River Avon............Tewkesbury to Pershore.

Leaving Gloucester we again joined the River Severn and headed in the direction of the junction with the River Avon. It is about a four-hour journey to the Avon from Gloucester dock and we decided on the spur of the moment to moor for the evening at Haw Bridge on the Severn. Our decision was coloured by the opportunity of a vacant mooring on the pontoons near the adjacent Haw Bridge Inn and as moorings are limited on the Severn we decided to have 'have an early bath' as the old rugby term goes and enjoy an evening meal and a few beers in the pub.


Moving to Upper Lode lock in the morning, I tried the lock-keeper on the VHF as his visibility to our part of the river is non-existent and after a quick conversation he had the lock ready for us. 

Turning right onto River Avon junction we saw the Avon lock green light and did the sharp right turn straight into the lock.  A friendly lady lock-keeper welcomed us and took our £60 for a two-week Avon Navigation Trust license on a hand-held debit card machine whilst we were in the lock. All very slick and improved from our last visit when you needed cash or a cheque.

Welcome to the River Avon - locking up from the River Severn.

River Avon lock........Tewkesbury 

We paid the £3 required to use their overnight mooring near the lock (other Avon Navigation Trust Avon moorings are free) so we could do some food shopping in Tewkesbury. 

Overnight moorings River Avon, Tewkesbury.

Heading in the direction of Stratford the following morning we stopped at the nearby Tewkesbury marina which has a riverside fuel-point for both diesel and petrol with a dedicated service mooring. Again all slick and no messing about trying get near the fuel for moored boats only to be told 'cash only' which is occasionally the situation on some waterways.

Tewkesbury bridge over the River Avon

Having cruised the Avon a couple of years ago we know most of the mooring places are not exactly plentiful so were prepared grab the first opportunity before the day became much older and. Certainly before 2pm if possible.


Picturesque Eckington Bridge is the first opportunity going towards Stratford with just two moorings. Both were taken so we decided to continue onto the delightful Pershore where (48 hour) moorings are more plentiful. It was our lucky day and there was a number of vacant moorings.


Pershore is certainly an excellent place to moor with a nearby Supermarket and indoor market.  New pump-out ( ANT token required available from Pershore town hall, five minutes away ) and cassette tip-out facilities together with two water-points were installed during 2012 and you are allowed to use the large bins along the moorings for your rubbish, so in short Pershore has just about everything a boater would need.

Pershore moorings

We stayed the full 48-hour allowed in Pershore and certainly enjoyed our visit to a town that actually seems to welcome boaters. 

Gloucester dock to Sharpness........

Nearing the time-limit on our 48-hour visitor mooring in Gloucester dock we decided to spend a few days on the Gloucester and Sharpness ship canal.   Sixteen miles long this canal could take large sailing vessels in it's hey-day.  It still does.......with an annual 'tall-ships' gathering in Gloucester dock.  Over 100 ft wide in  places and 20 ft deep, no locks and all the bridges opened for you. This is easy cruising for a narrowboat or cruiser - a pleasure that is not to be missed after reaching Gloucester from the River Severn.

Gloucester dock from the Gloucester and Sharpness ship cana;. Llanthony bridge is in the foreground.

After an overnight at Sellar's Bridge we used the nearby water point and were delighted to see the Spanish two-master schooner 'Atyla' hove into view from the direction of Gloucester.  'Atyla' is a training ship and was heading for Liverpool from Sharpness after repairs to her top masts in Gloucester. It was a sight you certainly do not see on the Macclesfield canal !!!!!!!!

Spanish Schooner 'Atyla' passes us on the Gloucester and Sharpness ship canal.

After the unique experience of being passed by something that you imagine braving the waves of the Spanish main, the rest of the day was an anti-climax.

A day of anti-climax perhaps, but a beautiful one for all that.  An hour or so and we were passing though Saul junction which boasts a selection of interesting boats all

Boats of all sizes on the Gloucester and Sharpness ship canal.

Struggling  to use the water-point nearing Sharpness with this large vessel moored next to it.

of it's own including several large pleasure boats and a RNLI lifeboat for some reason (no reflection on the trip boats I am sure)

We had stopped at Patch bridge on our last visit a couple of years ago.  Seeing a free mooring we decided to repeat the pleasure. Patch bridge gives easy access to Slimbridge wildfowl trust
 ( about fifteen minutes walk) and the nearby 'Tudor' inn.

A couple of nights moored at the canal terminus at Sharpness allowed us to explore the arm to the old original dock that was once the entrance to the Severn Estuary and Bristol channel when the canal was first built.  Amazing to think that it was once mooring for large sea-going sailing ships before the current modern commercial docks were built.  These would have then used the Sharpness canal and off-loaded their cargo at Gloucester lock.

Old dock entrance to the Gloucester and Sharpness canal.  Severn estuary and Bristol channel are pictured in the background.

Low tide on the Severn estuary looking towards Gloucester from Sharpness.

This canal arm is now long-term moorings for a variety of fibreglass cruisers and narrowboats.  A walk to the end of the arm will supply you with superb views over the Severn estuary and Bristol channel with the Bristol suspension bridge visible on the horizon. Our previous visit a couple of years ago had seen the visitor moorings on the approach to the arm very busy and we were lucky to get the last space. This year for some reason there was hardly any boats there with plenty of room to moor.

With superb weather we decided to return to Gloucester dock without a stop.  Sixteen miles was completed in a little over four hours and by early afternoon we were moored outside the Sainsbury supermarket on the approaches to Gloucester dock. Then with food cupboards re-stocked we looked forward to another couple of days chilling out in Gloucester dock.

48-hour visitor mooring. Gloucester dock.

Gloucester dock lock........locking up from the River Severn into the dock.