A day of unexpected friendship. It started abruptly when I, still undressed, heard R outside directing a boat. Hurriedly throwing on some clothes, so as not to miss the excitement, I went outside to witness a 70ft boat straddled across the canal trying to turn around in the winding hole. The people aboard had only done two days narrowboating and had been warned by the hire company that this was a difficult boat to turn. It’s part of the reason I only wanted a short boat – if friends would like to borrow Naomhòg I don’t want them overwhelmed by a massively long boat to manoeuvre. Eventually a boater with a long term mooring nearby arrived on the scene and said this happened frequently so she knew exactly the position the boat had to be in order to complete the turn. Sure enough they were soon en route but I didn’t envy the skipper – the Oxford canal is both full of twists and turns and a lot of boats travelling in the opposite direction that needed to be passed with care. One of the crew gave me his mobile number so I could WhatsApp him the pictures I took as a memento!
A boat pulled up at the water point and I started chatting to the owners as I admired the paintwork which was pristine, as was the boat! I was surprised to hear it was over 20 years old and had just had a repaint as the owner has grown tired of patching it up year after year. He (along with his wife) was a seasoned boat owner of many different styles of boat, having first got involved when his son joined the sea cadets and over time he became an instructor for various types of boats but ended up with a narrowboat as a result of holidaying on one a few decades ago. They were from Reigate and knew the River Wey well and were most encouraging about us mooring along the canal so we may yet get the boat nearer to home so we can have day trippers! Most of their trips were on rivers rather than canals so he was very knowledgeable about anchors and was able to give me a run through, not only of the size required, but how to actually use one if needed. It’s all well and good being told you are required to have an anchor before going on a river but not much help if you don’t know what to do with it! I was very grateful for the tuition and all before breakfast!
We decided to walk to church as R had found a route via footpaths. The problem was my satnav and Rs sense of direction were not as one. Eventually we arrived at our destination and I have to admit the prolonged journey was probably due to me rather than R. His logic was follow a well worn footpath when a village only has one path leading to it even if the satnav points in a slightly different direction. Walking across the field, seeing the church in the distance I felt like I had reverted back a century or two when it was common for people to walk miles to church on a Sunday morning. Arriving at church 5 minutes late we need not have worried as the building was empty. Unbeknownst to us they had decided to have a 10 o’clock breakfast service in the village hall which by now we had missed. Still we sat in the quiet of the beautiful old church and did our own little service together which felt very peaceful and enriching. Then we walked around the village and came across the village hall just as the lady vicar and her two churchwardens were departing – we expressed our regret that we had missed the cafe style church – any excuse to eat croissants and brioche for breakfast! We engaged them in conversation, finding out that like many village churches they are low on numbers attending on a Sunday but that the community spirit is buoyant and there is plenty going on, showing God in action outside of the church walls and his love being demonstrated in practical ways throughout the village and beyond as Fenny Compton is part of a benefice of a few local churches.
Arriving back at the boat, armed with chocolates as a gift for a supper we are going to tomorrow (CoOp’s best as no alternative!) I opened my hatch with the sign offering cups of tea and chat. Almost immediately Pi arrived and Mr T (as I came to call him by the end of the evening!) and suddenly I remembered we had met Pi back in December at Braunston – what we did not realise then was that she was a whizz mechanic and before long she offered to help R remove our damaged battery before it did any more damage to the further two batteries installed on the boat, or worst case scenario, caught fire. Her payment was the chocolate I had purchased as a gift for tomorrow so I will have to do a return trip to the CoOp to buy a further supply. As Pi and R set to work Mr T and I got chatting as he had spent four years on a boat at Roydon on the Stort navigation and that is where R and I are headed. He had lots to tell and decided a glass of wine was in order. That was the first of a few offered throughout the evening. Eventually R got the firepit out and Pi and Mr T produced some sausages. We purchased some sweet potato fries from the pub and had a great evening! Mr T was full of stories and we shared a sense of humour so there was much laughter between us all extending into the late evening. On a more serious note he could not speak highly enough of the Waterways chaplain at Roydon who he said went out of her way to help any boater in need. If I remember correctly Mr T used to work in security for the Ministry of Defence but he gave up when the Tories came into power! Now he makes perfumed wax melts that he sells by the hundreds through Etsy, Twitter etc. He also puts personalised photos onto things such as mugs and tee shirts. He had a third string to his bow but I can’t remember what it was but all very enterprising and from his boat! Pi meanwhile also paints the outside of boats and can do all the beautiful signage of the boat’s names and flowers etc. It was such an unexpectedly joyful evening and I think it’s what I love about our adventure – not knowing who we are going to meet and every day bringing up unexpected events (not all good!!).
NarrowboatTLC 