Royal Wedding Day

19th May 2018

We put up the bunting last night before going across to the Samuel Barlow for an excellent meal – never had a bad meal there! We put bunting along the handrails, inside the windows and had even left a whole run of bunting all along our street before leaving home yesterday morning. It just had to be done!

Graham was up early as he was working from home boat today. Monitoring the TVP event talkgroup he had a unique view of the wedding proceedings going on in Windsor.

We cleared Glascote locks quite quickly and as we passed Fazely junction we spooted that the residents in the new flats there had set up a big screen in the communal area on the ground floor and were having a Royal Wedding party. They cheered as we passed bedecked with bunting.  

A boat advertising stainless steel chimneys was moored just North of Fazely and I loved his unique rudder on the butty – made from stainless steel tube.  Later we passed nb Ariadne and a laydee appeared out of the hatch and told Brenda that we had won ‘the Prize’, What prize? The prize for the best bunting, “best decorated boat” she said! She didn’t ask us where she had to send the prize to – shame!

As we approached Huddlesford, I spotted nb Slow Motion heading south. This boat used to belong to our good friend Julian T. and he was on her when we first met him at Bathampton on the K&A in 2001.

Fradley was deserted with no traffic, apart from us, moving at all. We passed up the first two locks quite quickly, but had to wait for a descending boat at Woodend lock. Waiting above to descend was nb Kelpie with Ann and Ian aboard. We haven’t seen them since we passed them on the Soar many years ago.

We finally found a quite mooring in the woods between Kings Bromley marina and Handsacre having rejected a couple of likely spots due to the Oil Seed Rape being in bloom in the ajacent fields.

Graham