Don't panic ... that's not Moonstone! Here we are in Tewkesbury ...
... high-and wet but, thankfully, perfectly safe and comfortable.
Our voyage down the River Avon; from Stratford-Upon-Avon to Tewkesbury (Gloucestershire, not Massachusetts) was pleasant and quite uneventful. (42 miles and 17 locks.); though we did observe the salutary lesson (above) at one of those locks. Presumable, at some previous high-water event, she freed herself of her moorings and came to grief whilst unattended. As there is no road, or even stable dry land, anywhere close; the difficulties in salvaging her are immense! There but for the grace of God ... etc.. Pursuant to torrential rains, overnight on Easter Sunday, this morning - Tuesday - finds both the Severn and Avon a few feet higher than when we arrived. All traffic on both rivers is at a mandated standstill; though we are still hopeful of arriving by boat in Gloucester Docks, for 'The Ship of Fools Concert'. To be forced to arrive by road would be, surely, both ironic and ignominious.
I have vague, 60-year old, memories of Tewkesbury; living - as I then did - less than 20 miles away, and being a keen cyclist. The town's main claim to fame is its stunningly beautiful abbey ...
... to which, of course, we paid a visit ...
Consecrated in 1121; by sheer dimensions, the abbey is of 'cathedral proportions'. This image of its impressive columns evokes visions of Ken Follet's: Pillars of the Earth.
It was from this place; after his Wars of the Roses victory at the Battle of Tewkesbury (1471); that Edward IV 'violated sanctuary', by having a number of Lancastrian rebels dragged out from the abbey and executed.
This small town displays an impressive array of half-timbered, buildings; dating from the Medieval, Tudor periods ...
So ... more than at any time of our cruising, we are greatly subject to the vagaries of the weather. However; whilst there is nothing pressing in our immediately upcoming itinerary; Lyn and I are content be wonderfully slothful.
Last time out I posed the question regarding the use of some stone, mushroom like things. A gratifying number of you - from all parts of the globe - responded with the information that these were 'staddle stones', and instrumental in raising a building; often a tithe barn: ibid (entry May 5th. 2015) out of reach of dampness and - even more important - hungry rodents. Viz ...
Well done, the lot of you! More anon. Tom.
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