Our Noah's Ark Experience Starts

Having just extolled the virtues of boating as a tranquil, peaceful and calming activity, I now have to tell you that, while it's like this most of the time, there are some very notable exceptions.

When I was planning this trip many months ago, I was mindful of the fact that one of the big differences between rivers and canals is that rivers can, and do, flood, whereas canals, being man-made, generally do not. I couldn't get the images of the flooding at Tewkesbury last year out of my mind and was worried that if the start of our trip coincided with a period of heavy rain, we might not even make it on to the Avon at Tewkesbury.

Thankfully my worries were groundless. As we joined the Avon, the lock-keeper told us that the river was down to a low summer level and the colour showing on the flood warning signs was green, so no risk.


Our picture shows the explanation of the colour coding system in use for flood warning on the river. Click on the picture to enlarge it so you can read the description against the colours.

We did have some heavy showers in the 2 days immediately after joining the river, but we thought nothing of them, as they didn't last long. The exception was the occasion of our arrival at Bidford-on-Avon, at around 5.00 p.m. on the Tuesday of our holiday. It started to rain almost exactly as we moored up for the night (good timing we thought) and it was still raining when we went to bed. Again, we took little notice, as we were snug and dry and, as it was evening, we didn't want to go anywhere.

The next morning was dry and quite sunny, so we had a leisurely start to the day, lingering over a second cup of tea and taking the opportunity to look round Bidford. When we eventually cast off, we anticipated an enjoyable day's cruising, no different to normal.


It was only as we went through the second lock of the day (and it is at locks that the flood warning indicators are found), that Fred spotted the fact that the water level had reached the orange section (increased current, proceed with caution) on the flood level indicator. I hastened over for a closer look, and in our picture above, you can see me peering down, noting with alarm, that not only had the water reached the orange zone, it was very close to the top. No wonder, making progress upstream had felt like hard work!

As it was such a lovely sunny and dry day, I told myself that the level should be going down fast now, so there should be nothing to worry about. A close call though, I thought.

It was just over a mile to the next lock. As we approached all eyes anxiously turned to the flood warning indicator and this is what it showed ...


I was horrified to see that the water had now risen over 6 inches into the red zone. I tried not to show the anxiety I was feeling and to remain calm and collected, so that none of my crew would panic. As I am a responsible captain and had the safety of my crew to consider, I made a fast and important decision. If the instruction for the red level was to stop and moor your boat due to danger, we would do just that. And so, we went through the lock, tied up at the official moorings just after it, and thought about what to do next.

To be continued ...

Lots of love, Eddie & crew xxx

Life on the River Avon

It was a real pleasure cruising along the Avon. We had the river almost all to ourselves and most days only passed one or two boats heading the other way. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, boating at a maximum speed of little more than a good walking pace, is a wonderful way to slow down the pace of life, relax and get close to nature.


You've probably noticed me using the emergency life ring as a great vantage point for looking out on the river. There was plenty of room for all of us except Ungi, who was a bit big for the life ring. He used a deck chair instead (but he didn't put it on the roof!).

From my excellent observation post, I spotted lots of different birds we don't usually see, even though we live in the countryside. I saw a kingfisher, bullfinch and lesser spotted woodpecker. We also enjoyed watching lambs gambolling in the fields.

Most days when we were moored up, we had hungry swans and ducks come to visit.


I enjoyed feeding them very much, especially when I discovered they were happy to have the coriander tortilla wraps which were a bit of a bad buy and which no-one wanted, but we didn't want to throw away as we simply deplore wasting food.

We also got to stay overnight at some idyllic places. In our final picture for today, we're looking back at one of our overnight mooring places. If you can spot them, the green stick-like things were the mooring posts (they have to be tall to allow for flood conditions - more about that to come soon!)


Lots of love a very relaxed Eddie and crew of Muscovy xxx

Some Great Names

Shortly after leaving the diamond shaped Wyre lock we entered a stretch of the river especially memorable for some great names.

Fist we had Piddle brook running nearly alongside the river, then we went past the village of Wyre Piddle (sadly no moorings so we couldn't put ashore to take pictures) and then, a stone's throw from the village, our favourite of them all, 'Tiddle Widdle Island'.

Please believe me, we're not making this up; our Pearson's Canal Companion backs up the Lower Avon Navigation Trust's official handbook, in confirming it really is called Tiddle Widdle Island.


