Monday 9th November Day 5 of lockdown

It’s a bit of a challenge meeting people as the weather worsens. It is all too tempting to put the heating on and stay inside our nice warm boat. But that isn’t the purpose of our trip! We want to meet others and learn from them, broadening our own horizons. On Saturday we helped a boater, living alone on a small widebeam, as she single handedly went through a double lock. They are big and heavy and on your own take quite a lot of time and effort. You have to practice patience and it looked quite scary as she climbed in and out of the lock chamber via a set of greasy muddy rungs, designed to help lone boaters. She is required by her boating licence to move her boat up and down the canal throughout the year so she has no choice but to work the locks on her own. So my challenge of sitting outside on the bow as it gets colder doesn’t seem so bad. I shall wrap up in many rugs! It is so rewarding when you do actually make a connection. We had just arrived back at the boat this afternoon (feeling elated because we found out that the potty facility has been repaired! Such small pleasures) when an elderly lady stopped to chat (she didn’t look her 78 years!) and explained that although she lived in Brixton, her partner lived on a narrowboat and she loved walking the towpaths so had just walked 7 miles. We provided a seat on the towpath as she accepted our offer of a cup of tea and heard how she has offered rooms in her house to a couple of refugees. What a difference she has made to their lives. Intrigued by our idea of providing cups of tea, she enthused us and suggested I also make homemade cakes. I thought this might be a stretch too far on the boat’s gas oven but she was thinking tiffin and chocolate crispy cakes and the like. So something to think about! She said in London there were a couple of tea boats up and down the canal so we were in good company. Once the covid restrictions are lifted perhaps we will be able to do more. Until then the odd chance encounter with people who know the workings of canal life so much better than we do is encouraging. We parted on the best of terms – she even offered us a bed for the night should we ever need one in London. The kindness of strangers.