Dashing up to Upton, 29th June

We had a little break from the boat as we both had a heap of things to do back on the bank. At Saul Junction you can moor for up to 14 days, so we locked everything up tight and trusted that the solar panels would keep the bilge pump and fridge ticking over.

The journey north was fairly intricate:

2 mile walk to Whitminster 

Bus to Gloucester 

Train to Birmingham 

Train to Crewe

Train to Nantwich

Walk across town and drive home.

Then a mad few days and on the 7th day reverse the process, except that this time the trains were Crewe: Stafford: Cheltenham: Gloucester. And we caught our bus with seconds to spare, so we got back just before sunset instead of 45 minutes afterwards .

And the batteries were fine, 12.8 volts. Wouldn't have wanted to be much longer though.

Before heading north, we took a walk along the western end of the Stroudwater.  There is a short navigable section leading to a marina, with long term moorings. 

It's a huge marina:

An interesting craft: a steam launch. Can't be many of those about.

The waterway is blocked by a very low bridge

Not even a canoe could get under there.

There is water in the channel beyond, and next up is a part restored lock which needs its rear gates and the access bridge converted to a lift bridge.

After that, it's filled in (and claimed by a field at one point,  cheeky farmer!)

Then it was time to move. It was windy, but at our backs, and dry, so a pleasant cruise to Gloucester. 

It's very rural almost right into the city:

And once more enjoying the wide variety of craft.

That blue one looks titchy compared to its neighbours. 

Each bridge has a relic of the old days ; these rather grand bridge keeper houses

It's a great way to come into the city:

Took a view of the lightship from the river: an imposing vessel.

All the moorings in Gloucester Docks are top moorings!

We arrived in time for lunch on board, then Alison went back to Sainsburys for some groceries. She looked in at the Llanthony Priory on the way but not much was open, except for a room with the Priory's timeline from its 1107 inauguration to 1974 purchase by the City Council and subsequent restoration.. meeting rooms and wedding venue. Info board here:

That evening we had our 3rd meal out at the Docks, a place called The Med, adjacent to the Sailors' Church.

The Menu was a mixture of Italian and North African: we shared a platter of dips with crudités- must find out about baba ganoush, completely delicious- and then went on to chicken shish kebab with spiced rice (AJ) and lamb tagine (AD).

Back for an early night and early start. We and another boat, nb Babushka, went through the lock onto R. Severn at 8.30am. Ahead of us 19 miles against the current to Upton on Severn, where the moorings are notoriously scanty for the numbers of boats wishing to stop.

nb Vegvisir with a bone in her teeth again, with the engine running at 2000 rpm.  Since most narrowboats spend so much time at tickover or not much more, they say it does wonders to the engine to give it a good workout once in a while. However, we still have a mysterious coolant leak which only seems to occur when the engine has been running fast for several hours. It was fine after the 2 hours from Saul Junction to Gloucester but was leaking during the longer run from Saul Junction to Sharpness and back. Also quite a bit of coolant lost during the 4.5 hours at 2000rpm from Gloucester to Upton. We need to monitor and call out the canal's version of the AA again, River and Canal Rescue or RCR for short. They have been out earlier when we were at Saul Junction and tightened some jubilee clips. Running the engine at the mooring did not show up any leaks then and the same happened this evening when Andrew ran it for over half an hour looking for the source of the leak. There must be something that happens once the engine has been running for over two hours or so. Annoying... 

Back to the enormous lock above Tewkesbury: 

it was just releasing 2 boats as we arrived, and another was hovering as we emerged. In fact he was so keen to get in that he had to reverse up to let us out!

Once again, the river was quiet, with only the third vessel to pass us being this gravel barge.

For context, here's the same vessel on the return trip:

At that moment we were just approaching our desired mooring. We had slowed right up, staring at the alleged facility below the Swan Hotel and wondering how on earth one was supposed to tie up, when a local cruiser caught up to us. In a bawled exchange across 30 feet of river, they let us know there was another spot available just beyond a rather grand wooden yacht .

So here we are:

Upton has an unfeasibly huge number of hostelries for a small town. It is also rich in independent shops with only Co op and Spar representing national chains.

4 pubs visible in this pic, a 5th behind me, and many more further away from the Riverside.

This is the tower, all that remains, of the 12th century church.  In the 18th c., it was made to look more fashionable, but as cheaply as possible so that, it was said, the internal galleries were holding up the building!

It now houses the Tourism info centre. The handsome chap in the foreground  is :

So, snug against our bank, settling in for a quiet evening before a rather less frantic cruise, we hope, up to Worcester.

Andrew clambered back up the incredibly steep steps at 8pm to watch a local Morris team dancing. One of the members bore an uncanny resemblance to young Mr Grace from the old sitcom "Are You Being Served"...