I was up and out by 6am to move the car from Datchet to Wallingford. Back by 8:20 and ready for breakfast. We bade farewell to Terry who set off downriver en-route to London and then cast ourselves off from the pontoon for our trip upstream. Henley straight was just that, very straight (and cold). Parakeets above Henley, whatever next!
We crept up on the lockie at Shiplake and found him listening to ‘the wedding’ on a radio in his hut with the door shut. Sonning lock was the first to show any form of decoration for the day and that consisted of an edifice resembling the Queen sat in the lock cottage garden as well as loads of bunting and flags.
We thought we heard some of the flypast aircraft overhead but the clouds were so low we could not see anything.
At Caversham lock we could see and hear the Reading beer festival going on in the field next door, we considered mooring up and going there until we saw how far the queue for entry stretched. We would have had to queue for hours.
A few boats had bunting and balloons out, some even displaying the union flag! but for the most part it passed us by.
We did meet a boatload of Vikings who were using the occasion as a diversion to invade the country – longboat, NO it’s a narrowboat you fools.
We hope the royal wedding went off well; no family punch ups, no corgis being sick after wedding cake and prawn vol- au-vents. We celebrated with escalope of pork in honey and mustard with a reduction of roast duck jus, followed by a lemon and white chocolate curl pavlova all washed down with strawberry cider after we had moored up at Beale Park.
Graham
www.jannock.org.uk
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