On the Thames
After my brother left, we went back down river and moored at Runnymede, where we all had the barbecue together. We talked over whether we would do The Wey or not, and decided to shelve it, at least, for a while. We're enjoying the Thames, especially the wide stream and having the locks done for us. The Wey is quite hard work, plenty of locks and quite narrow in places. I think we've reached the comfort zone!
Saturday, 17th May
So today we set off back up the river, and stopped in Windsor. I went to the "Three" shop and bought a dongle. Now there might be a few people out there who don't know what a dongle is. It's a small modem for the computer. It plugs into a USB port on the computer and picks up the internet. I wondered how well it would work, but it's really good. I get fast connection speeds, and, so far, I've had good connections every time. Of course, here we're in the "Soft South". What it will be like when we get back to the wild and woolly north in the winter, remains to be seen. It's a real treat to have the freedom to connect to the internet when I want and for it not to be terminated at any moment as it was when I used a mobile 'phone connection.
We travelled fourteen miles and went through six locks today. We passed through Bray--right past Michel Roux's 'Waterside Restaurant'--through Maidenhead and Boulter's Lock--where there is a blue plaque on a house on the island where Richard Dimbleby used to live--and along Cliveden Deep, surely one of the loveliest parts of the river. We moored eventually just before Bourne End railway bridge. As I got off the boat to tie up, my foot went down a deep hole in the bank and I was in dirty water up to my knee. Yuck. It's not a very nice mooring, not at all easy to get on and off--but it's free! Many places on the Thames are either private, or charge anyhting from GBP5 per night.
Sunday, 18th May
We left the grotty mooring and went through Marlow, hoping to find somewhere to moor, but all the free mooring was taken--there isn't much of it. I can't remember how much it costs to moor in the other part, but I think it's GBP10, per night. We went on upstream, through beautiful peaceful countryside and through Henley-on-Thames, where the people eating out on the terrace at The Angel gave us a wave. Then into Marsh Lock, where the lockie packed us in like sardines. I think he must have been going for a record. I was concerned that the front of our boat was going to mangle the outboard motor of a tupperware boat in front of us, and Trev was trying to make sure the tiller didn't get stuck under the lock at the back. However, we escaped unscathed, and carried on. It seems to me that above Henley is where the river changes. It becomes less of an urban thoroughfare and more of a country river. We moored up in a lovely spot by Poplar Eyot, where we moored a couple of years ago. Some nice people on a tupperware boat helped us in to moor. That was nice, usually we're looked upon as the great unwashed by the beautiful people on their river cruisers! 'Coffin Dwellers' they call us narrowboaters! We spent a perfect peaceful evening here.
Monday, 19th May
When we woke in the morning, the boat had quite a list, as the river level had dropped and we were grounded. It's not a nice feeling when your home is at a strange angle, and I was glad to move off and get back on an even keel. We did a shorter trip today. We watered up and pumped out the w.c. at Shiplake lock, then went on thorugh Sonning Lock and moored up at Tesco, right by the junction with the Kennet & Avon Canal. Here we could shop for England, as Tesco is right by the canal, and it's a Tesco Extra! We stayed here overnight and wondered why nearly everyone else had left--was there something we didn't know? But no, all was well and we had a safe night. Isn't it a pity that we always have to wonder if the mooring is going to be safe at night. We're older and wiser than when we started boating and know most of the good places to moor by now.
Tuesday, 20th May
Off we went again, through wonderful, rural countryside, there were no bridges because there were no villages or towns for miles. We were lucky to find a mooring at Pangbourne Meadow, as this is a popular mooring and is usually full. We pulled in about twenty yards behind another boat. It seems to us that there is far less traffic on the river this year than other years. Is it the floods from last year that have deterred people, or the high cost of the fuel?
