In Staines there were many Union flags at half-mast. Somehow the name was not an obvious match. The owner, like the boat, had a substantial beam.
Going through Penton Hook lock we passed a familiar broadbeam – Sexy Beast. But now we had a short run to Runnymede Meadow. We fully expected to return in later years. It’s a quirky yard but has always served us well. We had a week in Somerset with fresh spring walking while Ginger Bear was blacked, anodes were replaced and a new set of domestic batteries fitted. One of them shouted ‘Goodbye Grandpa’ as we left. So we were the only available spectacle for a large group of children at Molesey Lock. There were few boats around because travel was still restricted – and it was fiendishly cold. Three short days took us to Hampton Court, Shepperton and Laleham. It was bitterly cold at 1.5° but fun to be on the river again.
Whether his faith in the accuracy of the baby’s due date was warranted we never found out.Īt 9.00 we were through the lock and onto the Thames. I assured him that CRT people are human and kind and so it proved. He had no reservation for the lock and was worried he wouldn’t be allowed through. It included a nervous broadbeam owner who wanted to get to Bristol in time for the birth of his first child. We had to leave on Tuesday to get to Laleham by Friday.
By luck we realised the week before our departure that the Thames Lock was still only opening on two days a week. Ginger Bear had an appointment for blacking at Four All’s yard at Laleham on 9 April. The plan was to amble slowly up the Thames and the Oxford Canal, returning to London via the Grand Union by the middle of July. My initial ambition to go up to the Peak Forest was scuppered by a major breach in the Macclesfield Canal. Our aim was to have a relaxed cruise, spending less time travelling and more time enjoying our stopping places. In April 2021 the remedy for a long winter of Covid confinement was to get out of London onto the canals and rivers.
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