Wednesday 6th April 2022

What I learnt yesterday is that you are never to old to narrowboat! We had a visit from our friends S and G who are borrowing our boat in May for a week or so and they were accompanied by S’s mum who at 93 recovering from covid, was extremely sprightly. She and her husband had owned their own narrowboat and had explored a great deal of the network. Il was extremely knowledgeable and it was lovely to hear her stories and memories of their travels.

We had a lot of locks ahead of us but each was quick to fill as we are now on the Stratford canal with narrow locks which only accommodate one narrowboat. However many of the paddles are quite stiff and the gates are old and heavy to move. Some required more than one bottom to push open. We were a crew of four with one senior companion along for the ride, or so I thought. Imagine my surprise when Il asked for a windlass and set off along the towpath to do her bit. Of course she had far more experience than the rest of us put together and it was a joy to see her in her element, still active and strong enough to work a lock! It gives me something to aim for! Her most useful tip was suggesting I use our pole with a hook on the end to offer up the central rope to R when in a lock chamber and needing to secure the boat to a bollard, to stop it flailing around when the water swooshes in, as the paddles are opened. Many a time I have failed the simple task of rope throwing just because I am useless at it, however much I try. It’s a case of practice makes perfect eventually.

Having stopped for a picnic lunch on the boat halfway through the flight we were still moored up for the evening in no time at all. S and G suggested we eat at The Navigation pub (which provided us all with delicious food. G had eaten there quite a few times before so he was keen to see if it was still as good as he remembered!) so with a few hours to kill, I thought it an ideal opportunity for G and R to properly seal the lid of the watertank. It was one of those jobs I knew R was not looking forward to doing as it was fiddly and time consuming. If we had done it together I think the air may have turned blue but with G as his accomplice all went smoothly and we now have a watertight tank! We shall have to open it in a few months time to see if the rust spots have increased but for now I am happy to know no more bits of fauna are able to enter and float about inside!

We visited a house today called Packwood House literally a stone’s throw from the boat. The house had been lovingly restored by a man who was passionate about tudor architecture and had used reclaimed materials from local houses that were being demolished. When he gifted the house to the National Trust in the 1940’s it was with the proviso that they did not alter the placement of the furniture as he left it; that they always tried to have fresh flowers in the house, as much and that the clocks were kept in good working order, telling the correct time! He moved on to refurbish a tudor castle in Norfolk for the remaining 30 years of his life. He sounded quite eccentric!

How we managed to get to and from Packwood without being soaked is a mystery as it is raining now and has been for the majority of the day. R did his usual trick of finding logs to carry back to the boat along the way although it has to be said this hasn’t been quite as prevalent as in our previous journey on Windrose! Old habits die hard and he just can’t resist the challenge of a solid log no matter how heavy.

Taxing my brain currently is working out the logistics of returning to the boat next week with our car and finding somewhere to park it whilst we then manoeuvre the boat to where it is, collect it and drive to Scotland. An old family friend has offered to look after the car but was concerned that as it would be parked at the end of their cul de sac they might not be able to prevent it getting stolen. I said that wasn’t a problem as long as my mother of the bridegroom outfit was safely stowed in their house. You can find alternative modes of transport but finding another outfit at short notice is a totally different proposition!