Such a great name merited a photo, so here we are cruising past Tiddle Widdle Island.

There was a sudden rush for the toilets - something to do with the sound of running water and a suggestive name perhaps?

We also observed that the people who live in Wyre Piddle can't be short of a bob or two as there are some rather stunning houses. We particularly liked the following as it had a thatched fox running along the top of the roof.


Sadly, buy the time I'd grabbled the camera we were too far past for a good photo (must have been Chelmer on the helm from the speed we were going!). Don't bother trying to look for us in the picture, in true 'Where's Bear' fashion as we weren't there, but have a go enlarging the picture to see if you can spot the rooftop fox.

Lots of love Eddie and crew xxx

Back to the River

I was very happy to interrupt my report of our canal boating holiday for such an important occasion as our 300th blog and we thought Moose's latest email was so good it simply had to be shared. I must say we are all looking forward to meeting Wilbur and I've been admiring his cap as it would be really good for boating, so I must ask him where he got it from.

Anyway, back to the River Avon. When everyone was back on board after the Bredon Hill climb, I fired up the engine and we were once again on our way.

I remember saying previously that the Avon locks are in a different league to the canal locks I'm used to. Most canal locks are only a couple of inches wider than our boat, which means the boat can't get thrown around when the lock fills with water. Not so, the Avon locks - take a look at this.


Not quite as big as the Severn locks I admit, but with those you don't have to do anything as the lock-keeper does it all for you without having to get out of his control room. For locks we operated oursleves with our windlass and paw and arm strength, these were big. As you can see 2 boats fitted in with loads of room to spare. I was very busy securing Muscovy to the bollards at the side of the lock so she didn't get thrown on to the other boat as the water surged into the lock. You can see how fast it came in from all the white water.

Another interesting lock was the Wyre lock which was a very unusual diamond shape.


It was very interesting and I read my guides to see if I could find out the reason for the shape. It seems likely it was designed this way to reduce erosion of the chambers by the force of water from the sluices.

You can appreciate the diamond shape better if you look at the picture I took from the stern as we were leaving the lock.


I'll be back soon.

Lots of love Eddie and fellow Bears Unlimited boaters xxx

It's our 300th Post!!!

The Blog goes from Strength to Strength - 300 posts, 624 days, 611 photos, 3 video clips, 84,000 words, 195 published comments, and now our own domain!!! www.bearsunlimited.org

The Banner headline says it all - but how we asked ourselves could we celebrate this memorable achievement? We put our heads together and decided that we would like a permanant reminder of the fact that we had hit 300 and so our teckies Jimmy, Fred and Ungi got their heads together and decided to go for our own domain www.bearsunlimited.org

As we were wondering what we were going to say to you on such an important day, Bris received an E-mail from his friend Moose who was off on another of his business trips, (Perhaps you remember his last one) This time his trip was to Greece and we thought what better way to celebrate our 300th blog that to publish a E-card from a friend who is such a great writer and has a wonderful outlook on life. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Love all at Bears Unlimited
xxxxxx

P.S. our canal boating adventures will return!

Moose asks ‘what’s a Greek Earn?’

Hi Bris it’s travelling Moose here, and I’ve been on some exciting travels again.
It all started one very early Sunday morning at the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow, but I wasn’t taking any chances with my luggage and hung on to it as long as I could.

Then I tried out the new check-in assistant - I must say I preferred the smile’s I used to get from the old models!

I soon got to grips with this one, and managed to change to a nice window seat where I got an excellent view of the London rain and the new double-decker aeroplane.

We were soon on our way, and I found a new friend in the shape of T5-Wilbur, a very helpful bear indeed and on a mini break after all his frantic activity over the last few weeks at T5. Wilbur, being on the BA crew, was able to show me the proper way to strap in and reminded me to always read the safety manual, even if I had flown before – I didn’t know that BA are the only airline where you have to tie your life-vest in a double knot (all the others use fasteners or even Velcro !)

It wasn’t all serious safety lessons, and soon Wilbur was off duty and enjoying monitoring our progress, the old fashioned way with a map an looking out of the window. I did wonder just when Wilbur would take off his work jacket.

Once we arrived we set about enjoying some of the Athens life and I took a dip in the roof top pool, Wilbur looked on from a safe distance and I wondered again if I’d ever get him to come off duty and remove his reflective jacket !

After all that wet water I needed to dry off, but being a moose from Northern territories (and without a hat) I had to stick to the shade, while Wilbur was able to bask in the sunshine – with his jacket undone!

