Xilion Rose

Having left Gloucester Docks shortly after the tide turned we had to keep a keen look-out for large bit’s of flotsam that had been carried up river by the Severn Bore and were now coming back down the river with the tide, however, we managed to miss all the big bit’s and arrived at Tewkesbury, here we were “locked” on to the River Avon. After spending one night in Tewkesbury we made our way to Pershore, just in time for the last day of the Annual “Plum Festival”, where all things “Plum” were sold (Plum Pickle, Plum Chutney, Plum Pie and of course Plum Wine). Pershore was also the location of Malcolm’s introduction to river fishing where he caught not one, but three massive fish (see below the picture of the largest one !!). After Pershore we moved up river to Evesham.   On a sad note, we have been struggling with the crew dog “Daisy” as she is suffering from boat motion sickness, which is not doing her any good at all, so after  consulting with four separate experts, we made the very difficult decision to let her go back to Dog’s Trust where they have promised to find her a home on dry land and for those who know Annie, you can understand that there were tears at bedtime. We would just like to add special thanks to Jean from an organisation called Animals at Home who actually took Daisy back to Dog’s Trust in one of their Animal Ambulances. 
On a brighter note, while we were in Evesham, we picked up Selina, Chris and India who were joining us for the bank holiday weekend, which turned out to be a quick trip up river to Stratford upon Avon, where we moored overnight opposite the Stratford Basin. The following day, we all visited the Butterfly Farm which India found absolutely amazing. After the Farm, we were able to return to Evesham, where we said goodbye to the family. Tuesday saw us make a late start on our return trip to Stratford, against the wind and with the threat of heavy rain, and as the Avon is prone to flooding, we decided to stop early and moor safely against some high piles, luckily the heavy rains did not materialise and so on Wednesday, we continued on to Stratford where we were able to moor in the actual basin where we spent a relaxing evening planning the route to our next port of call.

Malcolm and Annie

Size is not everthing !

Stratford Butterfly Farm

Xilion Rose in the Stratford Basin