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I have realised that sometimes when you step off a boat onto the towpath you have few choices as to where you can go. Unless there is a bridge or lock gates straddling the canal you cannot get to the other side of the water. Sometimes on the otherside there is no towpath to walk along in any case. So it is with where we are now, but not because of a missing towpath. This is more to do with traffic and rain. The marina itself has a carpark but we have discovered that it is entered from a fairly busy, windy road, that has no pavements, so unsafe for a pedestrian to walk along. Our boat is also on the side of canal without any towpath so to go anywhere we have to walk across a set of lockgates to reach the towpath. That in itself can be tricky when you are returning from town with the weekly shop! And hampered again by slippery conditions caused by ice on really chilly days and wet on rainy days. Yesterday to ring the changes of our walk we decided on reaching the towpath to turn right, walking back in the direction we came from by boat. R thought it would be interesting to walk to the lock that is now being mended, thus causing the canal stoppage. We had only slip slided about 100yds when we decided to turn back. There was mud and puddles, that R remarked must have been similar to the trenches of WW1 – I could see why someone could very easily lose a footing and end up in the water! The poor condition is partly due to the weather but also, I think, is an indication of how many people enjoy towpath walks. The CRT is doing its best to maintain the safety of the towpaths around the 2000 miles of the canal system but as you can imagine it costs money they haven’t got. Hence why they appreciate any donation from those who enjoy walking the canal network.

With only one direction left to walk we retraced our steps and walked on in the direction of Linslade and Leighton Buzzard, thankful that the towpath into town is in much better nick, even tarmaced in places. Linslade morphs into LB but is a place in its own right and infact LB train station is actually situated in Linslade. To get a better understanding of the geography of the area we left the towpath at one of the many bridges along the way and completed an almost circular walk, taking in the Linslade area (I hesitate to call it a village because all we saw were private residences and rows of terraced houses), arriving eventually in LB by the Tesco bridge, thus able to complete our daily exercise walking back along the towpath towards our boat. On the left side of the towpath walking away from town there look to be large areas of marshes that would be great to walk in the summer months but I fear are too boggy at present so our walking choices are fairly limited.

I enjoyed some lengthy telephone conversations catching up with friends and cooked a vegetarian sausage hotpot in my electric robot contraption (basically a saucepan that heats up to different temperatures but can also be a mixer of liquidizer – very clever!) before settling down to our weekly church bible study on Zoom. Studying the wisdom of Solomon I was struck again by the story of the two new mothers, one whose baby died in the night afew days after birth, so she replaced it with the other mother’s living baby. Noticing the switch the mums argued and thus appeared before King Solomon who, after hearing their story, suggested the living baby got cut down the middle so each woman could have half. At which point the baby’s real mother declared the other woman could have him rather than he suffer and die. Of course, at that point, Solomon was able to discern who the babies real mother was and returned the baby to her. Such a chilling story but what wisdom to know how to out the pretender!

Another Vera episode (am determined now to see them all as we are at series 8 out of 10!) and bed, reading PD James ‘Original Sin’. R, who does not usually enjoy detective novels was quite gripped by this one, so I decided to read it after him. Partly so we can discuss who did it! Good to find new things to talk about when there is little dilution of each others company at present! Sharing the different aspects of our day used to enliven our conversation and I have always felt the importance of building friendships with people in addition to ones partner. For the majority, people need people, so it is of little surprise that the mental health of the nation is struggling at present in all sorts of ways. We try to engage, even if it is only a smile and a brief hallo, with anyone we pass on our walks. It may be the only interaction they get all day. And its not as if we are in a hurry!

ps Having just listened to today’s blog R said the scenario of the towpath reminded him of the choice we have of either following the Christian path in this life or walking an alternative route. Jesus did say ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’ (John 14.6). An interesting parallel to contemplate.

