It's Green for GO!

Do you remember me telling you our level marker was the tyre hanging across the river?  Well when we opened the blinds at 7.00 this morning it was finally out of the water which meant that the level was low enough for us to safely move.

Sure enough, the river level had dropped about a foot overnight and was back in the green.

Yesterday a couple arrived from Evesham on a brand new boat and we decided to travel back to Stratford together setting off around 9.00.

The current was still quite strong and in a few places it slowed us right down, but we hadn't realised just how strong it was until we got to Welford Lock.  We had to moor on the lock landing while 3 plastic cruisers came down the lock and our new friends breasted up against us to wait.

You can see the lock on the left and the weir on the right. These two photos show the force of the current, can you see the waves?

There were people from the Avon Trust at the lock and they told me we had to be careful untying our ropes, to make sure we cast off the stern rope before the centre rope.  They were advising us to do this as a few years ago a guy had cast off his bow rope leaving the stern attached and the current had grabbed him, spinning his boat around.  He'd tried to hold the stern rope but the current was too strong and he ended up having 3 fingers severed and his boat sunk!  Needless to say we were all very careful.

Just as we were about to go into the lock another narrowboat arrived.  He was singlehanding and instead of coming over to the lock landing he kept over the other side of the river.  The current caught his bow and spun him around in a matter of seconds!  There was no possibility of him turning round again so the guys at the lock had to grap his ropes, help him over to the lock landing and then they were going to help him reverse into the lock, go up backwards and turn above the weir.  It just goes to show that even though the river level is in the green, you have to be very careful near weirs!

Further up-stream we came across this fallen tree which wasn't there 3 weeks ago before the floods and would have made a real mess of the paintwork if we'd got too close.

There are some fantastic houses beside the river.  This is just one of them.

When we finally got to Stratford upon Avon the river was chaotic with loads of canoes, rowing boats and punts.  It took us ages to get up to Bancroft Lock, dodging holiday makers as we went.

Since we left at the beginning of July, the local Council have brought in mooring charges on the Recreation Field moorings. It's now £5 a night.  As we passed one boat, he shouted to us that Bancroft Basin was full but when we got in there were actually 6 spaces so that's were we're stopping for a couple of days.

Since we moored up we've talked to several boaters who we'd seen down at Bidford and who hadn't waited for green but who had gone while the level was still in the red.  Without exception they all had horror stories to tell and everyone said they wished they'd waited. I'm SO glad we waited the extra day.

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.

Floods Day 6

The river level dropped again overnight and at 10.30am was just into the orange, but by 3.00pm it had risen again and is now just on the line between the 2 colours.

You can tell how much it's dropped as the weir is almost visible again. At peak levels this was almost flat.

We walked into Bidford again this morning, trying to dodge between the showers but ended up having to shelter in the porch of one of the small cottages we passed on the way.  The rain pelted down and the edges of the road soon filled up and ran like little rivers.  As fast as the rain started, it stopped and became very hot and sunny.  It's been like that all day, sunshine and heavy showers. Strange weather for July indeed!

This is the river marker in Bidford.  It too was just down in the orange and there's only 1 moored boat left there now. That's Brian on n.b Kyle

This is the indicator sign which shows you which arch of Bidford bridge you need to go through.  I don't know how long it's been like this, but I didn't notice it being on it's side last time I looked over the bridge.  Of course with the river level being higher last time I looked, it could have been submerged.

The weather forecast for the next few days is for even more rain so, providing the level's dropped further into the orange, we may move tomorrow and moor in Bidford.  That's so we're nearer water, pump-out and diesel, just in case the levels start coming back up again. Hopefully, now that the River Severn has dropped below the weir at Tewkesbury, the River Avon will be able to drain into it again and the levels should start dropping more rapidly.  That's providing we don't have a load more rain, of course.

Floods Day 5

The moorings on the opposite bank reappeared this morning as the water level continued to drop and this afternoon we moved over there so that we could get the satellite to lock on and watch TV.

Several boats have come past during the day, in both directions.  This is despite the river level still being 5ins. in the red at 4.30pm. I don't understand them.  OK, so not everyone has the luxury of being a live-aboard and being able to sit it out, but don't they realise that their insurance will be invalid if they have an accident? There's plenty of debris being washed down-stream at the moment and if a tree or large log smashes into a boat with the full force of the current behind it, it'll do a fair bit of damage.

Barton Lock level marker at 4.30pm

Floods Day 4

The river level dropped by 6ins overnight and then over the course of the morning it dropped another couple of inches so we can now get across the lock landing which means we are no longer isolated and can get to the village easily.

You can see from the marker board that it's still 2ft 6in in the red.

We didn't really need any shopping as we're still well stocked with with food and drink, but we fancied a walk so we cut across the fields into Bidford on Avon to check out the state of the river there.  We met Brian on n.b. Kyle who was moored on the village poles, along with a really nice American couple who were also stuck, half way through their hire boat holiday.

Just after I took this photo the narrowboat on the top left of the photo decided to go for it and set off up-stream.

He made it through the bridge hole with very little headroom and needed full throttle to battle the current. By the time we'd got back to the boat he'd made it up through Barton Lock too, but talking to a canoeist later, we were told that he'd really had to struggle to get into the lock cut as the weir current was so strong.  He must be mad!  He told the canoeist that "he had to be somewhere"......let's hope he gets there safely, rather him than me.

The canoeist was a really nice guy who was having a great time "shooting the rapids" down the weir.  I've been thinking about getting a canoe but I doubt I'd ever have the nerve to try anything like this.