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Lower and Upper Avon


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I agree the Avon is a very pretty river but we found it difficult to find anywhere to moor. We loved mooring on the river in Stratford, where it was easier to find spaces than elsewhere. £5 a night may not be a lot to pay for such a lovely place but I think I feel that having paid our £50 and not finding anywhere else easy to stop, I'd not be happy to have to pay out again. Although the river is quieter than the basin it is actually busy day and a lot of the night with people enjoying Stratford. Their were revellers zooming around on speed boats in the early hours of the morning when we were there...

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I agree the Avon is a very pretty river but we found it difficult to find anywhere to moor. We loved mooring on the river in Stratford, where it was easier to find spaces than elsewhere. £5 a night may not be a lot to pay for such a lovely place but I think I feel that having paid our £50 and not finding anywhere else easy to stop, I'd not be happy to have to pay out again. Although the river is quieter than the basin it is actually busy day and a lot of the night with people enjoying Stratford. Their were revellers zooming around on speed boats in the early hours of the morning when we were there...

 

Did you find it difficult compared to canals; or difficult compared to other rivers?

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Did you find it difficult compared to canals; or difficult compared to other rivers?

 

 

Did you find it difficult compared to canals; or difficult compared to other rivers?

Good point. Guess no more difficult than other rivers but don't normally have to pay an extra licence fee AND pay to moor.

On a different issue, the locks are different. I objected to being told to rope up front and back in each lock but the very patient lockies were right, it was much better when we did. In fact, I have huge admiration for the many people who volunteer on the navigation and thise who worked so hard to get it reopened for us to enjoy.

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Did you find it difficult compared to canals; or difficult compared to other rivers?

Mooring on the Avon (and most rivers, actually) is always more difficult than the canals.

Generally the towpath side of the canal is owned by the canal owner, and, within certain restrictions, you can moor up anywhere.

The banks of rivers are normally under the control of the landowners, and you need their permission to moor up.

The Upper Avon above Evesham does have visitor moorings adjacent to most of the locks. The Avon below Evesham does have some visitor moorings by some, but not all of the locks.

The popular moorings can get very busy during school holidays and at weekends.

Outside these times it's not too bad, really.

As others have said, there also are some excellent "get away from it all" rural moorings like Great Comberton if you like that sort of thing...

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Good point. Guess no more difficult than other rivers but don't normally have to pay an extra licence fee AND pay to moor.

On a different issue, the locks are different. I objected to being told to rope up front and back in each lock but the very patient lockies were right, it was much better when we did. In fact, I have huge admiration for the many people who volunteer on the navigation and thise who worked so hard to get it reopened for us to enjoy.

 

Going up it is easier to rope both ends, but going down with a long boat it is virtually impossible and definitely an unsafe thing to do - so after the heated argument over it with one of their "volunteers" who tried very very hard to put the stern of my boat on to the cill I doubt that I will be going to the Avon again.

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Going up it is easier to rope both ends, but going down with a long boat it is virtually impossible and definitely an unsafe thing to do - so after the heated argument over it with one of their "volunteers" who tried very very hard to put the stern of my boat on to the cill I doubt that I will be going to the Avon again.

Depends what you mean by "long" I suppose, but I've never found it impossible or unsafe to use bow and stern ropes on the Avon (or the Thames) going downhill. My boat's only 57ft long but I'm moving by myself on the river, usually without the help of lockkeepers. (They're only at certain locks and only within certain hours).

Edited by blackrose
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We went down only (did a circular route) and tried a few times (2 of us) to use both front and back ropes, but couldn't really figure out a reasonable way to do it. Once we arrived at Tewkesbury and did the last lock with 3 (us and the lockeeper) was easy enough though.

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When I lock down alone I tie the bow rope to a forward bollard with plenty of slack then I take the stern rope (one turn) around a bollard behind the stern. To start with I pull the stern rope tight so that the slack in the bow rope is taken up and the boat sits against the lock side, then once I open one of the sluices I hold the stern rope around the bollard and play it out while the boat slides down, swinging forward on the bow rope. As long as your bow rope is tied forward far enough or you've left enough slack it's not a problem.

