Floods Day 14

Thursday
Well we're still here!  We had two really heavy thunder storms on Wednesday evening and overnight the level rose back up another 15 ins.

Four more boats arrived late afternoon so all the moorings are now full. One boat had a really hard time mooring up as the current was so strong.  We spoke to him later and he told us he'd had a "tricky time" at one of the locks. He'd come out of the shelter of the lock cut into the main stream and the current was so strong he'd started going backwards towards the weir. He also admitted he was having problems with his engine.  Why on earth would anyone attempt a river in flood with a dodgy engine?

This afternoon I talked to one of the men working for the Avon Navigation Trust and he told me about the antics of one boat that had passed us going down-stream about half an hour previously.  He'd watched this boat trying to get out of the current into the lock cut at Barton Lock. They ended up going sideways.  He said he couldn't believe anyone would travel in these conditions but was powerless to stop them.

Shortly after that, a boat came up-stream and pulled up alongside us so that the crew could nip into the village for a paper.  Talking to the skipper it became obvious that he was fairly inexperienced and he told us about a few "hairy moments" he'd had since leaving Evesham. I told him I thought he was mad and he asked why?  When I mentioned the fact that you're not supposed to travel when the markers are on red (and at that point they were 2ft 6in in the red) he looked totally bemused, looked up towards the bridge and asked if I thought he'd get through it.  I asked him if he realised his insurance was invalid if he had an accident and he had no idea!

This morning (Friday) the river's dropped a bit again. Our current level guide is this tyre on the wall opposite us.  When it's just clear of the water the level will be back in the orange and we can go, so it'll be a while yet.

Floods Day 13

Just a quickie to say that we're still stuck here in Bidford on Avon. The river level's started going down and we now have dry(ish) land at the side of the boat.  The marker's still about a foot in the red but boats have begun coming past, even though they're uninsured and really struggling against the current.
We're hoping the level will continue to drop and that by tomorrow morning it'll be back in the amber and we can set off towards Stratford upon Avon.  We need to get back to Manchester ASAP but even putting in 7 hour cruising days it'll take us 11 days so the sooner we can go the better.

Floods Day 10

Sunday
The heavy rain that had been forecast for the Midlands certainly affected the river level during Saturday night as when we got up on Sunday morning the base plank was under water. That's the 3rd step which was also covered about an hour later.

This level was about the peak. Compare it with the mooring photo above and it may give you some idea of the scale of the flooding here.

These 3 guys turned up late morning looking like they were going to do some serious canoeing.

It was quite entertaining watching them trying to get down the bank into the water, although we soon realised they didn't have a clue what they were doing. Only one of them had been canoeing before and they had no comprehension of how strong the current would be.

The one clinging onto the mooring pole was petrified.  He'd never been in a canoe before, let alone on a river......and he couldn't swim either!  At least he was wearing a life jacket.  Once he managed to pluck up the courage to let go of the pole the current took him racing down river past our boat, while his mates tried to teach him how to use his paddle.  He got about 100 yards and bottled out, managed to get the canoe into the bushes and get out.  His mates paddled about for a bit but decided the current was too much for them and left about half an hour later.

This steam engine went past later in the afternoon.

This is the bridge-hole you use to go through Bidford bridge. The level's so high a narrowboat wouldn't be able to get through at the moment, even if they could fight the torrential current that's raging through it.

Necessity is the mother of invention - Floods Day 9

The river level continues to rise, will it never end?  It's risen 2ft today and is now up above the second step.

Our neighbours have had enough and have booked into a local B&B, lending us their plank whilst they're away which makes it a bit easier getting off. It's fastened to the old mooring sign in case the level rises further and tries to wash it away. Chico's struggling a bit as he can't walk down the gunwale to the plank and it's too far for him to jump to the bank.  We're having to put him on the roof so he can walk to a point where we can lift him down onto the plank and then off.  He's not a happy bunny I can tell you!

This is the water tap beside the boat. We made sure to fill up before it totally disappears. (in the time it's taken to down-load the photos and write this blog, the tap's been totally covered. That's how fast it's rising!! )

The house opposite must have a flooded cellar as bottom of this door is now 6ins below the surface.

The current is running much faster and there's plenty of flotsam coming down the river.  Large rafts of reeds

and even a tree.  It looks smaller in the photo than real life and would give you a nasty bang if it hit you at this speed.

