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.

Day 2 on our island

The rain continued for most of yesterday but by late evening the river level had started to go down a bit and we managed to get down the plank again to take Chico off for a wee.

You can see just how little "dry" land there was left but he enjoyed his walk up and down the thin patch of grass

Just before that photo was taken a group of canoists came past.  Some bravely went down the river weir but these 2 boats took the easy route through the lock

By the time we got up this morning the water level had gone down about 6ins and we now have our own private little island.  In between very heavy down-pours it's been hot and sunny enough to sit out

Chico's enjoyed being able to sunbathe in the grass even though it's still very damp.  He's been paddling but I've kept his harness and lead on in case he gets swept away as the current is very strong.

Even though we've no digital or satellite TV Roger managed to watch the Grand Prix qualifying yesterday and the race today on the Internet.  He used THIS WEBSITE and reckoned it was almost as good as the TV.

I'm not interested in sport of any kind so I've been doing some more hooky.

girly shoes

baby sneakers

The next pair are going to be UGG type boots. Well a baby girl can never have too many booties, can she?

Update from "The Ark"

You can see from this photo how much the level has risen.  The river is on the left and the 'lock cut' where we are safely moored is on the right. The water is running from the lock cut into the river and the two are now almost level, where normally at this point the river is about 3 feet below.

The water's started flowing around the lock gates and down into the lock. This is the level of the river below the weir and it's still about 2 feet below the top of the lock.

This was the level at 11.00am

which has risen about 6ins at 1.00pm.

It seems to have stopped rising for the time being. Let's hope it's peaked and starts dropping back down soon as we now can't get off the boat.

I knew we should have called the boat "The Ark" !

Once upon a time in a previous life, I was working at Crick Boat Show.  One year the mud was worse than usual and I had to buy a pair of wellies just to get around the marina.  I've never needed them again but couldn't bear to get rid of them as they remind me of Blackpool rock and they've spent the past 4 years stowed away under the bed with all the other "just in case" stuff.  Do you like them?  

This morning I had to dig them out, keep reading and you'll see why.......

This was the view of the opposite bank at 9.00pm last night. The level had already risen about 6ins since we'd arrived earlier in the afternoon.

This was the same view at 8.00am this morning. The river rose steadily all night and is still rising.

And we're now rising up the mooring poles. We had to put the plank out so Chico could go off for a wee, but as the water's still rising and the island between the lock and the weir is getting smaller and smaller we may have to think of another solution for his toilet requirements. He wasn't very happy walking down the plank as he's never done it before, but coming back up onto the boat was a different matter. I don't think he liked paddling while peeing very much.

This is the view towards the lock.   

You can see where the water's flowing over the bank into the river.  The weir's almost disappeared as the level's risen so much.

This sign is our current level marker.

The water's started flowing into the river behind us as well.  It won't be long until our little island disappears altogether.

The day before we left Stratford upon Avon I arranged for an Asda delivery so we're well stocked with food & drink.  The water tank's about 3/4 full and there's plenty of room in the toilet tank so, apart from Chico's need to go out, we're quite happy just sitting it out until the level goes down.  Our only "problem" is that we can't get any TV.  There's no digital signal round here and the trees are blocking the satellite.  We did manage to watch TV on the internet last night so Roger should be able to watch the Grand Prix, providing it isn't cancelled of course.

Carrying on

I took some photos of the roof garden yesterday, just to prove that despite all the rain we are managing to grow something edible apart from herbs.

The weather was so hot and sunny that we decided to leave Stratford upon Avon and carry on down river.

We had lunch en-route. Does life get much better than home-made pizza in scorching hot sunshine, cruising on a beautiful river?  Maybe a glass of red wine might have improved it, but we don't tend to drink on the boat at lunchtime any more.

As the weather was so good I decided to do a couple of loads of washing on the way, so that by the time we moored up at Pilgrim's Lock (now re-named Barton Grange Lock) it was ready to hang out on the whirly-gig.

I like mooring here. It's in the middle of nowhere and there are hardly any passing walkers so it's ideal to let Chico off the lead for a run around. He had a great time playing hide and seek in the long grassy meadow beside the lock.

We'd planned on staying for another night, but it was raining when we got up this morning and showed no sign of stopping.  By lunchtime the radio was quoting 97 flood warnings and the river was starting to rise.  As we didn't have any phone or internet signal here we decided we'd better move closer to civilisation just in case the river went into flood, so we checked the river level (well into the green) and set off. There was quite a flow on the river but nothing too drastic.  By the time we'd gone just over a mile to the next lock the marker board was into the orange so we decided not to continue. It would be different if we were on a hire boat, but as this is home we tend to be a lot more cautious on rivers.

We're moored on the island between the lock and the weir, on rings that rise up tall poles as the water level rises.

A couple of boats have gone past since we moored up. One was a hire boat who struggled getting out of the main river current to come to the lock and the other was a large rowing boat full of beefy looking men, none of whom were wearing life-jackets. They obviously didn't think there was any danger but by this time the river level was half way into the orange and still rising.  In fact the level had gone up over 3 inches since we'd moored up.

It's turned into a beautiful evening now that the rain has stopped, but the level is still rising and is now well into the red.

This is the weir. When we were here last year there was hardly any water going down it.

The Festival's over

There weren't quite as many people at the Festival yesterday, maybe it had something to do with the Olympic Torch passing through Stratford in the afternoon.

This is the floral display on the main town roundabout.

We were in town just as the torch arrived but didn't stop with the other few hundred people to watch it as we were hungry and intent on finding a good Sunday roast dinner.

The Old Thatch Tavern in the centre of town advertised "the best Sunday carvery in town" so we went in, booked a table and bought a pint.  However, after 25 minutes we were told that they'd run out of food so we'd have to try somewhere else. Thanks very much!

Across the road is the White Swan hotel so we tried there.  I'm SO glad the other place had run out as the meal here was fantastic.  For starters I had poached fois gras with maple walnuts and apple and Roger had devilled whitebait.  Both were excellent.  The roast beef dinner was excellent as well and we had the lightest, fluffiest & biggest Yorkshire puddings you could ever wish for. We'll certainly be back here another Sunday.

Stratford Rocks!

On Thursday I said I didn't think there were as many boats here as last year. I was wrong!  On Friday LOTS more arrived so this year there are more than ever.

Because of all the rain that had fallen "up country", the river level rose about 5 inches on Thursday night so that it was almost over the bank.  The EA opened the sluice gates to regulate it and we're back down to a more comfortable level again.

Apart from the usual narrowboats and cruisers attending the festival, there were other types of boats here too.

Unlike an IWA National or Crick Boat Show, the Stratford River Festival isn't just about boats.  It's a free festival for the town and boy do they know how to throw a party! 

During the day there were Morris Dancers in all shapes and sizes performing near Bancroft Basin lock.

From 12.00 onwards there were lots of bands performing on the bandstand. There was music to suit everyone's taste; a Ukulele band, A Jazz band, an Acoustic duo and a female soloist. As the day wore on more and more people thronged around the band stand area, many bringing chairs and picnics. By early evening there must have been a couple of thousand people there and the food and drink stalls were doing a roaring trade catering for everyone.  The blues band "Soul Patch" were on at 7.00 and got everyone rocking ready for the highlight of the day which was the last band "Texan Peacocks" who had everyone up dancing, including me.

When the music finished at 10.00 it was time for the illuminated boats parade.

This was definitely the best. They're moored just in front of us and it took the owner 2 days to fix all these lights.

At 10.30 the fireworks started and again they were better than last year, and that's saying a lot. They were FANTASTIC!