The memory can play tricks. Yesterday when we walked along the towpath to the Globe pub, which must be about a mile or so before arriving in LB itself I really recognised very little and could not place where we had moored up previously and yet I felt certain we were near to where R had had his canal dip and that we had used a laundrette in LB to clean his clothes. So I decided to walk in again as my daily exercise and find the town centre. I don’t usually forget shops easily! Sure enough, as I got directions to the town centre I recognised the electric bike shop on the corner and then the way the walkway, without cars widens, with shops on either side and there is plenty of room for market traders on Tuesdays and Saturdays. The market had been there the last time we came but this one was much reduced, probably due to Covid essential restrictions. The traders had put 2m markings on the road so orderly queues could form, but there were not many punters, even though the stalls looked tempting. A great array of fruit and veg; an upmarket baker; a takeaway of samosas and the like, which looked delicious. I spotted a Wilko and donning mask and sanitizer headed in to replenish some hardware that was useful on the boat. One of the things we have had a bit of a struggle with is lighting. The boat lights are quite dim but we have a very useful desk lamp which we keep moving to wherever we are settled. I managed to buy a second desk lamp (although we can only use it when hooked up to mains electricity) for a fiver, which didn’t break the bank! However the bulbs were a fiver on top – brings to mind cheap printers and expensive printer ink! Faced with a wide array of bulbs I resorted to asking an assistant for help – luckily she had purchased the same lamp and knew exactly the bulbs to head for.

So LB is a pleasant English market town looking rather sad at the moment but I am sure on a sunny Saturday with the market in full swing it paints a different picture.

The afternoon cheered me greatly as I sat outside on the bow of the boat playing Trickster Bridge with the 3 girlfriends I have played bridge with for over 20 years although we haven’t been able to play online for a while for various reasons. My bridge, it turns out, was really rusty, with a few basic errors that annoyed me greatly. It’s such a good game for keeping the brain active so I don’t want to let it slip as my brain needs all the help it can get! Codewords are my other passion for brain games and a surefire way to help me fall asleep. Probably a better option than my current nightly pattern of watching an episode of the detective ‘Vera’. I have even started dreaming about murder! You may wonder why on a cold winter’s day I chose to sit outside on the boat. It was because it had turned into the most beautiful afternoon with a good smattering of blue sky and a little sun. I wrapped myself in many rugs and thanked God for the beauty around me. There is something so peaceful in watching reflections on still water.

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Oh the bliss of waking up to some instant heat. R, up before me, switched on the blow heater and by the time I got out of bed, after R bought me a cup of tea, the cabin was warm as toast! I soon felt the cold when I remembered the clothes soaking in cold water in the bath! Squeezing out the excess water I then proceeded to spin 3 loads of washing (the drum is rather small) and hung the garments on the strings I had put up in the boat for our Christmas cards! I really appreciated our cards this year as they were our chief form of decoration. R found some of them hung in awkward places for his 6ft plus frame! Being relatively short where they were hung made no difference to me!

We met our nice new neighbours who normally spend the UK winters in Spain and the warmer weather here on their narrowboat. However now in lockdown, Spain isn’t on the agenda. They seem very cheerful and not too worried about the possibility of a cold winter ahead. I must say life in a marina is much more relaxed than travelling around, hunting for essentials. Even today we walked along the towpath to see where we might possibly be able to moor up next as we think staying a month in the marina is a bit expensive, on top of our rental costs. There are so many considerations, one being where you can turn the boat. We found an Elsan and water going on towards Leighton Buzzard and think we can turn the boat by a short reverse and come back to a mooring near where we are now. But we had to find a turning point near here so that we can change the direction of the boat to go back to the waterpoint again. Fortunately, just below the lock we are presently at, there is space to turn a boat so I think after a week or two we will go back out onto the open canal. As if turning the boat isn’t stressful enough, sometimes you also have to operate a few locks just to get to where you need to go and then operate the locks on the return journey. This little stretch of water doesn’t involve any locks between the winding holes (or turning circles). Fortunately there looked to be two or three available moorings and a Tesco, Aldi and M&S foodstore all within easy reach! Of course in a weeks time they may be full but I would be surprised as the lock behind us is now closed.

Another plus of our hookup is that I can make use of our diddy slow cooker. Not only did I manage a hearty beef stew for tomorrow, I then poached some fish for our supper tonight, and have now put the oats and water in it ready for porridge for breakfast in the morning! Nigella Lawson eat your heart out!!

The rain is pattering on the roof and it looks like we might be in for a wet week although the weather forecast does often change nearer the date. Not sure we will even make much use of our outside exercise allowance if it involves getting wet – will be interesting to see what we can manage on the boat!

One slight disadvantage of where we are moored is that the mobile signal is intermittent so I am finding it difficult to upload pictures. Sorry you will just get a dull monologue! Not a lot is happening here – it’s probably the same for you!