It wasn’t all play and we did a bit of moonlighting, filling in at the hotel helpdesk - I hope those guests managed to follow our directions and get to see the famous marbles.

It wasn’t; long before we got invited out with some of the locals, and met up with Saabrina’s cousin Izy (can you guess which one she is?) .

and experienced some of the local spirit.

Soon it was time to go home, but not before we followed our own instructions and went looking for those Elgin Marbles …. but I’m not sure these are what we were looking for ?

And of course found some time to keep in touch with Mrs Moose who had to stay at home this trip. All too soon our aeroplane arrived and it would soon be time for Wilbur to get back to his day job.

But not before a farewell drink and then it would be time to say good bye to Wilbur.

But all is not lost, in the time it’s taken me to write up my trip Wilbur has managed to find a new job at the docks and has moved in to become one of the moose household [with Mrs Moose’s blessing].

Hi to all the family up there and hope to see you soon
love from Moose and Wilbur.

More Shore Leave

One of the big differences between river and canal cruising is that the opportunities for mooring on a river are quite limited and you can only moor up where a landing stage and mooring posts have been provided. This is quite different to the canals where you can stop and moor almost anywhere, as you always have a towpath beside you.

However, where there is an interesting place to visit, there is often a mooring provided, and as it was very quiet on the Avon, with very few other boats about, we found most of the moorings had plenty of spaces.

We stopped at moorings at Comberton Quay as our guide book said "it would be one of life's missed opportunities, were you not to moor at Comberton Quay and make an ascent of Bredon Hill". We had been looking at this local landmark for quite a few miles, as the Avon seems to wind around it, keeping it constantly in its view, so we were all pleased when Captain Eddie said that as we were making good progress we had time to moor and send a shore party out to climb the hill.


As you can see from our picture of us looking at the view from the top, it is a hill well worth climbing. Eddie didn't come with us as we suffered a prop wrap putting into what we thought was the mooring, but which turned out to be just a rickety private landing stage. We'd got ourselves going again and tied up at the correct mooring, but being a professional, Eddie wanted to check everything out and satisfy himself that the centre line and the propellor and engine were all as they should be after this bit of drama.

The climb was hard work but very rewarding. We set off in blazing sunshine, but halfway up the hill there was a violent hailstorm and some thunder and lightening. We're not sure who was the most alarmed, ourselves or the local hill sheep. Fortunately it didn't last and, as our picture shows, we were able to admire the view from the top in sunshine.

We'd nearly got back to the boat when the sun gave way to, not hail this time, but torrential rain. It absolutely sheeted down and we would have got very, very wet, if it hadn't been for these kind locals.


Yes, we were very grateful to these gorgeous lambs who allowed us to shelter in their barn until the rain had died down. We couldn't have found cuter companions and it was very tempting to ask if any of them fancied joining us for our river trip.

Lots of love, the Bredon Hill climbers xxx

STOP PRESS - The next post will be a special to mark our 300th posting!!!

Eddie's Swinging Time (Don't take it the wrong way!)

The next morning was dry (yippee!) with hints of sunshine, although the overall impression was of a cool and breezy day. Nevertheless, we were all up early and raring to go and find out what river travelling was really like. We didn't really count our short hop along the Severn as river experience as this was more like travelling down a motorway. To continue the comparison, if travelling canals is like travelling small country roads, then we reckoned that travelling the Avon would probably be like travelling on 'A' roads. We were about to find out.


Our first picture, which we think is quite atmospheric, shows what we mean about the difference between canals and rivers. The river was a lot wider, but as we were going upstream and had the current to contend with, we couldn't really go much faster than on a canal.

Before long we travelled under the M5 motorway. We always have a great feeling of well-being and good fortune when we pass under major roads such as this, and we remind each other how lucky we are to be out in the fresh air, cruising along in relaxed fashion, with hardly a care in the world.


Being on a river didn't meen a lock-free passage. On the contrary we encountered locks fairly regularly, although they didn't come in flights as is often the case on canals. We'll talk more about river locks in a future post.

Today, Eddie wants to share with you the fun he had operating one of the low swing bridges which we came across on the approach to our first lock. Being Captain, Eddie thought he should supervise the operation to swing the bridge to the side of the river so Muscovy could pass through and not crash into it. The rest of us were detailed to pull the bridge aside while Eddie decided to have a ride. As it happened, there was so little effort involved, that Jimmy could manage it on his own, which is why you see Fred and me (Ungi) resting on a convenient bench when you watch our short video clip.




