Double 0 Life

 So our plans are scuppered. We limped back to Worcester, stopping every hour to check the oil. An overnight again in Upton on Severn, and a welcome Real Ale.  We did, however, witness the working barges going up and down the quarry, just like in the Pearsons book!  The oil was leaking for sure. We had a drip tray and collected it to recycle each time we stopped. There is nowhere to stop on this stretch of the river so it was all very trying.  There were 4 barges all in operation.  Another welcome beer when we got back to Diglis basin. Now we’ve got to find an engineer to fix the gearbox. Could take a while    So I filled the time up for us by playing with my new band at a Jazz Jam in Malvern, which was jolly good fun. In laws and friends turned up. Never a dull moment.  However, we would love to get travelling again. 

Another busy week.  Andy stayed on the boat while I whizzed up to Manchester for a reunion with 6 of my old school pals.  We used to holiday and camp together 50 years ago!. .. some of them I hadn't seen for 48 years, and it was so beautiful; we were all fundamentally unchanged, and I discovered that I could pick up after 37 years in Australia.  Amazing. When I got back to Worcester, we prepared for another outing, down the river this time. We were headed for Tewkesbury.  This time through the locks out into the river, not a volunteer to be seen. Someone's got to open the very heavy lock gates. We turned left out of the canal onto the River Severn this time.  Another large lock awaited, with a paid lock keeper here. Big lock, large enough for oil barges and bulk carriers.  Very exciting.   We calmly moseyed down towards Tewkesbury. Along the way we saw buildings we had never noticed before. We are still not sure what this building is, but it is ne...