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Attended our 10am Church service today on Zoom and it proved to be so much more meaningful than the services I have joined prerecorded  on Youtube. Our clergy were in the church building leading the service but all the congregation were in their homes and we could see each other on the Zoom platform. Additionally after the service ended we were all able to chat with one another. I really hope this is a way forward for the future.  Not that all the congregation are banned from the church building! Rather that once we can return to the building for worship we also continue Zooming the service so that those who cannot physically be with us, can at least be part of the worship in their own homes. I think the service will also be recorded so that it can be accessed on YouTube at a later time for those who cannot attend at 10am. I get so excited by the thought of the media possibilities that we have in all walks of life. I remember our son G having an old banger of a car and every time something went wrong he would just go to YouTube and sure enough   someone would have posted a video on how to fix the problem!

Once the morning service was over we donned our warm layers and got the boat moving. Just two locks to do to get forward of the lock that will be closed tomorrow for a few weeks.  Once through that lock we heaved a sigh of relief as we realised we no longer had a deadline.  Infact the opposite.  We now needed to find a good place to hunker down for however long necessary.  I was  looking at the map to see where a suitable mooring might be when the Grove lock marina caught my eye. We had rung them a few times last week but just got the answerphone so I had written them off as a possibility of a place to stay as noone returned my call. However as luck would have it today the phone was answered and we were told there was one available visitor mooring for a couple of weeks. So by 3pm we were tucked into our new home and hooked up to electricity, with ready supplies of water, wifi, showers to name a few of our ‘luxuries’ which we used to take for granted! We could even park our car if we had it with us! The shops at Leighton Buzzard are not too far to walk too apparently  – it will be a toss up between how much we think we can carry and how often we want to brave the supermarket!

The washing machine is in the marina office which is only manned at the moment 3 days a week so I am not hopeful I will get a look in as one of our chatty neighbours told me there is always a queue! I used the machine on our boat last week and was amazed to find the shortest wash took over 2 and a half hours! Either I find a laundrette or I do the washing by hand. So tonight saw me fill the bathtub with a load of clothes and then wash them as best I could. That was once I had removed the fruit and veg and temporarily found them a new home. It really is an eye opener living in a small space!

A day of moving down more than along as we tackled 10 locks descending from the village of Marsworth, just after the Tring cutting, in the direction of Leighton Buzzard. The promised sun, shown in full on the weather app, never managed to quite break through the low lying cloud, so much of the day was seen through a white mist, beautiful but errie. A postal delivery in the form of our friend K, from Amazon,  with extra supplies of gloves, a hat and scarf, arrived mid morning just as we were enjoying an ‘extra hot’ cup of hot chocolate from the cafe discovered the previous day and it was well worth the calories! K took the opportunity to film R and I operating a lock. Of course R was doing all the physical labour – I  just guided Wind Rose seamlessly into the lock chamber! We tied up near to Ivinghoe but sadly did not have time to visit what looks to be an interesting village. We had to be ready for a Zoom quiz at 5pm with our Wombler friends (so named because of the many walks done together over the years, post a Round Table connection) followed by a quiz at 7pm with our church friends. To give you an idea of our quiz capabilities,  we came bottom in the Womblers and top in the church! Not that the church quiz had any religious content.  It had interesting rounds such as naming savoury food dishes from  anagrams and creating a new word by adding one letter to a word having been given clues as to what boh words should mean. Anyway the main reason for coming top was that we combined forces with another couple (via WhatsApp) who happen to be particularly good at quizzes! I would really recommend using Whattsapp and Zoom in tandem as it makes for a much more sociable event. You do have to keep one device muted to prevent feedback but it worked a treat! Of course all this quizzing didn’t leave much time for a gourmet meal so see under ‘recipes’ the 5 minute dinner called pesto tortellini! I seem to have a lot of meals with pesto – I bought a large jar with me from Costo so am having to find imaginative ways to use it up!

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Snow was forecast today but actually when we ventured out on a walk along the towpath it felt warmer than yesterday. We wanted to find a suitable mooring for tomorrow after we have completed the locks through Marsworth and out the other side. We met a delightful man walking beside the last lock we visited and he fell to talking to us. He was definitely someone with a positive outlook on life, always trying to see the glass half full. He used to be a football coach and then a mentor for troubled youngsters in London. He found that work heartbreaking as so often those he helped to recover from drug abuse, relapsed. A few years ago a friend who was a fishmonger asked for his help. As a result of that he now has a passion for fish and healthy eating. If I heard him correctly, there are 10 master fishmongers in Britain and he is aiming to be number 11! Moving to live with his mum near here and help care for her, he is learning all the aspects of the job that he needs to know before he opens his own shop. Such is his passion for supplying fresh fish he gave me his number and said to ring him whenever I wanted advice on a recipe or how to cook a particular fish. As R admitted that I wasn’t a great fan of oily fish such as mackerel, he suggested how to cook it in such a way I would be hooked (excuse the pun!). Finely slice a fennel bulb and lay in a dish topped with the mackerel, fresh as can be, juice of a blood orange and fresh parsley. Bake. Sounds delicious and simple so worth a punt! We parted on the best of terms and he heartened us by saying our chat had made his day! Reminded me how important it is to be ready to stop and listen when someone obviously wants to talk.

