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