Back to Upton on Severn

Getting our mail is one of the hardest things about living on the boat. We get all the important stuff like bank statements etc. on-line or by email but some companies still insist on using snail mail, so every couple of months one of my friends fills a Jiffy bag and sends it on to us. We use the Post Restante system operated by the post office but you'd be amazed at how many large post offices we've been to where the staff have no idea what Post Restante is.  Thankfully the post office in Upton on Severn is fully clued up and when we went to collect our mail today the girl told us they have several Post Restante clients at the moment and had it all filed away in the back office. Very efficient!

We'd planned to go down river to Gloucester and just call in at Upton on the way to pick up the post, but that's all changed. No sooner had we pulled up on the pontoon than another narrowboat breasted up with us and then we were surrounded by plastic.  It's the Upton Music Festival this weekend. At  over £50 each for the weekend we'd decided it was too expensive and would give it a miss, but we've been reliably informed that we'll hear all the music from our moorings so have decided to stay here for a couple of nights.

The festival has been set up on the field opposite our moorings. We'll go over tomorrow and check it out properly but for tonight there's live music on in most of the pubs along the waterfront so we'll have a wander around after dinner, providing the rain holds off that is.

Drama in Worcester

We had a touch of drama this morning.  Roger was eating his breakfast and looking out of the side hatch when a small film crew arrived on the bridge above our mooring.

 The actress was supposed to be quite distressed

and attempt to throw herself off the bridge into the river

The producer/camera man filmed it all from just behind our boat

Now while all this was going on, people were still walking to and fro across the bridge.  I was amazed that only one woman stopped and tried to help/stop her jumping off the bridge.  Everyone else just walked straight past!  She took some reassuring that it it was only a film and was quite shocked and upset. It would have made more sense if the film crew had stopped people crossing the bridge while they were filming.

After lunch we set off again downstream.  The river attracts a different sort of boat and there were lots of "gin palaces" moored everywhere.

Some of them are huge. This shows the scale as the narrowboat was a 57ft hire boat.

We enjoyed our cruise down to Upton on Severn although in places the banks are so high you can't actually see much other than trees.

When we arrived at Upton on Severn there was only one mooring spot left, tucked in against the bank but still on a floating pontoon.  Can you see how high the mooring poles are?

Upton on Severn has the dubious reputation of being the most flooded town in the UK.  It's been flooded 70 times in 40 years.  At least I'll sleep happy tonight knowing that if it floods tonight we have another 20ft. to go up.

Upton on Severn

Today we set off onto the River Severn and cruised to Upton on Severn where we managed to squeeze into the last vacant mooring, just by the bridge.

I’d read about a local vineyard on the internet so we set off to walk the mile and a bit to find it.

The owner was very friendly and gave us a free wine tasting. I must admit I didn’t expect it to be any good, well you just don’t associate England with wine production do you, but I was pleasantly surprised. The Elgar dry white was delicious and we bought 2 bottles, along with a bottle of the award winning “methode champagnoise” Elgar Sparking. This has been hidden away until our daughter’s visit in Liverpool. If you’re ever passing this way I highly recommend a visit. You can find out more about Tiltridge Vineyard HERE

Near the vineyard there was a fruit farm where you could pick your own strawberries, raspberries, plums and apples. They also had pick your own eggs but I gave this a miss. The last time I went egg collecting I ended up with one sat on my head my to the amusement of the rest of the family!

The farm also had a herd of Tamworth pigs routing around in a small orchard. They seemed to be very partial to the apples.

On the way back we called into the local hardware shop searching for “No More Spiders” spray. We’ve looked everywhere since we were moored at Barton and got invaded by the 8 legged beasties but to no avail. I’d just about resigned myself  to having to order it online when lo and behold there it was! Wonderful. I just hope it works as well as I’ve been led to believe.