westwd

Seconded, Pershore is much nicer and worth stopping.

Worth it though.

I'd look for the Crabmill Inn at Preston Bagot as an option. My preference is to drop onto the River and moor opposite the RSC rather than stay in Bancroft basin.

Looks like that's the second bottle speaking....

The most tedious bit of the Avon ring by some margin though. Particularly when the rest is so delightful.

Ring every time, Avon ring is pleasant but there's a good few locks. For those who think rings are the devil's idea, just head down to Tewkesbury and turn around. That way you get two bites at Stratford and don't have to do the Severn between Tewkesbury and Worcester (which is indescribably tedious).

Anglo Welsh have semi-trad sterns with central heating and wood burning stoves (need to clean them and return in the same state as hired though).

September is a good choice. Most hire boats aren't suited to winter cruising though.

I don't disagree but I'm still not convinced that "avoid like the plague" is necessarily sound planning advice. Cheshire ring, Avon ring, Warwickshire ring, Leicester ring all done in the last 4 summer holidays with no tangible detriment to cruising enjoyment.

Transparent A4 plastic document folder for your Nicholsons guidebook. Easier than a map case to open and turn pages. It's left to the reader to work out the need for a "Nicholsons" (other guides are available to suit) and keeping it dry. (Ans - to find the nearest pub when it's hoofing down).

In terms of when to cruise, we only ever cruise during school holidays. No need to avoid them. The canal towpaths are not lined with raggamuffins intent on making off with your brightwork, nor are the canals filled with families cruising. The canals are pretty empty in the holidays perhaps because all the childless boaters give them a miss, maybe austerity has hit, who knows. I've only found two queues in the last 5 years of boating. (each delayed by about 30mins) in the summer holidays and not had a problem mooring. School holiday boating is not a problem.

Line of small buoys across the arm now. I wondered why, now I know.

Wide brimmed hat and a strip of old towel (or a Shemagh) to stop any drips going down your neck.

"Travelling Man" - now available on DVD

Smart, clean place, attentive staff, good food, liked it. Walk from Br111 had no pavement in part.

New management took over about 7 Aug. They weren't doing food though on 9 Aug, so we walked from Br111 up to the Kings Head. Packed wall to wall but they found us a table.

Lidl is at Br44, there's a 24hr Tesco at Br46 with moorings. Didn't really fancy anywhere in RLS and turned up unannounced at Saltisford and were welcomed, short walk into Warwick.

Just done Stratford, river licence is £50 for 7 days, mooring on the Avon from the lock to holy trinity church is £5 per night, but when we left the Avon the Tewkesbury lock keeper claimed this was not enforceable and many people don't pay it. The mooring on the rec opposite RSC was quiet with no disturbance (except what could be heard from the area around the basin, which was noisy at times). I'd recommend the rec over the basin every time. Plus, stay 2-3 nights to make the most of Stratford.

Just returned from the Avon Ring. Some nuggets we picked up: Avon drains the rainfall over the Midlands while Severn drains rainfall over Wales, so it is possible/likely (I'm told) that one can be in flood and t'other not; Avon was relatively quiet, plenty of options to moor at the limited number of mooring sites available; Some canal planners suggest there are visitor moorings at Bredon, there aren't; The Avon guide from ANT is moderately useful, but even that was misleading in places; The best moorings in Stratford are on the opposite side of the River from the RSC, not in the basin IMHO (plus you can pick up RSC-visitor WiFi from acroos the river); Avon and Stratford canal were pretty and pleasant, Severn was dull and Upton was wedged.