OMG.... Cat trapped on the river under a pontoon.

The dangers of allowing a dog off a boat to roam free unattended was highlighted this afternoon in dramatic fashion. We were on the pontoon at Upton on Severn with several other boats, one of which had a cat. The boaters in question arrived and took the last available space on the pontoon and, once ropes had been secured, a large black dog was allowed off. Okay the owners were with the dog.....then.....but about 30 minutes later we heard such a commotion and then a splash. We rushed outside in time to see Steve (boater with the cat Ella) frantically shouting and looking to see where she was. He pointed to the boat with the dog saying the dog had chased the cat into the river. And where was the owner??? Still in the boat!!! He finally appeared and called the dog back and then went inside. Unbelievable!!! Well we looked high and low fully expecting to see Ella heading down river. Not a sign of her anywhere. Steve kept calling and running up and down. We pushed our boat out in case she was caught under the pontoon but still nothing. Then suddenly a faint meow. We all stopped and listened again. Yep there it was again. It came from where the concrete blocks were secured under the grating but no matter how many times we looked under the pontoon she could not be seen. By now we had been searching for over 40 minutes. There was nothing for it but remove the grating. Another chap in his small plastic cruiser turned up and with Ian, Steve and this other chap they spent the next 10 minutes trying to undo screws and bolts. Finally they were able to lift the grating and free Ella. One very relieved and bedraggled cat came out. And what of the owner of the dog??? Not once did they come from their boat to see if they could help. I found that despicable.

Ella's head peeking out

I wanted to write about this first while it was still fresh in my mind but I really have got ahead of myself. So lets start from the beginning.

With the election on our minds we got up early to see the result. Conservatives at that time (7am) were well in front and an outright win was predicted. Not bothering with the rest of the results we pulled pins to head out to Upton. Luckily another early riser joined us at the two Worcester locks going down to the river. They turned right heading upstream and we went downstream to the  river lock.

Leaving Worc and Birmingham canal

Diglis Lock

Big old locks these.

Not a big fan of rivers. Bit boring with very little to see.

Although I did see this Manderine pair

And a hen Pheasant.

And also a lot of bottoms!

 We were very lucky the promised rain didn't arrive and after a couple of hours our destination came into sight, Upton on Severn. The pontoon had a couple of spaces left so winding first to place the bow against the flow, it was not long before we were nicely secured. Funnily the cat mentioned above (Ella) came to visit as I was hanging out the washing. Such a lovely inquisitive cat which didn't deserve being chased into the river!

The boater with that dog is the one in the distance (front boat) on left. It left about an hour ago and good riddance!

 We may stay tomorrow. There is quite a bit to see and it looks as there are a few good walks around here. Maybe get the macro lens out again. It's bug time, yippee!!!