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Our new mooring at
Offenham
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On Tuesday, we did very
little other than have a couple of walks around Harvington. We were moored in an unusual spot in
Harvington as the river was in the middle of private land; consequently, there
were no public footpaths nearby. This
meant that we didn’t see a soul by the boat all day as no one walked past.
Wednesday was moving day
so Buddy and I set off for Offenham straight after breakfast. It was forecast to be sunny all day so I
wanted to move before the heat of the day.
First we had to go down
Robert Aickman lock. This lock is longer
and wider than the others we have been through so far on the Upper Avon. Because it was a large lock it has two
paddles on each of the gates. It was
also leaking badly so it took ages to get through and to top it all the gates
were really heavy for me so I had to be careful not to damage my back
again. Buddy still hasn’t learnt how to
help!
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Going down Robert Aickman
lock
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Robert Aickman was a stalwart
of the inland waterways and campaigned for their restoration against major
obstacles put up by the Governments of the time that wanted to close the failed
waterways. Also, the public weren’t generally
interested in waterways then, so he must have met quite a lot of indifference.
The lock was built in 1982
which was later than the other locks on the Upper Avon which were restored or
newly built in the 1970s. They did build
one in the 70s here but it was on the site of the original 17th
century pound lock and for some reason the foundations caused the lock to
slowly collapse. It was restored again
and was used as a dry dock for a few years but is now disused again.
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The first restored lock at
Harvington on top of the 17th century lock’s foundations. Later used as a dry dock and now disused.
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We soon arrived at
Offenham where there are plenty of moorings by the lock. There is also a boaters’ rubbish point so I
moored up and got rid of quite a bit of rubbish that had been piling up. It never ceases to amaze me how much rubbish
and recycling we have. Maybe it’s
because we are more aware of it as it’s not so easy to dispose of compared with
being on land.
The moorings were all
empty but I planned to reverse out of the lock cut and cross to the other side
of the river where there were moorings provided by the riverside pub.
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Rather a welcome sign as
it meant we could have a cheeky Wednesday drink
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The mooring was great as
it was right next to the pub and a little layby for Karen to park in. The picture at the top is looking back up the
river from where we had come.
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Another view of the
mooring – the weir is further down beyond the boom
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It is also a good spot for
Buddy as it is completely fenced off and only boaters are allowed through the
gate so he was able to lay outside without being on a lead. He spent most of the time walking from shade
to sun and back again though.
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View from the dinette
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In the afternoon, we went
for a walk up Cleeve Hill and over to the three villages of South, Middle and
North Littleton.
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Looking over the Vale of
Evesham – reminds me of Kent with all the fruit growers although in Kent they
are mainly polytunnels rather than glasshouses
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When we got back we went
to the weir so Buddy could have a drink.
He doesn’t normally like going in water but he must have been so hot
that he just stood in it for ages.
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| Cooling down |
This weir used to be a
ford and the original cobbled bricks can still be seen under the water. After a while Buddy became more confident and
decided to learn to swim. I’m convinced
he thinks that if his head is underwater then he is swimming.
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Swimming Buddy-style
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It really is a lovely spot and I spent a long time on one of our picnic chairs just watching the swallows, swifts and wagtails catching the insects above the water; the odd kingfisher and heron came by too.
When Karen came home we
wandered over to the pub for a cheeky Wednesday drink. Actually, it wasn’t cheeky as we had to
patronise the pub to use the moorings. When we got back to the boat we sat outside until it was dusk and noticed how the swifts were now flying higher as the insects had risen. They were the only birds still flying and at first glance they looked like bats which remnded us that we have not seen many bats yet this year.
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