Hope you liked our clip. Sadly we got a problem with the tape after this so we couldn't do any more filming of our holiday. Never mind, there's always next time.

Lots of love, the crew of Muscovy xxx

Good Beer Guide for Bears

As we turned off the River Severn at Tewkesbury and joined the River Avon via the Avon Lock, we didn't exactly get a great welcome. It wasn't the fault of the lock-keeper - he was a charming volunteer - it was the weather we blame. As soon as we entered the lock and emerged on deck to hold onto ropes, as directed by our friendly lock-keeper, the heavens opened and rain bucketed down on.

We therefore moored up for the night just yards from the lock (sorry bears haven't gone metric) and our plans to explore Tewkesbury were somewhat curtailed, as no-one fancied venturing out in the rain to do tourist things.

When it came to pub time, however, we were happy to venture forth. The rain had stopped by this time anyway. What better pub could a group of bears pick than 'Ye Olde Black Bear Inn' which dated back to 1308 and was conveniently close to our mooring.


We were made very welcome and very quickly felt at home in this historic pub. We were invited to join in the regular Sunday evening quiz and were happy to join in.

They were serving a simply delicious guest ale the night we were there. Unfortunately Chelmer drank too much to remember what it was called, but we think it was something like Mule Kick. We never thought we'd say it, but it was a beer to rival our favourite, 'Woodforde's Wherry'.


Here you see Chelmer, a true beer connoisseur, sinking his chops into a delicious pint.

We also highly recommend the food. They do some great combo starters to share, and our choice was the Eastern platter. We'd made major inroads into it by the time this picture was taken, but it was a delicious assortment of poppadoms, kebabs, bhajees and similar Eastern goodies.


We had a great evening and will certainly be mentioning this terrific pub, not only in the Friendly Planet Guide, but also in the Bears' Guide to Good Beers, which is a new venture for Bears Unlimited.

We return to the river next time.

Lots of love, the crew of Muscovy xxx

Steaming along the Severn

There was one thing guaranteed to draw my smaller crew members back to the boat - the prospect of a floating lunch. After all doesn't food taste so much better in the fresh air?

There was a slight delay before we could lunch, as we had to lock through the couple of locks which join the Worcester & Birmingham Canal to the River Severn. The wait was worth it though, and, as the locks on the Severn are automated, we could relax and enjoy lunch in the sunshine without interruptions.


Talking about River Severn locks, they are absolutely huge - mind you everything about the Severn is big when, like us, you're used to narrow, winding canals. Looking at the size of the lock gates, we were mightily glad there was a lock-keeper with electronic equipment to open them as we didn't think that, even with all our combined effort, we would have budged the gates even an inch. This is what we mean when we say they were big ...


... and bear in mind you're looking at only part of one gate.

Our trip along the Severn was to take us down to Tewkesbury where we would join the River Avon. As we were travelling downstream we were whizzed along by the current and were moving at twice the speed we would on the canals. New boating recruit, Polar, from the Midlands branch, found the speed of Severn travelling quite a surprise, as he was just getting used to our average 3 m.p.h speed on the canals. He was about to doze off at the front of the boat when he heard the sound of foaming water. He looked over the edge of the boat, and saw quite an unusual sight for a canal boat - white water.


At this speed, our 16 miles down to Tewkesbury took us no time at all.

Lots of love Eddie and the crew of Muscovy xxx

Time Ashore

The next morning dawned fine and it was only a couple of locks, and a short hop, to the historic city of Worcester. As we passed some visitor moorings, we noticed a tourist sign advising that the city centre was just 5 minutes walk away. Us smaller bears (George, Yorkie, Chelmer, Rocco, Isaiah, Dale, Tiny, Kiwi & 2 puffins) asked Captain Eddie if we might go exploring and he gave permission for a shore based excursion. (Apologies if you hadn't realised we were on the trip, but we missed the earlier team photo when Chelmer delayed us in the pub).

Our first stop was the cathedral. As you will see in our picture, the main building is quite well hidden behind trees.


Talking about hidden, have you spotted Chelmer & Rocco at the top of the noticeboard. We tried to tell them it was easier to read from below, but Chelmer just couldn't resist a climbing opportunity.

