River Severn to Stourport

The lock keeper comes on duty at 8:00 am and we wanted to leave Gloucester Docks as soon after that as we could.

While preparing to leave Ian noticed that the English Holiday Cruise vessel the 'Edward Elgar' was also preparing to leave and sure enough it started to manoeuvre at exactly 8:00, casting off its mooring lines, it smoothly edged into position near the lock gates. We watched her through the lock before we slipped our mooring lines and queued with four other narrowboats waiting for the lock to fill. In the meantime we had ordered a 'Breakfast Toastie' from the café so we had a hot toasted sandwich filled with scrumptious egg, bacon and mushrooms to munch on. What a perfect way to start the day and to start another leg of our trip.

The canalised River Severn from Gloucester is a narrow length of river hemmed in by high banks. There was little to see as we made out way to the 'Upper Parting' the point 2 miles upstream where the tidal west channel meets the navigable east channel. After the 'Upper Partings' travelling northwards, the river widened, but still the high banks afforded limited views and this characteristic changes very little all the way to Stourport.

Unlike the River Thames, there are few places to moor along the 13 mile stretch between Gloucester Dock and the first lock, Upper Lode Lock' and with little to see, I had time to play a little with my camera. The wildlife wasn't disappointing. We even saw an otter as it crossed the river in front of the boat. Ian is still sceptical but the mammal that swam in front of us was too big to be ratty! Unfortunately, my camera wasn't to hand at that point, so I don't have photographic evidence.

Single span (170ft) cast iron bridge - Mythe Bridge

We made good time as Winedown chugged along upstream. Doing a merry 4 mph we arrived at Upper Lode lock just a little over 3 hours after leaving Gloucester. It was quite surprising how little traffic there was on the river for such a beautiful day. Two of the other four narrowboats turned towards Tewksbury while we continued on, under the Mythe bridge (built by Thomas Telford in 1828) and then we were on to Upton-On-Severn, our destination for the day.

There are few bridges connecting the west bank to the east bank of the the River Severn, between Gloucester and Worcester so when you do see one as awe-inspiring as the Mythe bridge, it is worth a mention.

Upton-On-Severn is a small town in the Malvern Hills District of Worcestershire and the bridge that crosses the river is the only one between Worcester and Tewksbury. This quaint town is steeped in history and was well worth the two days that we spent there. We could easily have stayed longer but public mooring is scarce and mooring in the marina is expensive and don't be fooled by the navigational notes in the Nicholson's guide that indicates there is free mooring to be had in the marina. We did have the appropriate voucher but the marina will tell you that it only applies to coastal vessels only - in the inland waterways??? Oh well, they did give us one extra night for good will so we made the most of our exploration and enjoyed our stay in this very friendly town.

Laundry all done, batteries fully charged, water tank full; it was time to move on. Next stop was Worcester but before that we enjoyed 10 miles of scenic river views A scattering of bungalows and a caravan site or two were all that interrupted this tranquil stretch of the river, and while looking back, the Malvern hills completed the picture by framing the landscape.

Passing the Severn Motor Yacht Club, we knew were were not far from Worcester. It was almost as if the lavish gin palaces, majestically lined up, were a taste of what was to come. Leaving the grand boats behind, we passed under the road bridge and on into Diglis lock. As the lock filled, the cathedral came into view,the huge square tower commanding centre stage.

The imposing Worcester Cathedral dates back to 1074 and five subsequent centuries have added their representation of architecture, resulting in some fine monuments and stained glass. One such monument is the tomb of King John dating back to 1216. Carved out of Purbeck marble, this is the oldest royal effigy in England and can be found in the chancel of the cathedral. King John was of course most noted for agreeing to the Magna Carta, a charter of demands made by John’s rebellious barons. This was the first grant by an English monarch to set detailed limits on his all encompassing royal authority giving rise to the formation of our parliament.

Two miles past Diglis lock, mooring can be found near the racecourse and this is where we chose to spend the night. (Just a note for any who may want internet connectivity or even a good TV signal, neither is available) Once moored, we settled down to enjoy the surroundings and watch passing craft on the river. Later in the evening a hot-air balloon lifted off from the racecourse and drifted lazily overhead, gliding silently on the prevailing summer breeze.

Mooring near the racecourse in Worcester

We had arranged to meet our friends Geoff and Lynn Booth in Stourport on Saturday 12^th July. The Booth family live in Stourport and we had promised that when we meander along their neck of the woods we would be sure to look them up. Geoff joined us Lincomb Lock and travelled with us for the last mile of the River Severn. The pretty Lincomb Lock is the northernmost lock on the River Severn.

Geoff pointed out old landmarks such as the Redstone Rock, a crumbling outcrop of red sandstone that was still inhabited until that late 1960s; and the abandoned oil wharves, now frequented by the occasional fisherman, then it was on into the Stourport basins. We had two 2-step staircase locks to navigate, the first joined the basins to the river and  the second joined two of the four basins. We moved on through the basins and found a slot in the 5 day mooring on the Staffs & Worcs canal before spending an extremely convivial afternoon with Geoff and family watching the comings and goings along the River Severn.