The walk through Marsworth was very picturesque with the Tring reservoirs to one side with lots of ducks and swans parading around. In a way quite a bleak, but beautiful landscape. A couple of pubs, a few houses but not much else of note. Nowhere to buy any provisions that I came across. I think it must be rather strange to live in a village that largely consists of a canal bisecting its centre with a scattering of 7 random locks close together!

Am in the midst of a P D James whodunit so tucked myself under the duvet this afternoon and read a few chapters. Then my regular Friday Zoom with friends, followed by another phonecard with a good friend and it was time for gin, supper and an episode of Vera followed by a feelgood, fairly soppy film (based on a true story). Then a relatively early night ready to tackle the locks tomorrow. At least I know halfway along there is a takeaway selling delicious hot chocolate. The one I had today wasn’t quite hot enough so I just need to try another one tomorrow asking for it extra hot, just to confirm the taste was the best chocolate drink I have had in a while!

There was an article in one of the newspapers this week entitled 21 ways to treat yourself in lockdown and I realised many of them they were indulgences I was already enjoying: proper coffee; comfy shoes (I even have on the boat a pair of the exact recommended birkenstock slippers – I bought them a couple of years back from the birkenstock seconds retail outlet in Bad Honnef where my sister in law lives!): long baths (well the one on the boat isn’t so long!); coats of many colours; shopping around for bargains; candles; cocktails; fresh flowers (slightly cumbersome on a boat with little space!); a project (I suppose that’s one way of looking at this narrowboat trip); a bookclub (bible study is nearest equivalent) and biscuits. I was so pleased to see them on the list. I have rediscovered the pleasure of a good biscuit with my morning coffee or afternoon tea. A guilty pleasure that I have not enjoyed for many a year. My waistline may not thank me but it is such a comforting treat.

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Reminded me of growing up in The Vicarage this morning as I donned my clothes under the duvet! R usually gets up first – we can’t get up together, not enough space. So I snuggle down in the hopes a cup of tea will miraculously appear and it nearly always does! Although R’s first task of the day has now become the wiping off of condensation, which otherwise drips from the windows and ceiling vents! Like it’s raining inside. A bit disconcerting when you don’t expect it! Anyway, it was a chilly morning and we had planned a late start because our tasks were to top up the water, empty the potty cassette whilst we had the opportunity and then head along the Tring cutting which would take under two hours. However the phone did ring at 0830 (I am sure many of you think that’s a lie in!) – it was daughter C, checking how much ibuprofen she can have in 24hrs as suddenly worried she had taken too much. Her back’s in spasm so she can’t get out of bed without severe pain. A physio thinks it’s a bulging disc and it’s a recurrent problem – so a virtual doctor’s appointment for her today which I hope will lead to a scan. Not the best time to have to be investigated! R also suffering back pain. May be a disadvantage of being tall, says the short one of the family. Although my mum was tiny by her 90’s in height terms – most noticeable in a family wedding photo. Although in a wheelchair by then, she was determined to stand unaided for her photo!

The Tring cutting was cold but I had prepared – full thermals, cotton top and trousers; cashmere jumper, fur lined waterproof fleece and poncho, leg warmers, 2 pairs of socks, scarf, two pairs of gloves and a hat! I was in there somewhere amongst the layers. And I was not cold apart from my hands because I kept exposing my fingers to take photos! We were joined on the towpath by a very chatty lad who delivers beer all around the South for a big brewery and has taken to walking miles in lockdown to keep himself fit and purposeful. He was a fount of knowledge on local walks and pubs, although currently the pub knowledge is of no value! He kept abreast of the speed we were doing, occasionally hampered by very wet and boggy towpath conditions. He left us at the turnoff to Tring Station but we had enjoyed his company.

Before we knew it we had arrived at Bulbourne Junction and had to do a quick reverse as the towpath ahead looked chocca with boats. Luckily the boat R decided to walk along to reach the towpath and pull us in, was unoccupied or we may have had another frosty encounter! I walked on to see if there was a better mooring ahead, before the first lock of Marsworth (think there are 6 in close succession so we don’t want to start them today as you can’t moor up between them) and found one where the towpath was no longer a mud bath. However it is the first mooring we have had where we need to use our ‘plank’ to get safely ashore.

