Our brief affair with the Severn is over. 

We were in no big hurry to leave our overnight mooring at Worcester this morning since the one and only lock that we had to pass through doesn’t open until 8am. We untied at half past eight and continued our southerly journey, passing the city and its cathedral on the way. The lock keeper was cutting the grass when we arrived, he told me that he hadn’t expected to see anyone before ten o’clock and not only were we there but another boat was coming into view. Once through the lock, we revved Caxton up and made our way to Tewkesbury, in all honesty there’s not a lot to see on this stretch, the only wildlife being the odd heron or gull. We passed quite a few cruisers and narrowboats on the way and soon enough reached the mouth of the Avon, we would have missed it had we not been aware that it was not too far past Mythe bridge, the sign being obscured by trees and bushes. We made the turn and headed into the lock, paying our fees as we went. (Navigation – £50, guide book – £4, overnight mooring £3).

We were worked through the lock by the lady lock keeper, her husband and her father; lock keeper’s husband told us that their house was one of the few in Tewkesbury unaffected by the flooding in 2007. 

Out of the lock and round the corner, we tied up for the day and then took a walk into town. Many of the shops were closed being Sunday but there were enough open to hold our interest, we had coffee in a lovely coffee shop before have a sunday roast in the local Wetherspoons. We then wandered over the road to Tewkesbury Abbey and were enthralled by its charms, a beautiful and serene place to visit.

On returning to our mooring, which is opposite the Black Bear pub, we could hear football commentary and Sue suggested that I might like to go and watch the second half of the Stoke v Liverpool match. I went but soon realised that it was the sort of match that if it been taking place in your back garden, you would have closed the curtains and done something else. Liverpool scored in the closing minutes, the pub erupted and I returned to the riverbank where Caxton and Susan were waiting. Tomorrow’s forecast is for rain early on so we may delay our start and explore the town when more shops are open.