The boat in front had its generator going, but it was only 1.00 p.m. and this is par for the course. The accepted behaviour is that engines and generators are switched off around 8.00 p.m. and not started before 8.00 a.m. It was rather annoying that it went on, with only a short break, all day. Trev and I went out for an Indian meal in Pangbourne and when we got back it was still going. I went to bed fairly early and when Trev was ready to go to bed around 10.40 it was STILL going. So Trev went to ask if it would soon be turned off. First the Alsatian dog barked like crazy then Trev was met by a load of abuse, on the lines of: "You came in and moored behind me. If you don't like it you shouldn't have ****ing well moored there. I'm turning it off in ten ****ing minutes. I'll come out there and put one on you." However, the generator was turned off in about five minutes,, so we had a quiet night. That's my Trev--frightened of no one............! But why on earth does someone need to run a generator for about ten hours without stopping?
Wednesday, 21st May
Today we boogied on upriver to Goring, where we were again lucky with the mooring. There is a stretch of free mooring which is very popular, but we managed to get in. Catharine and Mamdooh arrived at lunchtime with our post and we all went out to lunch in Goring. We didn't make a very good choice of pub, it was a very posey place with a poor choice of meals, and the tables were so small, that we couldn't fit all the plates on the table, and Catharine ended up with hers on her lap! On a plate I hasten to add, she didn't spill it! We spent a lovely afternoon together, catching up on the gossip. I do miss company!
Thursday, 22nd, Friday 23rd May
We set off around 10.30. I realise I haven't mentioned the weather recently, but it has been lovely, really warm and sunny, and today was no exception. We went through Cleeve Lock, and then through glorious countryside with no locks for miles and miles. We tried to moor up near Wallingford, but the bank was too high to be practical to get on and off--I was on my hands and knees when I did eventually manage to get off. We moored there once before, and I don't remember it being difficult. Either I'm getting older or the river level was different! Surely the latter.
So we pressed on to Benson Lock where we had an interesting experience. We didn't realise, as we went in, that the lockie was taking his lunch break, so the people from the other two plastic boats had opened the gates. In we went, bold as brass, and then realised. I apologised for not realising, but no one answered. The I apologised for the fact that we couldn't help with the operation of the lock as we were on the wrong side of the lock, and it takes two of us to hold the boat as the lock fills. Still no reply. After they had filled the lock, I thanked everyone again for all their help and again apologised for not being able to help. Still no reply. No one spoke to use during the whole operation. That's what I mean about tupperware boaters!!!!
We went on through Day's Lock, on our own and with a lock keeper, and found a perfect spot to moor, where we stayed for two nights. We were on our own, with a nice grassy area by the boat, and we had a barbecue.
In the morning we walked across the fields to Dorchester-on-Thames about a mile away. We walked around the village--it's very pretty and has an abbey. We discovered that there was an English Music Festival on and so we walked back to the village again in the evening. The concert was introduced by Boris Johnson, no less! He was the President of the Festival, and he was very amusing. The first piece was 'Jerusalem' which we all sang with gusto, but I'd never heard of any of the other pieces. It was still light when we came out at 9.30, we had expected that we would have to walk back in the dark.
Saturday, 24th May
The forecast for the weekend isn't good, heavy rain, so we decided to move on towards Abingdon. We're getting low on water, and there is a water point above the lock there. We got on to another of our favourite moorings, about a mile before Abingdon. The weather deteriorated, the rain lashed down, the wind howled around us and we lit the fire.
Sunday, 25th, Monday, 26th, Tuesday, 27th May
Trev walked into town this morning and discovered that there was plenty of room to moor on the meadow in the town centre. So we upped sticks and moved on into town. We got a good mooring and managed to achieve it all during a lull in the awful weather. The rain then came down again without respite and we were glad to have the fire going to keep us warm. We do need water, so will have to move as soon as we can.
The weather on Monday was not much better, but on Tuesday we were planning to move when someone from another boat told us that the boards were on yellow and likely to go on to red in the afternoon. Trev asked me if I wanted to move and I said no. But it was a bad decision really, because the weather was good and the river wasn't flowing too fast. By Wednesday the water was much faster. I do hope we're not in for another flood like the one last year. That would just about be the end of boating as far as I'm concerned.
Come back in a week or so to find out what happened! I don't know the answer yet; it's only 8.00 a.m. on Wednesday as I write!