West

6/6/2018

Wending south west, on the canal highway, the River Severn. It is England's  longest river, used over millennia,  now navigable just beyond Stourport in the north, Sharpness in the south  -  below that, the Bristol channel,  which we probably won't tackle this trip. At the confluence of the rivers Avon and Severn,  lies Theoc's town, aka Tewkesbury. A snap attached of the vast abbey there, largely Norman, modified with gothic fan vaulting, towers etc.

From Tewkesbury we motored  for a few hours up the Avon, with dear cousins aboard, under 16th C bridges, avoiding the ubiquitous plastic cruisers, too easily sunk with a nudge from the 20 tonnes of Santiago. One was brave enough to  share a wide lock with us, our crew keeping taut the ropes restraining Santiago from lurching sideways as the lock filled.

We moored for lunch, roping to a large tree,  as the docking area was crammed with small children cavorting in the river, swimming, paddling, thoroughly enjoying the hot afternoon  - around 30!

From Tewkesbury we've motored the 14 miles down the Severn, the current assisting us to reach Gloucester  in about 2 hours.  This will be our most westerly point.