There weather forecast was right, it was really cold for most of the way. We set off at 6:50 and locked out from the docks down on to the Severn at just after 9 o’clock.

This journey starts off going up the “parting” which is a narrow bywater off of the main river. It’s narrower and shallower than the rest of the river, which means pushing against quite a strong flow. So for the first hour or so we were only making about 3mph.

From Gloucester up to Tewkesbury its fairly boring as the high flood banks mean there is little to see.

As we chugged on North the weather improved, and when we reached Worcester at just after 4 o’clock the sun was shining warmly.

There was no room on the pontoons, and it was a bit crowded along by the racecourse, but we found a spot.