Monday 1st November 2021

Once again on water I thought I would recommence my blog, although this time we are on a ferry crossing the sea to Ireland and going on a roadtrip, courtesy of our lovely northern friend, S, lending us her car. We’ve had fun this last week but not in the way we had planned on the waterways. The boat engine is a conundrum to all and so we wait…..

H and J rescued us last Tuesday when it was obvious nothing was going to happen fast with the engine and we decided to have a couple of nights away. We made use of our National Trust cards and visited Chirk castle in Wales. Seat of the Myddleton family we found a couple of coincidences – R and I lived in Myddleton Square when we first married and Sir Hugh Myddleton in the 18th century was responsible for the project of taking fresh water from the River Lea in Great Amwell to London. As my dad was vicar of Gt Amwell for nearly half a century, this is where I grew up. We combined our trip with lunch in Bala, so I could buy a bottle of the local Blue Slate gin, one of my favourites. The old fashioned tea shop next door served us an amazing omelette with delicious homemade chips – extremely good value but sadly rather empty. It may be my last excuse for visiting the beautiful Bala lake as my friend F, who ran a fantastic bed and breakfast overlooking the lake moved house the day after we visited. I did ascertain though that the gin can be mail ordered!

Friday we visited the Shrugborough Estate en route back to the boat. Short of time, we did not do the visit justice but as it is walking distance from the canal I am sure we will do a return visit. At Christmas they have an amazing display of decorated Christmas trees so perhaps we can time our next visit to see them. Home of the photographer Patrick Lichfield, the house boasted an extensive collection of his work and many fine paintings. Between the downpours and wind, we managed to eat a picnic in true British style outside!

Arriving back at DayDream, a day later than planned, we discovered it had been moved and the engine taken out, awaiting collection for further investigation. J was surprised to see us not realising we had only taken one change of clothing with us and that we had hoped to pick a few things up from the boat. Due to the current placing of the boat ‘health and safety’ made this inadvisable so we still only have one change of clothes and are no further forward knowing when we can return to the boat! At least we had booked, with friends J and M, two nights at The Red Lion at Hellidon, a charming country pub. We were made to feel very welcome in the recently refurbished accommodation and enjoyed some good food including an ample breakfast both mornings.

What better way to spend a Saturday than looking at secondhand narrowboats with friends who are just as keen on boats as we are (well perhaps as I am – still not sure about R!), even potentially finding a boat to buy.

Sunday there were downpours but we managed to walk to The Folly Inn at Napton escaping the worst of the weather and arrived just as their ‘Potting Shed’ opened – I’ve mentioned it before – light and airy, it is a wood and glass construction which allows far more space than the original public house although the owners are planning to reopen this in due course. When I asked for a sherry they searched around for a bottle and then gave me a drink on the house when they heard I like a Sunday tipple to toast my mum!