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Lower and Upper Avon

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john6767 Veteran II

john6767

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The 1 and 2 day licences are not through licences, so you have to go on and come off at the same point, either Tewkesbury or Stratford if you have one of those. The shortest through licence that you can buy is 1 week, and it is £50 for any length boat. The Avon is great, well worth it.

 

The ANT licence information is here http://www.avonnavigationtrust.org/General%20Info%202015.pdf

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Barge Maria Contributor

Barge Maria

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As others have said in the Avon is well worth it. Very beautiful. Some locks are hard work, all are widebeam with steel gates (as I recall). River levels go up and down like a tarts draws so keep an eye on the forecast as it drains Bredon Hill and the Cotswold escarpment!

 

Tim

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Paul C Veteran II

Paul C

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As above really, yes you'll need the £50 licence since this is the minimum for a through passage. But its a beautiful river, one of the better ones and a big contrast between the Severn which has some nice bits but can be somewhat boring. The last few hours of the Stratford canal are quite interesting too, especially the bizarre lock gate with no balance beam (due to the location of a bridge) but with a bolted on metal, half sized equivalent, which is a nightmare to open and close. We arrived at Bancroft basin at 11am and took almost the last space - if you are planning to stop over in Stratford, bear this in mind. I believe there's other moorings eg on the river, but I think (can't be 100%) you need to pay for these. These get busy too.

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Sbg Contributor

Sbg

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As above really, yes you'll need the £50 licence since this is the minimum for a through passage. But its a beautiful river, one of the better ones and a big contrast between the Severn which has some nice bits but can be somewhat boring. The last few hours of the Stratford canal are quite interesting too, especially the bizarre lock gate with no balance beam (due to the location of a bridge) but with a bolted on metal, half sized equivalent, which is a nightmare to open and close. We arrived at Bancroft basin at 11am and took almost the last space - if you are planning to stop over in Stratford, bear this in mind. I believe there's other moorings eg on the river, but I think (can't be 100%) you need to pay for these. These get busy too.

Free moorings available on the river opposite the RSC with good access.

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blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

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Posted (edited)

 

Because the basin might be full?

Also it can get bloody noisy in that basin, especially at the weekends, with drunk idiots shouting at each other in the middle of the night. Personally I'd rather moor on the river.

The levels on the Avon are ok at the moment and declining after last weekends rain. But with 2 storms moving in from the Atlantic this week I'd expect river levels to rise quickly over the weekend.

Edited by blackrose
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PaulG Experienced

PaulG

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There aren't really that many places to stop along the Avon. Between Tewkesbury and Stratford there's really only Evesham and Bidford, plus 24 hour visitor moorings at all the locks of course.

What happened to Pershore?

Last time I looked it was still on the map! biggrin.png

 

Seriously, there's enough on the Avon for a week's cruise, assuming you want to have a good look around the lovely towns and villages that it passes through.

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john6767 Veteran II

john6767

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There aren't really that many places to stop along the Avon. Between Tewkesbury and Stratford there's really only Evesham and Bidford, plus 24 hour visitor moorings at all the locks of course.

And Pershore of course!

 

As well as at the locks there are quite a few nice remote moorings like Comberton Quay.

 

When you buy your license you will get given a leaflet with information on mooring and services (the info is also online here). There is also a guide book that you can buy from the lockie at Tewkesbury or the information centre at Stratford, depending on which way you are going.

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David Mack Veteran II

David MackDonate to Canal World

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Thanks for all the responses. £50 it is then as I want to pass through. And I get a week to explore to boot!

 

And you can carry on upriver towards Alveston Weir too. In this post I showed how far we got in a deep drafted boat. Shallower craft can get further. Its easy going as far as the Red House (the sharp bend due south of where we stopped), where there is more than enough room to turn.

 

Well, according to the GPS track we got to here:

 

Alveston.png

 

This is well beyond the Red House and the boat dock, and close to the "safe limit of navigation" on the ANT map.

 

We grounded on the east side as we tried to pass a willow tree growing out from the west bank. Fairly sure that if we had cut the tree back a bit we could have got through in deeper water, but it looked much shallower a short distance ahead, and as there were only two of us to poll off if (when) we got stuck, we decided it was time to go back.

 

This is where we ended up, stern aground, and the bows pushed across to the west side by the current.

 

PICT0583small.jpg

 

Having got ourselves off, it was easy to steer in reverse back to the bend at the Red House where there was more than enough room to wind a full length boat, and about 10 foot depth of water.

 

We didn't see the sign in post #4, or any indication at all that we shouldn't carry on. If there had been more of us to unstick the boat we would have gone on further.

 

 

Finally, Many thanks to Mike (Blackrose) for letting us tie up alongside the previous night so we could get to the Cottage of Content at Barton. Nice local pub, but almost completely inaccessible from any public mooring on the river!

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blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

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What happened to Pershore?

Last time I looked it was still on the map! biggrin.png

 

Seriously, there's enough on the Avon for a week's cruise, assuming you want to have a good look around the lovely towns and villages that it passes through.

Ah yes, I forgot about Pershore. It's actually a nice place to stop.

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