Some On-Shore Culture Refreshes

What an attractive town Evesham turned out to be. Embracing the river with generous moorings we spent the night at the foot of the beautifully floodlit church and Benedictine abbey ruins enjoying our uninterrupted view of the well maintained gardens just beginning to bloom.  After a quick escape in the morning for a welcome Costa coffee we set off towards Stratford upon Avon. 

The river continued to be a delight. The navigation flows through pleasant meadowlands and orchards that give the name to the Vale of Evesham and its  reputation for rich fruit and vegetable growing. We moored for the night at Bidford on Avon and enjoyed a local ale in this attractive village where in the morning we bought freshly baked bread from its traditional bakery and delicatessen.  

And so into Stratford in beautiful sunshine that for once was actually warm. It was very busy with people everywhere and we were much photographed at the final Colin P Witter lock by tourists many of whom were polite enough to ask if we minded being in their photos. A very picturesque lock reinforced with rectangular steel girder frames to overcome the high ground pressure and overlooked by the Holy Trinity Church with its gigantic weeping willows and resting place of Shakespeare, it was here we also had our first encounter with a real "gongoozler".

What the hell is that I hear you cry. 

Wonderfully descriptive word you have to admit and one we came across whilst studying the Liveaboard Guide by Tony Jones in preparation for our life afloat. It transpires a gongoozler is someone who enjoys watching boats and boating activity. Most are passive observers and essentially harmless but others like to interact with boaters and some want to "help",  most dangerously when uninvited. Our gongoozler immediately struck up conversation telling us of his job on a restaurant boat he claimed he was awaiting at the lock (I say claimed as we saw the restaurant boat later and it was tied up in the basin going nowhere!). Keen to tell us all about this particular lock, where best to moor and his personal expertise after a year of working on said restaurant boat he wanted to open and shut the lock gates for us.  Not too bad it turned out but done with just a bit too much flourish and intense conversation for our liking. 

We had been told to expect to find Stratford crowded and that moorings would be at a premium but as we approached the recreation ground opposite the Shakespeare theatre there was but one other boat. Indicative I fear of the hard times the rental business is having and the reduction in travel many of the liveaboarders we met had spoken of due to the increased cost of diesel fuel.  But we weren't complaining as we got a beautiful spot directly opposite the theatre.  Settling down for tea we watched the noisy and extremely aggressive territorial wars of the overfed swans as the males vied for supremacy and presumably the favour of the pens.

Being the organised folk we are we had booked tickets for the RSC production of As You Like It. Excited to see the renovations of the original 1932 theatre completed in late 2010 we were impressed with the improvements including a thrust stage bringing actors and audience closer together with the furthest seat now being only 15 metres from the stage. Much more akin to the intimacy of the Globe theatre we had great seats in the circle. This was their new production and we were seeing it ahead of the press night so had no idea what to expect. 

Putting on our glad rags (or what best passes for that for a narrow boater i.e. clean trousers and a somewhat creased shirt) we walked across the 14 arched old Tramway Bridge to the theatre now resplendent with its viewing tower and rooftop restaurant. The hubbub of so many people mingling in the foyers seemed alien to us after so much time spent in lazy perambulation along the river and canals but it was also exciting to feel the buzz of expectation from the audience. 

The central character, Rosalind, was of course the source of my wife's name.  How aptly her parents named her too being a gutsy, independent woman with energy to spare and the need to organise others! And how good was Pippa Nixon in the role playing a fabulously androgynous Rosalind - you couldn't take your eyes off her. A talent to watch I feel.  

Our only gripe was the poor chap two rows in front of us who had a hearing aid malfunction and proceeded to emit a high pitched whine for a good three or four minutes in the first half. The poor female usher couldn't get his attention and he and his wife seemed blissfully unaware of the discomfort they were causing to others. How British that those seated beside him carried on concentrating on the production regardless, too embarrassed to bring this intrusion to his notice. Or perhaps they thought it was part of the production? A rare whining bird of the Forest of Arden perhaps?

We were enjoying Stratford so much we lingered a further day exploring the town again it being over 10 years since we were last there, shopping and enjoying watching the endless stream of charabancs disgorging their camera and smart phone wielding tourists.  

It was a relief that the dreaded spreadsheet would allow this unscheduled indulgence as the time spent here at the heart of English literature enjoying the spring sunshine recharged our batteries and equipped us for the assault on the Stratfrod-on-Avon canal and its 16 locks in the space of only 2 miles. 

And so we bid farewell to Stratford and headed north and into depths of rural Warwickshire heading towards the urban sprawl of Birmingham.