Where Was the Farmer?

There was just one short tunnel taking us under the railway line ...


... before we had left dereliction behind and returned to the hustle and bustle of city life.

But, we still had the 13 wonderfully named Farmer's Bridge locks to work through before we reached the true canal heart of the city at Gas Street Basin.

These locks are quite a favourite of ours as we always attract a crowd of gongoozlers, who are quite easy to impress with our boat handling and locking skills. They usually ask lots of questions which I enjoy answering, being the canal anorak that I am.


As you can see from this photo and the next one, going up this lock flight you really do rub shoulders with the city workers and get to see how the canal and city businesses co-exist alongside each other.


With 13 locks coming in quick succession and a crowd of onlookers to impress, there was no slacking for me and my crew. I was grateful to a canal engineer of earlier times who had thoughtfully built up and weighted the lock gate to make it easier to open.


It also made a good seat as well.

Lots of love, Eddie and crew xxx

Canals Need Friends Too

We like some of the improvements made to Blogger very much, especially the ability to write posts in advance and schedule them to publish at a date and time of our choosing. It means that when we go off on one of our adventures there isn't a big gap in the posts while we are out of internet contact, as we often are on our action adventures.

So, no doubt, as the posts kept coming, most of our readers have been blissfully unaware that we were away last week doing more research for the Friendly Planet Guide. As a result we have another set of pictures to share with you and some intrepid tales, but first we must finish the pictures from our Avon Ring trip.

Not long after seeing that dilapidated boat I told you about last time, I noticed the canal needed a bit of T.L.C. too.


Sadly sights such as this one of crumbling brickwork at the entrance to a lock or on a bridge support are all too common. Most of the damage could be avoided if boaters would just slow down a bit as they approach narrow passages. Being in a hurry on a canal is, to me, a cardinal sin, as it goes against everything a canal holiday should be about.

If we didn't live in Norfolk and out of reach of the canal network, I think many of us would spend a lot of our weekends helping as volunteers with friends of the canals groups. It would be great to be able to play a part in restoring canals which have fallen out of use and repairing those which are in use but need some T.L.C. to stay in fine fettle.

In our next picture you see some friends of ours doing their bit to keep the canals flowing smoothly.


All this debris had to be removed before we I could drive Muscovy into the lock, so I was very grateful for this willingly given assistance.

Lots of love Eddie & friends xxx

Cruising Into Stratford

After being stationary for 2 whole days, it was really good to be reminded of how many interesting sights there are, as you travel the inland waterways by boat.

I haven't managed to find out who Colin P Witter was, but he must have been pretty important to have a structure such as this one named after him; I've never seen a lock like it ...


The other boat in the lock with Muscovy is Enigma. We'd been though so much together that we weren't ready to be parted just yet.

Just out of this lock we came upon Stratford on Avon's famous Holy Trinity Church, the burial place of William Shakespeare.


It's been in the news recently, as there is a need to move the grave, but no-one wants to do the job as it's supposed to bring on a curse. I think that's one job that Bears Unlimited won't be tendering for. Doesn't the river look serene and friendly in our picture? Who'd have thought that less than a couple of hours had passed since we were floodbound.

A couple of minutes further on and we were seeing more famous Stratford sights. One looked a bit different to usual ...


Yes, this is the famous Royal Shakespeare Theatre, or what's left of it. As you can see it's being pulled down and rebuilt. Had we not been floodbound for 2 days we'd planned to overnight in Stratford and see if we could take in a show. Maybe next time ...

I've saved my favourite picture til last, to finish off the flooding chapter of our holiday.


Here I am with my friends from Enigma, saying goodbye and thanks for the support and great company. Enigma's home base is near Kidderminster, one of my favourite parts of the canal system, so hopefully our paths will cross again.

Next time, we leave the Avon and return to the familiar territory of the canal system.

