3rd/4th/5th July
After a really quiet night near Bidford, moored in the Elsie and Hiram Billington lock cut, we travelled on to beautiful Stratford where we had booked a mooring for the festival. The ingenious organisers have devised a way to moor the boats stern on bank and rafted together in decreasing lengths. They want this to be known as Strafting and for get into the dictionary. We manoeuvred between 2 boats, tying ropes to one boat's fender loops and the other's bow from our fender loop, all very neat. The place was bustling, all the boats covered in bunting and fairy lights. Not to be outdone we trotted off to the pound shop for lots of tacky stuff with which to decorate Ani. Great fun, but we have no high pole to really do it justice and my pathetic attempts at rigging bamboo canes were hopeless. We got to know our very nice neighbours, Bill and Sue, who invited us in to the IWA members gazebo. We got on well with Bill and Sue, then they left us with another fellow and his wife who proceeded to tell us all about their dead relatives!! Not such fun. We managed to get away after a reasonable length of time and follow Bill and Sue to the Alehouse in town. We realised that earlier they had invited us to join them in order to rescue us from the bore. A jolly few ciders and beers were drunk in this interesting emporium (only cask ales and cider, no other drinks) whilst Heather Watson sadly lost to Williams at Wimbledon on the screen above us, despite the Alehouse clientele cheering her on.
Pasta at Carluccios on the way back, parting ways with Bill and Sue, then back on the boat where we were woken some hours later by the most tremendous thunderstorm and we hadn't put the covers on the bow or stern!
Saturday, sun out again and the festival takes off. Music, food tents , beer tents and trinket stalls plus masses of people. The goose herder boat was going back and forth across the Avon, an odd sight as the skipper has his stuffed dead dog in the bow as a masthead, some very odd people about.
What with that and the chain ferry with its Harpo Marx style hooter and the hired rowing boats careering into each other and us, there's endless entertainment.
After sampling the beer tent's wares early evening, we went back to pitch with Bill and Sue and join in with the IWA's BBQ, our contribution being burgers and a large pasta salad, which was met with very little enthusiasm in the association's tent probably because I was a stranger in their midst. Needless to say we stayed in our foursome and enjoyed food and chat together - the IWA representatives sticking to their familiar kind and us to ours. Around 9.30, the lit up boats paraded with much hooting of horns and cheers in appreciation, there were all of about 6, not a great turn-out. We had asked some other fellow boaters (couple we had met in Gloucester) if they were parading as their boat was beautifully decorated, but he was an anchor boat for the rafters, so without dragging another half dozen boats with him, it was obviously impossible.
A fantastic firework display rounded off a great day and after gathering up plates, glasses, chairs and BBQs we all split up into our respective bed cabins for the night.
We lazily didn't join in the litter picking at 7am Sunday morning. We found out that those who did found a deck chair, a pair of Ray-bans, £11, a trug full of soft drinks and various rugs. Astonishing what people leave behind.
Lock cut mooring
Strafting, Ani second from right
Young actors playing Midsummer Night's Dream
The honk honk ferry
Next door boat, Sunday morning
After a really quiet night near Bidford, moored in the Elsie and Hiram Billington lock cut, we travelled on to beautiful Stratford where we had booked a mooring for the festival. The ingenious organisers have devised a way to moor the boats stern on bank and rafted together in decreasing lengths. They want this to be known as Strafting and for get into the dictionary. We manoeuvred between 2 boats, tying ropes to one boat's fender loops and the other's bow from our fender loop, all very neat. The place was bustling, all the boats covered in bunting and fairy lights. Not to be outdone we trotted off to the pound shop for lots of tacky stuff with which to decorate Ani. Great fun, but we have no high pole to really do it justice and my pathetic attempts at rigging bamboo canes were hopeless. We got to know our very nice neighbours, Bill and Sue, who invited us in to the IWA members gazebo. We got on well with Bill and Sue, then they left us with another fellow and his wife who proceeded to tell us all about their dead relatives!! Not such fun. We managed to get away after a reasonable length of time and follow Bill and Sue to the Alehouse in town. We realised that earlier they had invited us to join them in order to rescue us from the bore. A jolly few ciders and beers were drunk in this interesting emporium (only cask ales and cider, no other drinks) whilst Heather Watson sadly lost to Williams at Wimbledon on the screen above us, despite the Alehouse clientele cheering her on.
Pasta at Carluccios on the way back, parting ways with Bill and Sue, then back on the boat where we were woken some hours later by the most tremendous thunderstorm and we hadn't put the covers on the bow or stern!
Saturday, sun out again and the festival takes off. Music, food tents , beer tents and trinket stalls plus masses of people. The goose herder boat was going back and forth across the Avon, an odd sight as the skipper has his stuffed dead dog in the bow as a masthead, some very odd people about.
What with that and the chain ferry with its Harpo Marx style hooter and the hired rowing boats careering into each other and us, there's endless entertainment.
After sampling the beer tent's wares early evening, we went back to pitch with Bill and Sue and join in with the IWA's BBQ, our contribution being burgers and a large pasta salad, which was met with very little enthusiasm in the association's tent probably because I was a stranger in their midst. Needless to say we stayed in our foursome and enjoyed food and chat together - the IWA representatives sticking to their familiar kind and us to ours. Around 9.30, the lit up boats paraded with much hooting of horns and cheers in appreciation, there were all of about 6, not a great turn-out. We had asked some other fellow boaters (couple we had met in Gloucester) if they were parading as their boat was beautifully decorated, but he was an anchor boat for the rafters, so without dragging another half dozen boats with him, it was obviously impossible.
A fantastic firework display rounded off a great day and after gathering up plates, glasses, chairs and BBQs we all split up into our respective bed cabins for the night.
We lazily didn't join in the litter picking at 7am Sunday morning. We found out that those who did found a deck chair, a pair of Ray-bans, £11, a trug full of soft drinks and various rugs. Astonishing what people leave behind.
Lock cut mooring
Strafting, Ani second from right
Young actors playing Midsummer Night's Dream
The honk honk ferry
Next door boat, Sunday morning
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