I'm still making baby shoes but I think she's now got enough so I'll have to find another project to keep me occupied until we can set off on our travels again.  The good thing with these little baby things is that they're using up all my odds and ends of wool.

ladybird shoes

baby 'UGGS'

The water's rising again!

The water level's up and down like a bride's nightie!  When we went to bed last night this tyre was only just touching the water. By the time we got up this morning it was half submerged

and 2 hours later it was almost totally under.

Two of the other boats left this morning, despite the marker being back well into the red.  One boat had gone by the time I got up and the other left as soon as the rain stopped. I'm sure people are getting complacent about the state of the river and after lunch we decided to walk down to Marcliff Lock which is the next one down river, about a mile from here, to see just what the conditions were like and see if we were being overly cautious.

 This is the safety boom across the weir.

The marker board is 2ft in the red.

The lock landing bollards are completely submerged

I reckon it would be a bit tight getting through the lock bridge with the level being up so much.

When we got back from our walk the level had risen another 4 ins and had started coming over the bank.

Half an hour later, when I got back from the supermarket, I had to paddle to get back onboard.

We're now back to walking the plank

At least we could get off to go and sit in the sunshine at one of the many picnic tables in the park beside the mooring.

Currently the level is rising at about 2ins an hour and Radio 2 have just forecast severe thunderstorms in the midlands tonight. As this is where the source of the River Avon is that'll mean more flooding down here tomorrow, no doubt.  It's a good job Bidford on Avon is such a nice village, we may be here for a while yet.

Bidford on Avon

This morning the level had dropped another few inches and was almost down to the green marker.

Our friend Brian came up Barton Lock on his way back to Stratford and said that although the weir current was still quite fierce it was nothing to worry about so, with the threat of more heavy rain to come, we decided to carry on and move down to Bidford on Avon. The only time we felt the extra current was going through Bidford Bridge but it wasn't bad really, just needed more throttle than usual.

When we moored up we were the only boat here, but more arrived this afternoon so the moorings are now full again.

We've been in water saving mode for the past week as we weren't sure how long it would be before we'd be able to re-fill the tank.  By flushing the loo with river water, only washing up once a day and taking very quick showers we'd managed to only use half a tank of water in the week since we left Stratford, so it was great to be able to do 2 loads of washing and take a nice long leisurely shower. It's quite scary to think how much water we used to use/waste when we lived in the house.

After such a beautiful morning, the rain's come back with a vengeance this afternoon. I was going to put my wellies back under the bed, but there are huge puddles beside the boat so maybe I'll leave them out for a bit longer.

Damson Gin

On one of our walks around the Bidford area we came across a grove of wild damson trees. I kept going back to check on them and yesterday they were just ripe enough yesterday for me to pick and make damson gin. It’s a really good area for foraging as there are also lots of wild plum and cherry plum trees but these aren’t ripe yet.

tiny wild damsons

To make the damson gin you need to stab every one of 1lb of small wild damsons with a sharp knife to let the juice escape then pack  into a Kilner jar (or similar). Cover with 6oz of white sugar and shake to settle the fruit and sugar before filling the jar with the cheapest gin you can  find (£7.99 in Morrisons) Screw the lid on tightly and shake well. Top up with more gin if necessary and put in a cool dark place for 3 months, shaking daily until the sugar has dissolved.  After 3 months taste and add more sugar if it needs it then sieve out the fruit and pour the liquid into a clean bottle. Label and leave for as long as possible before drinking.  I’ve been told you can keep the fruit, put it back into another jar and cover with a medium sherry for another 3 months but I’ve never tried that.

1lb washed & dried damsons

On the way back from picking the damsons I found my first blackberries of the season. There weren’t many and although they were large and looked tasty they were quite sour. I poached them slowly with a pear that refused to ripen and had them with homemade pancakes for breakfast this morning DELISH!

We finally left Barton Moorings this morning but before we could go anywhere we had to de-spider the boat. After clearing the plants off the roof Roger used the hosepipe and sweeping brush to scrub it clean. I’d planned to wash the sides when we moored in Bidford but we decided to go to The Bridge for lunch instead. The meal was superb, again. It’s now raining so the cleaning will have to wait till morning.