Welcome to the Avon | Boat move Day 2: Tewkesbury to Evesham (and beyond) | 12hrs on stunning river

Day 2 of our mammoth one-way trip mini adventure from Saul Junction Marina on the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal to Shakespeare Marina on the River Avon (just outside Stratford-upon-Avon) in just 3 days. The scenery is truly stunning and it's such a lovely day we end up cruising further than planned which leads to a slight problem with it starting to get rather dark and we're not sure where we're going to moor... !!!Make sure you watch right to the end for the BONUS CONTENT!!! If you enjoy following our adventures be sure to like and subscribe, it's free and really helps us out. Also we absolutely love reading all your comments so keep them coming :-) You can also follow us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?... ___________________________________________ EPISODE SUMMARY.... We start Day 2 in Tewkesbury with a minor disaster- we've got no gas! As the captain (Kat) is in urgent need of coffee, and the local coffee shops aren't open yet, Lee is dispatched to the nearest chain coffee shop for emergency rations! We then have to perform an interesting 180 degree turn after wind issues meant we moored facing the wrong way on Day 1, before a slightly tricky manoeuvre under the bridge which Lee makes look easy. Cruising past Tewkesbury Marina then through the open countryside the weather is lovely and the scenery gorgeous. We go under the M5 and as always are very glad not to be on it! Signs warn of work at Eckington Bridge but the affected areas are very clearly cordoned off and it's easy to stay on the right course. This section of the river is very twisty and meandering with some very tight turns, and the stunning views change regularly. We're broadly going around Bredon Hill which is nearby on the right bank for several hours. The locks on the Avon seem designed for GRPs rather than narrowboats as the entrances and exits involve some tight turns, and the lock landings are often in awkward places, especially for a 70 foot boat. We also find some of the locks are a little snug and we have to position diagonally. We're relieved we're going up river not down, so don't have the cills to worry about. We pass through Pershore then the unusual diamond shaped lock followed by the unusually named Wyre Piddle. Eventually we reach Evesham where we originally intended to stop as it's about half way between Tewkesbury and Stratford. However, although we've been cruising for about 7 hours, we're ahead of schedule and still have a way to go, plus it's such a lovely day so we decide to continue. A couple of locks later is the dual named George Billington/Offenham lock where we've moored before and we know that the other side of the lock there's a number of mooring spots. However we find that there isn't room for a 70 foot boat, although we do make use of the facilities here. We continue on towards the next lock, watching the sun lower in the sky until it's just visible above the horizon. It's beginning to get rather dark and we're getting slightly (!) trepidatious whether we'll find somewhere to moor before dark... There's only one mooring either side of the next lock (the Robert Aickman New Lock) and the downstream one while available is not ideal as there's high walls and no towpath. However the upstream one after the lock has much better towpath access and a lovely glimpse of the setting sun through the trees. So we moor up with a big sigh of relief. It has been an extremely long but lovely day, and we're in a good position to complete the remainder of the trip to Shakespeare Marina tomorrow. ___________________________________________ If you missed Day 1 you can watch it here (   • 3 Waterways in 3 days mini adventure on an...  ) to find out why we're on this long one-way trip, and why we've left our 60 foot live-aboard canal boat Narrowboat Pura Vida behind. Kat and Lee ☺️