 

Edit: sometimes I just take the stern rope around the back of the bollard so I can walk forward, stern rope in hand, and see what's going on at the bow.

Edited by blackrose
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Our boat is 67ft and there are 2 or 3 locks where the length of the lock is only just enough. For safety I want to be on the stern of my boat paying out the stern line so that the stern stays within a foot of the cill, for that way I know that the bow will not hang up on the lower paddle mechanism. My (one) crew is then able to work the bottom paddles, but the volunteer insisted that she must keep the bow line tight at the same time. This needed her to be in 2 places at once. A bow line tied with say 10ft of slack achieves nothing (after all the bow can't swing out past the mitre posts because the lock length doesn't allow that) and there is always the risk that it could jam while my crew is too far away to do anything about it.

 

In the event, the volunteer took my bow line and pulled it tight as the boat descended, thus pulling me back on to the cill. I know the safest way to take my boat down those locks and if someone is going to insist that I do things in a way that is not safe then I am not going to take that risk.

Edited by Keeping Up
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Our boat is 67ft and there are 2 or 3 locks where the length of the lock is only just enough. For safety I want to be on the stern of my boat paying out the stern line so that the stern stays within a foot of the cill, for that way I know that the bow will not hang up on the lower paddle mechanism. My (one) crew is then able to work the bottom paddles, but the volunteer insisted that she must keep the bow line tight at the same time. This needed her to be in 2 places at once. A bow line tied with say 10ft of slack achieves nothing (after all the bow can't swing out past the mitre posts because the lock length doesn't allow that) and there is always the risk that it could jam while my crew is too far away to do anything about it.

 

In the event, the volunteer took my bow line and pulled it tight as the boat descended, thus pulling me back on to the cill. I know the safest way to take my boat down those locks and if someone is going to insist that I do things in a way that is not safe then I am not going to take that risk.

Do it out of season Alan(early April), I had the lockie at Tewkesbury and that was it. Single handed most of it.

If anyone's on the river and wants to get to the Cottage at Barton, let me know and you can moor up alongside.

I'd better stop knocking your current affairs posts then clapping.gif

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The ropes are a bit of a faf for sure, but i would not like to go up on just a centre line on the deep upper avon locks, the gate paddles are vicious.

 

With a 50 ft boat not too difficult to manage with 2 of us, we tie off the bow rope and put the stern rope round a post behind the boat, then as it goes up I take up slack on the stern line and the boat moves back and takes in some of the slack from the bow. On a deep lock the bow rope will still need shortening a couple of times though.

 

Going down I admit to just using a centre line on the shallow locks, but other than that just keep the bow line slack and not fully tied off, and in reverse to going up let the boat move forward to give more lenght to the bow rope, and adjust on the post as needed.

 

So the one working the paddles does need to multi-task a bit. If there is 3 of you then you are sorted.

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Been following roping posts with interest. When I mentioned them to Mr Trackman he insisted having to rope both ends didn't work.

When I have done the Avon, it didn't work, so I stopped doing it. Going up, yes, centre and front on too, coming down, no way Jose.

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When I did the Avon at the peak of the season there was no lockie or volunteer on duty anywhere above Tewkesbury all the way to Stratford.

 

And Wyre lock (diamond shaped) is difficult single-handed if you cannot board the boat at the bow or stern. The ladder is in the point of the angle. On my cruising launch, where I can only board midships, I had to haul the boat through.

 

Moored overnight at a lock below Evesham in the company of 2 narrowboats, we were exceedingly p*ssed off when a large floating restaurant came through at about 10pm (and returned much later), with floodlights glaring all around them while they were moored opposite us and set the lock. They ignored our protests and we only got them to desist by shining a 3million candlepower torch in the helmsman's eyes.

 

Some of the locks - gates and paddles - were very hard work.

 

Apart from that the Avon was delightful, especially the many anglers with their long poles across the river, who never grumbled when I went past. I'm sure those were cheery waves they gave me....... seriously.

 

Saw Blackrose but there was no sign of anyone at home.

Edited by Murflynn
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I spent a month on the Avon in 2010, wandering up and down. Pershore was my favourite place - moored there three times.