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We walked along the Wendover Arm towards Tring having learnt our lesson about taking a long narrowboat down shallow, thin Arms! When we arrived in Tring we found the coffee.shop we had frequented when we walked all the way from Berko to Tring in the second lockdown and enjoyed just as good.a cup of coffee alongside a piece of pear and almond cake – shared. Although R unbeknownst to me also bought an almond croissant so not quite as abstemious as I had planned! I made an ‘essential’ purchase at a hardware store and found a novel way to transport it home!

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Tomorrow is looking snowy according to the forecast whereas Saturday is full sunshine so we will hunker down tomorrow (may even have a full duvet day!) and do the locks on Saturday that await us! I think the boat is in need of some tlc so housework and tidying up will be the order of the day. We really can’t allow ourselves to get too untidy – there just isn’t the space!

To our great surprise we heard voices on the water after sunset this evening. Looking out of the window we saw a couple of canoeists setting off along the canal with head torches. It reminded me that this morning going along the Tring cutting we saw a lone, late middle aged man standing on a paddle board gracefully gliding past us. I couldn’t help but wonder how often he has capsized as you really don’t want a mouthful of canal water if you can avoid it.

Quite a busy day for someone who has got used to life at 4mph in the fast lane! The alarm woke me at 8am just when I felt I had finally got to sleep! Much of the night in that state between being neither fully awake or asleep I was playing over in my mind if we really should be leaving Berko. After all, what’s so bad about trailing heavy potty cassettes through the streets and having people wonder what they are? I omitted to tell you yesterday (spoiler alert: too much potty talk!) that I failed to notice, until too late, that I had not put the cassette fully back in place! Not a mistake you make twice, especially when you have someone else berating you for all the mess! Personally I found it quite funny because I couldn’t quite believe my own stupidity!

Once fully wakened by the alarm I shared my misgivings with R who did not see any problem at all with leaving so I set too with getting ready to depart. The first task was to get our clothes and sheets to the laundrette (literally a 3 minute walk from the boat) where I filled the biggest drum. The cleaner was just finishing sanitising so that was reassuring in itself. With half an hour to wait I returned to the boat and made golden porridge (addition of linseeds) and tea for R and myself. We needed a warming breakfast as internal central heating. Then back to laundrette for tumble drying. Another half hour so I treated myself to a quick shop at M&S foodstore, almost empty so early in the morning. A few treats to be had – excess Christmas stock such as hickory flavoured nuts. No idea how they will taste but that’s the advantage of R having impaired taste buds!

Clean, dry washing all sorted and we set off to Cowroast, a series of 7 locks, I think. The pounds are renowned for being shallow and just as we were getting close to one of the lock gates a CRT man on the towpath asked us to wait 20mins, that really meant 40, as they were letting water in from a higher pound and trying to raise the water levels. It is some tricky feat keeping a narrowboat in the centre of the canal (because the sides are so shallow you may get stuck in the mud or on the stones) for such a long time without mishap. It involves lots of tiny adjustments with the steering and some reversing so you don’t get too close to the lock itself, especially as the water entering the pound also changes the boats course. Still, I had a delightful chat with the young CRT man who is working long hours, with a depleted team due to covid, to keep the canals operational. He said most of his day is spent putting right mistakes made by novice boaters! He’s happy doing overtime now though because his chief pleasure (unsurprising due to his age!) is having a pint at the pub with his mates and obviously that’s not happening any time soon!

Eventually we move on and arrive at Cowroast in time for lunch whereupon the phone goes and one of my mums dearest friends is ringing for a chat. Bear in mind this remarkable lady is 94yrs young, she still drives a car, sounds on the phone like she is in her 60s because of the energy in her voice and still retains all her marbles! I have known her forever and know she is really missing my mum. They always laughed a lot together.

The afternoon sun shone so we had to take the opportunity to walk 40mins to Tring, where we happened upon the Tring brewery which was open! It would have been rude not to buy anything and anyway R had his rucksack just in case!

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We had walked to Tring from Berko in the second lockdown which was twice the distance as coming from Cowroast. However the journey back to the boat appeared much longer after R found a piece of wood for chopping for the stove which was long and cumbersome. It was like we were walking in tandem! Will be worth all the effort I am sure!

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