Avon to pass Evesham down to Tewkesbury.   They then had to navigate the River Severn up to Worcester, before turning on to the Birmingham and Worcester Canal to travel back to the boat yard.

Saturday 22nd June

• The five brave members of the intrepid crew arranged to meet at the Black Prince boatyard in Stoke Prior, having already called at Morrisons in Bromsgrove to procure sufficient provisions for their epic voyage and to put some charge into Tom's car.
   

  The boatyard had reserved their newest narrowboat Ayda' for the crew, as they knew it would be in good hands.   Their belongings were transferred as quickly as possible, so that they could depart to tackle the next 35 locks of the Tardebigge Flight, before their evening stop at Alvechurch.

  Using their incredible locking skills the crew lifted the narrowboat by an amazing 67m using 35 locks covering a distance of over 2½ miles.    Arrival at Top Lock, having a depth of some 11 feet indicated their success and they were pleased to see that a plaque had been placed there in their honour by the Transport Trust.   A further hour of cruising with two short tunnels was completed before the narrowboat was moored in Alvechurch at a late hour. The cunning crew rejected pub dinners in favour of an Indian meal at the 'New Dilshad Restaurant', a short walk from the canal.

Sunday 23rd June

• The crew awoke at an early hour, knowing that they had an 11½ hour day ahead of them, with a further 32 locks.   Their destination for the evening was Kingwood Junction and the crew remained confident of success.
   

  Whilst Bob kept a careful lookout, Tom and Jon were seen studying their charts, desperately trying to find a shortcut to Kingswood Junction.   Even Ed was unable to find a shortcut!

  Only too quickly, the Wass Hill tunnel loomed ahead of them.  They knew that they would be in the darkness and out of communication with the outside world for maybe 45 minutes as they entered the 2,726 yard tunnel.   They were relieved to traverse the tunnel without engine failure or passing any other boats.

  As the narrowboat made the difficult turn into the Stratford Canal at King's Norton Junction, the feared sight of the Guillotine Lock came into view.  Relieved that it was open, Alan made the approach to the lock carefully, so as to not to put any undue pressure on the old structure.  As they passed through, they looked back and were amazed to see that the delicate construction remained intact

• After a long hard and hot day, Narrowboat Ayda pulled into it's planned mooring at Kingwood junction, slightly ahead of schedule.   The crew quickly made their way to 'The Navigation Inn' for their evening entertainment.

Monday 24th June

• The weary crew allowed themselves a slightly later start in the morning knowing that they only had a planned 9½ hour day ahead of them, although they were acutely aware that a further 30 locks need to be operated.
   

  Tom looked troubled as he contemplated the 30 difficult locks on this section of the Stratford Canal   Everyone was amazed by the design of the bridges that allowed a tow rope to be slotted through the bridges, without disconnecting the horse!!

  A number of strange lifting bridges were encountered on this section of the canal, but the crew soon conquered them!!

  Great caution was exercised when crossing the many Iron Aqueducts

  Bad Luck hit the crew when a narrowboat with inexperienced crew pulled out in front and impeded their progress.   However, once she realised the importance of the crew's mission, the boat soon pulled over to allow their onward passage.   Ed waited patiently for the narrowboat to pick him up after an extended walk

  The crew were impressed by the accommodation provided by the Canal Companies for their staff

  Demonstrating considerable skill, the narrowboat was brought into the Stratford Basin, turned and moored in a prime position, with the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in the background   Bob can be seen very proud of their performance.

  The crew hurried to enjoy the sights of Stratford-upon-Avon, with dinner at the Dirty Duck.

  Crowds of admiring followers Photo Bombed their group picture

  The crew slept well that night, not aware of the conditions on the River Avon

Tuesday 25th June

• After topping up their stock of provisions, the crew left the relative safety of Stratford-upon-Avon and joined the wide River Avon.
  
