A cheery voice at 0930 on Saturday morning took us slightly by surprise. I had tried to explain, via text, to our next ukranian visitors, that a 10am arrival would be good. Saturday morning is when R likes to surface slowly, enjoy a boiled egg and anticipate the day ahead. So the earlier than planned arrival of a very excited 5 year old, his mum and his granny catapulted us into action! They had arrived by bus from Hertford and apparently the little boy was so excited about this boat trip that his mother had got an earlier bus in order to get to us as soon as possible! We lowered the stern cover, watered the plants from the excess water we have when running the hot tap (having just replaced the rather dead flowers we came back to earlier in the week I wasn’t about to let these ones die so soon!) and we were on our way by 0945 towards Hertford. I wasn’t looking forward to the imminent lock – it was the Ware one I had complained to the CRT about earlier in the month. However someone had gone some way to fixing it so at least all the paddles worked (with a lot of effort on our part!) and it very slowly filled with water. Ze, the mum of the little boy spoke good English and was very interested in what was happening so we talked her through the working of the lock. Meanwhile granny looked after her grandson in the bow. We were amused to see the comfortable collapsible chair we placed in the bow (there’s only room for one) for one of the adults to use was actually given to the child to sit on! The granny had a sad air about her which was unsurprising when Ze told me her father had recently died from covid in the Ukraine. Ze and her son had arrived on their own in the UK but when their host family learnt of Ze’s father’s sudden death they managed to find another family living in the same road who were happy to have Ze’s mum come and stay. It is a comfort for them all to be together especially as Ze is an only child so they are a very small family unit. When we stopped for a light lunch Ze produced some delicious homemade wraps and a traditional Ukrainian chocolate marbled bread that they had found in a bakery in Hertford. We were surprised, aside from the time spent working the two locks, how quickly the journey passed, Hertford really only being a stone’s throw from Ware. Before we knew it we were turning the boat in the Hertford basin and mooring up in a space recently vacated by another boater, who called out to us at the water tap that there was room for us in the spot he had just left. The short walk into the town centre made us realise what a great mooring we had and we enjoyed exploring the museum, castle, shops, churches and pubs over the next couple of days. It seems to be a bigger town than our home in Surrey and although I remembered some of it from my youth I was amazed how extensive it was and how attractive some of it is. My main memory was going to the dentist in Hertford, (who put me off going to the dentist for life!), the department store (sadly no more) Iceland frozen foods (now an M&S food store – much more upmarket!), innovative in its time and all the grey looking men in dull clothing who I now suppose must have been survivors of WWII and were weary with life and perhaps suffering from PTSD which wasn’t talked about in those terms.
The town was certainly more colourful on the Sunday afternoon. We had attended St Andrew’s church in the morning, where my parents worshipped after dad retired from Gt Amwell and were delighted to meet people who remembered them well, especially one lady who said her husband visited my dad twice a week to help him with his paperwork, a task that got steadily harder as his sight and memory failed him. The service responses were sung throughout, which reminded me of dad as he always did the same and there was much similarity to the church of my youth so it was a comforting place to be. The contrast to our afternoon was striking, as Hertford became alive with music at its 17th music mystery festival – 35 local pubs hosting musicians who did one hour sets from lunchtime into the evening. The extensive program was a bit overwhelming but I spied an Abba duo performing in a nice looking pub along the High St where we managed to find a couple of comfortable armchairs and armed with cocktails, enjoyed a couple of hours of entertainment, whilst I got out my knitting!! I did also get up and dance when I could resist it no longer and even got R on the makeshift dance floor! However as the afternoon wore on it was a bit depressing seeing the effects of too much alcohol in the streets and the presence of police cars with their sirens wailing. Overall though, I would think most people, of which there were many, had a great time and just enjoyed listening to so many different bands and genres of music. Later in the evening we visited the ‘Hertford Club’ and enjoyed the performance of an older couple who sang mainly folksy songs but with a plethora of unusual instruments. As we arrived at the club we bumped into an old family friend who had been at mum’s Thanksgiving service but actually lives in another of the local towns so that was a happy surprise encounter!
Bank holiday Monday we explored more of Hertford and returned to Ware on Tuesday morning along with P and two Ukranian mums and their children. One of the children, although only about 9 years old, had excellent English and a great love of nature and wildlife. He explained to me that a coot has a white bill whereas a moorhen has a red one. He told me there was a mum and a baby coot and when I asked how he could tell he explained that the bread he had fed the mother she immediately passed on to her baby. I was impressed by his observation skills, far greater than mine!
We had planned to go through Hardmead lock and moor up in Gt Amwell for a picnic lunch but on arrival at the lock we found one of the gates immovable, in a half open position. Deducing that we would not be able to move the submerged obstruction I rang the CRT and reported the faulty lock. We had no option than to turn around, find an alternative picnic spot and then moor up in Ware. It was yet another reminder that whatever plans we may have on our narrowboat journey we are at the mercy of forces beyond our control and much patience and adaptability is needed!
NarrowboatTLC 