As we tend to get up with the sun on boating holidays, we were in the cathedral early enough to have a good look round before the main service started. Chelmer nearly caused us some embarrassment when he gave in to the temptation to climb the tower of a superb model of the cathedral.


This was clearly one of those behind glass models of the 'do not touch' variety so we frantically tried to get Chelmer to come down before anyone saw him and throwed us all out.

We seemed to get away with it, but decided it was time to leave anyway as the service was about to start.

Not far from the cathedral was a statue of one of Worcester's most famous citizens. No it wasn't the inventor of Lea & perrins Worcester sauce, it was a far more cultural figure, Sir Edward Elgar.

We thought it only respectful to have our picture taken with him. We're trying to remember whether our friend Naughty Bear has also done the same.


Chelmer wondered whether he should grow an Elgar style moustache. We all gave him an emphatic 'no' and told him we wouldn't be seen out with him if he did.

At this point Rocco had one of his inspired moments and proposed a visit to a coffee shop for refreshments. As the morning was warm we were able to sit outside and indulge in one of our favourite sports of people watching.


The good thing about this coffee shop was that it was right next to an Oxfam bookshop, so we took it in turns to make forays into the shop to look for some good holiday reading. As it happens this was a shrewd move, given what happened to us a few days later. All will be revealed soon.

Lots of love from the shore visiting party xxx

A Trip Down Memory Lane

It wasn't long after we had started cruising, that Fred, Ungi and Jimmy, who are well seasoned canal boaters and have been on more trips than me (only because I wasn't born when they started boating), got very excited and said they had something to show me.


They explained that we were passing the boatyard of Brook Line boats at Dunhampstead Wharf and this was where they hired their first ever canal boat from, back in 2001 when they tackled the Stourport Ring for their first taste of canal boating. We tried to spot the names of the boats currently in the yard to see if Ripplingbrook,the boat they'd previously hired was there, but even though boating speed is only 3 m.p.h., we were still past too quickly to spot the boat names.

A few seconds later, there was even greater excitement. Ripplingbrook was spotted, not in the boatyard, but moored to the towpath a few yards further on.


This was simply great for us, as it meant we could slowly glide past and get a close up view.


She looked to be in such good condition that I found it hard to believe that she had been about for so many years. After all, canal boats do get quite a few knocks, even when the helmsman is skilled, as going through bridges and into locks there is often little more than an inch to spare.

I was surprised though at how small she looked. Since I've been with Bears Unlimited, we've hired some much bigger boats - I know I'm an extra traveller but I didn't think I took up that much room! Jimmy explained that on that trip they had had no permanent beds and had had to make up their beds every night. It wasn't much of a hardship but they do now appreciate the luxury of permanently made up beds.

We all enjoyed our first afternoon's cruising very much and especially the hot prawn and vegetable curry we made for our dinner, after trying out the local brew at a canalside pub.

Lots of love Eddie and Bears Unlimited boaters xxx

Avon Calling

Hello friends, this is Eddie reporting back in from my latest adventure. What a time my fellow crew members and I have had. We've been canal boating in the Midlands and chugged our vessel round an extended version of the Avon ring. We had rather more adventure that we bargained for when we got marooned on an island, and I can hardly wait to tell you all about it, and the new friends we met as a result. However, I'm going to have to keep you in suspense for a while as I need to start my tale at the beginning.

I took command of my vessel, a 62 foot narrowboat, named Muscovy, on a sunny afternoon a week and a half ago.


Do you not agree that she's a fine craft? I was very proud to be her Master for the duration of our trip. I was also pleased that she had a respectable boat name, after all, a Muscovy is very much a water bird. This was rather unusual for a Black Prince hire boat. We hire from Black Prince as the boats are smart, modern and well maintained. The only problem is that most of the fleet names are silly girls names, which don't suit a narrow boat at all. Previously we've hired Celia and this year we also saw a Josie and, horror, a Mabel. Narrowboats really should not be called Mabel.

Enough said! One of my first tasks was to settle my crew aboard and to hoist the bear flag.


Hopefully anyone who reads our blog regularly will know the names of all my crew, but don't worry I won't test you.

Once we had cast off and were well and truly underway I couldn't help but put on my happy boating face. I know you saw it last year when I went chugging, but here is this year's version.


If you want to be as happy as I am in my picture, I thoroughly recommend a canal boating holiday.

Lots of love, Eddie and the crew of Muscovy xxx