   

  They soon encountered their first lock and being of an unusual design, with steel gates and an overhead structure to hold the sides from collapsing inwards.   They quickly re-programmed their brains to compensate.

  Cruising was easy on the River Avon as they passed one of the few boats seen on the river

  The crew quickly became super efficient at handling the large locks on the River Avon.

  Ed was becoming increasingly concerned about the boat's progress towards Evesham.  The others however, were less concerned.   Tom prepared a healthy lunch on board to the great appreciation of the others

  Cunningly the crew chose to moor near the village of Offenham, just short of Evesham, for the evening, whilst the boatyard undertook some repairs to the boat, no doubt a result of their near record progress.   Alan was successful in obtaining a spare for the water hose, greatly increasing their chances of completing the mission.

  Tom and Ed were sent to check out the local pub 'The Fish and Anchor'.   However, after watching the England / Slovenia match on the large screen TV, the strain caused the inevitable!!

   

Wednesday 26th June

• Although the idealic mooring spot had been commended by the crew, the strong weir current made their departure in the morning more difficult that normal. They knew that by the end of this day they would be at Tewkesbury, where the route would take them onto the River Severn.  Flushed with success the crew remained nonchalant.
   

  Conditions were amazing on this section of the river

  The crew were delighted with the incredible countryside that was spread before them.

  The crew admired the last sections of the River Avon, knowing that matters would change tomorrow when the River Severn would be encountered

  An unusual structures was spotted, overlooking a lock, but he crew instinctively knew that this was to spy on the progress of their mission.

  As the crew approached Tewkesbury, they became acutely aware that a mooring must be accomplished before the last bridge, which was looming towards them, as turning in the high current would be impossible.  They became unusually quiet !!!

   

• At the last minute they spotted a space on the fuel pontoon at a marina and quickly moored.     Without delay they headed out for a night in Tewkesbury

Thursday 27th June

• The crew awoke at an early hour and readied themselves for an early departure.   Alan paid the mooring fees to the marina, whilst the remainder of the crew took the opportunity to prepare a healthy breakfast needed to counter the anticipated stress of passing through the lockkeeper controlled lock onto the River Seven.
   

  Onlookers stood in amazement as Jon carefully maneuvered the 70ft narrowboat into the tiny lock with precision and ease.

  On entering the River Severn large craft were seen, but the crew were not perturbed

  The crew were also not concerned about the large gravel barges negotiating the river

  Holiday boats, of varying sizes were also seen on the River Severn

  Spirits remained high as the narrowboat headed upstream battling the strong current, although progress was slow.

  The sight of the giant Diglis River Locks indicated to the crew that their arrival in Worcester was imminent.  Here they would have to operate the large double Diglis Canal locks, before reaching any safe mooring for Worcester.     The crew were relieved to see Worcester Cathedral

  The crew were delighted to find that a prime mooring spot had been reserved for the narrowboat and headed into the town for their entertainment   The town centre environment seemed strange to the crew

  The Farriers Arms was selected for a Pre-Dinner drink

  The crew took their dinner at Zizzis in the centre of Worcester before returning to the boat and after a little cheese and biscuits, a well deserved rest.

Friday 28th June

• They set off at an early hour ready to tackle an easy day back on the Worcester and Birmingham canal.   What could possibly go wrong!!!
   

  Bob took time to attempt to teach Tom on the art of knot tying

  Whilst the other members of the crew relaxed, Jon was left to operate most of the locks and driving!!

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  The sight of a motorway bridge indicated to the crew that their mission was nearing an end.

  Even at this late stage of the mission, is was obvious to the crew that spies were again following the progress of the narrowboat.

  The crew relaxed at the Boat & Railway having moored the boat at a relatively early hour.

Saturday 29th June

• The short cruise to the boatyard was completed with ease, whilst the crew gathered their belongings.   They all agreed that it had been another excellent adventure and vowed to attempt another mission together in 2025.

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