NB Ceilidh - Ship's Blog: 20th July 2013 - Hampstall Ferry to Tewkesbury

Set off a relatively late 10am after enjoying a lovely dawn. We were soon into Holts lock - all the River Severn locks are operated electronically by a lock keeper, so there is nothing for us to do, other then hang on to cables at the sides so the boat doesn't get buffeted about. We shared the lock with a canoeist who we got talking to. Thereafter we kept leap-frogging him all day.

Stopped in Worcester for lunch and to drop off rubbish. A couple of drunks stripped off and start swimming next to the boat so we moved off - and so we didnt have to pull any bodies out of the river.

We had planned to reach Upton upon Severn for our overnight stop. As Upton hove into view at 5pm it became obvious something was happening. Boats were moored nearly bank to bank, the town was full of thousands of people, live music was echoing around the riverside. A full blown festival was going on! A lady on a moored narrowboat signaled that we could moor up alongside them. I reversed closer, but when we got within 10m and still couldnt hear what she was saying because of all the noise - we thought better of it. We would get better sleep out in the country! We waved our thanks and moved away.

It was another hour and a half to Tewkesbury, arriving at Upper Lode Lock at 6.45pm - 15 minutes before the lock was due to close for the evening. Snag was, it was all closed and shut up! Obviously the lock keeper had knocked off early. We moored up above the lock, which was a lovely spot - and were soon joined by our shadowing canoeist! We invited him onboard for a cup of tea - an offer he readily accepted. Mike was retired and re-living his youth, canoeing the Severn from Welshpool on his own for a week. After deciding the pontoon was too hard to sleep on, he paddled across the river to set up his camp on the opposite bank for the night.