Today was our last day on the river….. sigh…. it’s been a really great trip. Active yet relaxing…. Not exciting but definitely not boring. A slice out of time is how I would describe it. Everything slows right down….and you have no choice but to do the same.

We got up a bit earlier than normal and were off the mooring just before 8am. We had breakfast on the move: high stacked breakfast baps of bacon, black pudding and tomato. It was a little bit chilly at first, but the early light on the river was beautiful – gold and mist.

So, out of the Avon and into the might Severn and heading upstream against the flow. It was fine. Slowed us a bit but not to make much difference. There is a lot of birdsong along the Severn. Different birds. Hardly any swans or geese. Some ducks. A kingfisher. A heron or two. Cows and sheep peered at us as we progressed north. We passed one other craft all day.

As we approached a bridge just south of Worcester, a river warden approached in a little dory and said that they were just craning a big barge into the river and would we mind waiting. We decided to pull up on a mooring and have lunch while they got on with it. Cold meats, pork pie, smoked salmon.

We turned into the first of Diglis Locks at around 2pm. The first one is manned, the rest unmanned. From the river the locks raise you up quite considerably to get to the level of the Worcester Canal. And they get steadily narrower. The last two before Worcester were literally the width of the boat. Bit scary to steer into.

Got back to the marina at around 3.45 and moored up. A few other boats have come in behind us. We celebrated with more tea and the last of the toasted malt loaf.

Started to do some packing which is not too bad as it is all still in the packing cubes.

Tonight we ate at the very highly rated Globe Modern Bistro in the city centre. It was absolutely excellent in every way – fine dining in a casually elegant setting Would highly recommend this place and would certainly return. I have been really impressed at how seriously restaurants in this whole area are taking covid and the protective measures they are putting in place.

Tomorrow we will clear the food, strip the bed linen and towels into the covid sacks provided and then do the quick boat check out with the staff. We should be away for 930 and we’ll go for a breakfast together and then Bob and I will had for home and Stuart and Fi are heading for a few days in Malvern to do some walking. We have our flu jabs tomorrow afternoon, so have to get back for those.

This has been a really enjoyable week and we heartily recommend that you pick a couple of congenial friends and consider renting a canal boat. It’s easy enough handling them, much, much easier than a sea going vessel or a sailboat and there’s a comfortable amount of space, proper beds, bathrooms, a kitchen – radiators !!!!! A very civilised way to get afloat if you dont like moving water. You’ll get to see a view of England that hasn’t changed much in centuries and a week spent pottering from waterside pub to pub can’t be bad.