Tuesday, 18th June 2024

Every cloud has a silver lining – due to a lorry damaging a bridge over the canal at Burbage (thankfully the lorry driver was OK), we are halted once again in our progress,  but it meant we have just spent a delightful day in Marlborough. We took the bus, (I was really impressed with Wiltshire county’s prebookable system)  and swam at the leisure centre,  although first we had to purchase swim trunks for R. The charity shop we happened upon had a brand new pair of trunks, unfortunately in a small size, but R gamely squeezed into them! (Oh, the joy of being clean with copious warm water to wash body and hair!).  Then coffee and cake in a de-consecrated town centre church, used for concerts and exhibitions, very close to the impressive buildings of Marlborough College, precariously close to the main thoroughfare of Marlborough town centre and it looked like the students had to cross over it frequently to get to other school buildings.

Finding the laundrette was a challenge,  hidden in a corner of a back street (just as well because I made R take off his shirt to pop it in the wash – anyone remember the infamous Levi advert in the 80’s?) and while R waited for the clothes to dry I spent an hour perusing the charity and numerous ladies clothes shops,  as well as doing a bit of birthday shopping for R. As he was about to lambast me for my rather large carrier bag,  I was able to forestall him with the assurance everything was for him! A Waitrose meal deal overlooking the river in a small park just off the high St, sitting in the sun, enriched the outing. 

Then I found  an amazing home furniture and curtain shop that stocked rolls and rolls of fabric and offcuts.  Wanting a new lightweight fabric for the boat windows, as the present curtains currently have speckled lining,  due in the most part to damp and mildew,  I was delighted to find 6M of an orange fabric,  not only as an offcut,  but also then half price! Someone else in the shop was buying a metal rod for some curtain making project and I realised that was exactly what I needed to measure the water level in our tank so I bought one too! All in all, it is probably fair the day was more fun for me than R,  but a plus side fro R was seeing the surrounding countryside and he got away from the boat chores.

I realise I’m a planner.  Nothing I like better than to plot our route to the hour and the day.  On paper at least.  What I am realising is what a waste of time! Last week I had mapped out exactly where we were going to moor, on which days and how much travelling we would do.  I approximated how long we could cruise before the fuel tank empties (although I am now getting a bamboo cane from my sister so I can be more precise in my calculations!) and arranged for family troops to come and assist us with the Caen Hill flight. All that changed in an instant when we heard about the lorry incident

Two hours ahead of where we are currently moored the canal is closed,  not only for bridge damage assessment,  but also to enable the diesel spillage to be mopped up and bits of debris from the wreckage to be removed from the canal by a dredger.  The nearest dredger is at the bottom of the Caen Hill flight and will take two days to arrive. As the bridge is at the summit of the canal,  believe it or not,  there are low water levels! No one knows how long the wait will be, but R and I decided the best thing was not to move any further along the cut.  We are near a shop,  a pub, a railway station and a bus stop (never knew that would excite me!).  Meanwhile,  numerous boats are passing by and the towpath is filling up, with some very precarious stretches, where long planks will be essential and boaters will be required to walk quite a distance to the nearest shop.  Even filling up with water will be tricky because if a mooring spot is vacated temporarily, to go to the water tap, some other boater is likely to usurp you! The backlog of boats is going to hamper our journey, so we have decided to delay the Caen locks and remain this side of Devizes for a bit longer.  As it is the most beautiful stretch of countryside I don’t regard this as a hardship.  I just have to trust my willing band of lock assistants are still at the ready when needed and that nothing else unforseen occurs.  Living in the present,  practicing patience and adaptability are skills we are having to embrace. There is no other way to continue to enjoy the ride!

The lovely part is having time for friends and family who happen to be in the area or who fancy a day out.  The only  recommended pub within shouting distance we have now frequented three days out of the last four and are almost able to recite the menu  As we are no nearer getting to a fuel pump, my brother kindly arrived with a couple of gerry cans of diesel as the engine needs to be run daily to keep the boat batteries topped up.  An accompanying picnic of ham, beef and chicken sandwiches was also very welcome, especially by R, who is getting a little bored of the rigours of  vegetarian dining whilst on the boat! We still have the Hungerford market veg to finish up! Walking with my sister-in- law along the towpath, she spotted a Common blue butterfly, which apparently is not that common.  Trying to take a picture proved impossible as when the butterfly landed on a leaf,  it immediately closed its wings.  We spoke to some of the other boaters moored up.  One couple of advanced years decided to do a year’s boating which has stretched to 24! They have been around the whole network at least three times – something to aspire to!

We met up with an old friend from the Czech Republic on Saturday who was staying at our flat with his 16 yr old daughter and five of her friends for the weekend.  I could quite imagine the state of our flat with so many teenagers living in it for three days so I suggested we meet in Reading! I was taken with the unusual brickwork of the outside of the main parish church which looked like a chequerboard.

And to finish, this evening as the sun began to set: