Sunday lunch

We set off early this morning and were in Evesham Lock by 9.30. We'd just got roped up when a short narrowboat and a plastic cruiser turned up wanting to share the lock. We were quite happy to share but found that the reason they wanted to come in with us was that they wanted me to do all the work for them! It's Sunday and I was in a good mood so I just got on with it, after all they were quite a bit older than me and the guy on the narrowboat claimed he was single handing. They followed us into the next lock and low and behold a woman appeared on the narrowboat, looked like she'd just got out of bed but at least this time she steered the boat while husband got off and helped with the lock. The guy on the cruiser still did nothing except flap about ordering his poor wife who was in the boat holding onto the rope.  You certainly meet all sorts on the rivers and canals.

The reason we'd set off early was that we wanted to go to The Bridge at Bidford for lunch. We hadn't booked and when we went in at 2.00 it was very busy. We got a good table and I have to say it was probably the best Sunday lunch we've had for a long time.  I had salt cod fritters with aoili for starters. They were very light, extremely tasty and just melted in the mouth. Main course was roast beef with all the trimmings. The beef was so rare it almost had a pulse, just how we like it.  I'd noticed that the veg on the adjacent table looked a bit crunchy so asked for ours to be cooked a bit longer as we don't like it like that. We got a large bowl of assorted greens, cabbage, broccoli, peas and broad beans, all cooked perfectly to our taste. For desert we shared a raspberry and rum trifle, well Roger had a couple of small spoonfuls and I had the rest. This was all washed down with a very good bottle of Aussie Shiraz. I'd certainly recommend this place and hope we can make a return visit before we leave the area.

The Bridge at Bidford

We're now back in the marina at Barton, luckily the boat next door has gone so we've got a much better view and it doesn't feel quite as claustrophobic.