Thursday,  14th January

Talk about being marooned! I thought it rained a lot in the night and this morning I was quite happy having a duvet day but by lunchtime the rain had eased so we ventured along the towpath only to findvit flooded. To such an extent that it was hard to see where the towpath ended and the canal began! So we about turned and decided to try walking along the road outside the marina carpark, the one with no pavements. I found that not to be strictly true. Going left there was a narrow grass verge. However we wanted to turn right towards LB, yet within minutes we came across flooding on the road and a few cars in difficulties. We realised we were not going to get through so we walked in the opposite direction along the grass verge. After about half a mile we reached a left hand turning down a no through road. In want of exercise we walked along until we could go no further and then about turned. The road did lead us to Church lock, the one above Grove lock where we are moored, but the towpaths were impassable. On our return journey to the boat, retreading our steps, I realised that short of moving the boat along the canal, we cannot get to any food stores until the water levels recede. Reminds me of Noahs Ark!

Arriving back at Grove lock we met a delightful couple walking three rescue dogs. Turns out they have been at this marina a few years although they do also own a home. They are hooked on canal life. She is an artist who started teaching locally, after being approached to do so, and now teaches pupils online and they number hundreds! They are in the process of buying a wide beam which means their 68ft narrowboat is going on the market soon…….can I persuade Richard?!