I must admit I only used a centre rope in locks whether going up or down, except when obliged otherwise by the lockies at Tewkesbury and Evesham

 

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I'm always a bit reluctant to stay on board and let other people take control, but they insisted. I wasn't happy.

 

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I guess it is easier in a shorter boat as you can stay further away from the ground paddles when going up, which is the time when IMHO you do need a rope on the bow. I have assumed this case is the root of the ANT rule about not just using a centre line, and it is easier for them to just say at all times rather than being specific about when you should do that.

 

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Still fascinated by this topic. Given that the consensus on here appears to be that bow and stern ropes aren't the way to do the locks I can't help but wonder why the lockies continue to insist its the right way. There are plenty of narrow boats use the Avon locks.

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I haven't anything against using two ropes - it obviously gives better control of the boat - but for a singlehander it can be impractical, involving climbing up and down ladders twice or carrying two ropes from different directions, which increases the risks involved.

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Been following roping posts with interest. When I mentioned them to Mr Trackman he insisted having to rope both ends didn't work.

I'm based on the Avon, so I do these locks all the time. I offer the following advice to Mr. Trackman.

 

Going upstream the most important rope is the bow line.

 

I usually take the bow line around a bollard and back to the T-stud on the bow as there can be quite a lot of load on it. The stern rope is less important.

 

You need to open the paddle that is on the same side as the boat, no more than halfway to start with. This sets up a circulation of water in the lock, so the boat will move forward against the bow line, keeping it hard against the lock wall.

 

Going downstream you can normally manage quite happily with just a centre line as long as it is long enough.

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I'm based on the Avon, so I do these locks all the time. I offer the following advice to Mr. Trackman.

 

Going upstream the most important rope is the bow line.

 

I usually take the bow line around a bollard and back to the T-stud on the bow as there can be quite a lot of load on it. The stern rope is less important.

 

You need to open the paddle that is on the same side as the boat, no more than halfway to start with. This sets up a circulation of water in the lock, so the boat will move forward against the bow line, keeping it hard against the lock wall.

 

Going downstream you can normally manage quite happily with just a centre line as long as it is long enough.

 

Supporting all of this (except to add that if your boat is full-length or nearly so, it is sometimes better to open the paddle on the opposite side when going up).

 

It is the last sentence where the problem seems to lie. When you know your own boat and you know the locks, so you know that a single line is the best way to go DOWN in the locks, and then a "volunteer" who claims to be a senior member of the Trustees starts arguing violently and rudely with you, threatens you with legal action based on CCTV footage of you disobeying the bye-laws, then leaps on to your boat to take the bow line ashore and almost succeeds in pulling you back on to the cill, you don't feel inclined to go back to "his" river.

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Supporting all of this (except to add that if your boat is full-length or nearly so, it is sometimes better to open the paddle on the opposite side when going up).

 

It is the last sentence where the problem seems to lie. When you know your own boat and you know the locks, so you know that a single line is the best way to go DOWN in the locks, and then a "volunteer" who claims to be a senior member of the Trustees starts arguing violently and rudely with you, threatens you with legal action based on CCTV footage of you disobeying the bye-laws, then leaps on to your boat to take the bow line ashore and almost succeeds in pulling you back on to the cill, you don't feel inclined to go back to "his" river.

There are prats everywhere, and no doubt we've got our fair share on the Avon.

Hopefully your experience is not typical and won't put you off coming back one day.

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Supporting all of this (except to add that if your boat is full-length or nearly so, it is sometimes better to open the paddle on the opposite side when going up).

 

It is the last sentence where the problem seems to lie. When you know your own boat and you know the locks, so you know that a single line is the best way to go DOWN in the locks, and then a "volunteer" who claims to be a senior member of the Trustees starts arguing violently and rudely with you, threatens you with legal action based on CCTV footage of you disobeying the bye-laws, then leaps on to your boat to take the bow line ashore and almost succeeds in pulling you back on to the cill, you don't feel inclined to go back to "his" river.

 

We've never had a conflict like that with a volunteer lockeeper, do you think you were especially unlucky, or we are especially lucky?

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