Lots of love, Eddie and crew xxx

Part 4: We Taste Freedom

Our second day of enforced leisure on our small island passed pleasantly enough. It was a sunny, dry day and bears are very good at amusing themselves. We also had some very good company. After enjoying our night out on board Enigma, we returned the compliment and invited our new friends on board Muscovy for the coming evening.

At the end of the day, the water level had started to go down. By the time we went to bed it appeared to be dropping by almost an inch an hour. We were therefore very hopeful that we would be on our way again the next morning.

The next morning it was fairly good news, but not the best we could have hoped for. The flood warning was still showing 6 inches of flood (back to where we started), but there is a big difference between a rising 6 inches and a falling 6 inches.

After consultation with Engima's Captain and a phone call to our hire company, we decided to leave together and see how we got on getting to the next lock, where there would at least be another chance to moor, this time on land with a public foothpath!


And so, here we are, bidding, not exactly a fond farewell, to our island mooring which had been home for the last 48 hours. It had, however, provided a safe anchorage and for that we were grateful.

As the current was still strong, the going upstream was slow. There were a few occasions when, even with the engine at full revs, we were only achieving a speed of a 1.5 m.p.h. We kept going forwards though and made it through the navigation hazard of the arched bridge at Binton Bridges successfully: here we are lining up to go through ...


... we all relaxed when this current concentrating hazard was behind us.

All around was evidence that other boats and structures had not fared as well in the flood as us. Being a true boat lover, I even felt distressed for the fate of this plastic pig ...


Mind you, had it been a narrow boat, I'd have been inconsolable.

As locks are the only places to moor on the upper Avon, at the next lock we met the first set of boaters we'd seen for days. They were still moored up as they were waiting to go downstream, which would have been a lot trickier, given the speed of the current. We might be making slow progress against the current but it was preferable to being swept downsteam towards a weir, out of control. One of the boaters there told us that a narrow boat had got stuck on the lip of the weir we were about to pass, and it had to be pulled off by 2 Land Rovers. We followed Enigma's lead across the approach to this weir and, with full revs, safely avoided the slip stream.

We were having quite an adventure, but we relished the excitement and our new found fredom. We knew that we would soon be at Stratford and leaving the river to return to the canals, so we were really looking forward to the rest of our holiday.

Lots of love, Eddie and the crew of Muscovy xxx

Part 3: Water, Water Everywhere ...

I returned from my late afternoon inspection of the river level with some good news and some bad news for my crew.

The bad news was that the river level hadn't dropped at all and was still 6 inches into the red danger zone, so we would be spending the night on our island.

The good news was that we'd been invited out for the evening. Rod and the crew of Enigma had invited all over for drinks on their boat. We all smiled at the irony. There we were, stranded on an island, being invited out for the evening, whereas had we not been stranded and reached Stratford on Avon as originally planned, there would have been no invitation out. So it's really true, every cloud does have a silver lining. We had a great evening on board Enigma and made friends with 3 great people.

We were all convinced, as only a few drops of rain had fallen that day, that the river level would have dropped out of the danger zone by the next morning.

And so, I was up very early the next morning, checking the river level at 6.00 a.m. so that we could make an early start and catch up the lost time from the day before. I was not prepared for what I saw ...


It was a good job I had clipped myself on to the lock gate with my safety line, otherwise I might have fallen in with the shock as I peered over at the flood marker. The river had risen by an extra foot and was not far below the 2 foot mark.

Even in the area where we were moored, out of the main flow, we could see that the ring our ropes were tied to, had risen up the mooring pole indicating a higher water level.

To me though, the most dramatic evidence of the overnight rise of the river, was the appearance (or lack of it) of the landing stage, just before the lock. We had temporarily tied up at this landing stage 24 hours earlier, in order to get off the boat to open the lock. This is what I saw when I looked at where it had been ...


The landing stage was completely underwater, even though we had had to step up to it, as we got off the boat the day before. At the back of the picture you can just see the top of the mooring posts, which 24 hours earlier had seemed quite tall!

There was nothing for it but to settle down to more waiting and another day of enforced leisure.

Lots of love Eddie & crew xxx

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

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