Crew: Ken & Annie - and Maisy the dog
We arrived back at Shepherds Patch about 3.30pm and found the boat straight away. Colin and Anne had tied it to a post, which was fortunate as some of the pins had pulled out with the wash from the big trip boats. Boat in perfect condition - thank you Colin and Anne for taking such great care of her!
Decided to move the boat 50yds forward to a vacant mooring on the wharf.... and the heavens opened. We both got SOAKED. Was just going below to dry off when Pet and Wendy on 'Forget me not' hove into view. Helped them moor up and all went back to our respective boats to await the deluge stopping.
We all had a meal (and a jar or two) together at the Tudor Arms.
These are the voyages of Ken, Annie and dog Peggy. As we cruise we will try and keep the blog up-to-date - internet access permitting of course. Ceilidh is a 54ft cruiser style narrowboat. It was built by J Pinder Ltd for Black Prince hire boats in 1995.
Friday, 9 August 2013
Friday 2nd August 2013 - Shepherds Patch
Crew: Colin & Anne
Drove to Gloucester town centre - lovely Roman town, similar but less grand than Chester. Lots of quaint little shops, Cathedral, antiques market (full of junk like we've already got loads of!) & a coffee and a cake at Costa.
Quick trip to Halfords on way home for new bike lock and back to Ceilidh for a late lunch & packing etc. Setting off soon - its now 5.10pm.
Drove to Gloucester town centre - lovely Roman town, similar but less grand than Chester. Lots of quaint little shops, Cathedral, antiques market (full of junk like we've already got loads of!) & a coffee and a cake at Costa.
Quick trip to Halfords on way home for new bike lock and back to Ceilidh for a late lunch & packing etc. Setting off soon - its now 5.10pm.
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| Cathedral |
Thursday 1st August 2013 - Shepherds Patch
Crew: Colin & Anne
The temperature actually reached 33.5 C by pm! Luckily there was a pleasant breeze but we were still roasted!
I can only describe our early morning take off with Ceilidh as precarious - put it this way. All the other happy, smug campers were out on deck, biting their lips in anticipation of a certain catastrophe (would have helped to have pushed off in the first place, as we attempted to turn her around.
Thankfully Anne's brain cells engaged in the nick of time and no harm done. I'm sure our bridge keeper phoned the next few bridgekeepers to warn them we were on our way because as soon as they spotted us in the far distance, the bridges were lifted.
We had a beautiful trip as far as Quedgeley Wharf then turned around and tootled in the sunshine back to 'our' patch. The only problem was that we were out until nearly 4pm and we were STARVING! I didnt dare leave Colin on deck alone for more than a couple of minutes. At one stage he did say "Annie would have baked a cake by now". My response was "The difference being that Ken would have been at the helm". Enough said :-)
When we got back we set up deck chairs on the towpath and were soon joined by a lovely couple of passers by from Bristol - Ros & Mike. They told us they'd seen us coming through Saul Junction and that we looked perfectly competent. Looks can be deceiving! They shared a nice cold bottle of Rose with us and left at 7pm - time for tea. Fitted in a towpath walk before bed.
The temperature actually reached 33.5 C by pm! Luckily there was a pleasant breeze but we were still roasted!
I can only describe our early morning take off with Ceilidh as precarious - put it this way. All the other happy, smug campers were out on deck, biting their lips in anticipation of a certain catastrophe (would have helped to have pushed off in the first place, as we attempted to turn her around.
Thankfully Anne's brain cells engaged in the nick of time and no harm done. I'm sure our bridge keeper phoned the next few bridgekeepers to warn them we were on our way because as soon as they spotted us in the far distance, the bridges were lifted.
We had a beautiful trip as far as Quedgeley Wharf then turned around and tootled in the sunshine back to 'our' patch. The only problem was that we were out until nearly 4pm and we were STARVING! I didnt dare leave Colin on deck alone for more than a couple of minutes. At one stage he did say "Annie would have baked a cake by now". My response was "The difference being that Ken would have been at the helm". Enough said :-)
When we got back we set up deck chairs on the towpath and were soon joined by a lovely couple of passers by from Bristol - Ros & Mike. They told us they'd seen us coming through Saul Junction and that we looked perfectly competent. Looks can be deceiving! They shared a nice cold bottle of Rose with us and left at 7pm - time for tea. Fitted in a towpath walk before bed.
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| Saul swing bridge |
Wednesday 31st July 2013 - Shepherds Patch
We spent nearly all day at the Wetland Centre, it is like a zoo for birds! Very good and well worth a visit - we particularly loved the otters and whistling ducks! Something for all the family. Later on we paid a quick visit to Frampton and had a pint in the Bell Inn before a shop at Tesco in Cam. Later had meal at the Tudor Arms. The weather has been warm, breezy with squally showers and rather overcast. Forecast for tomorrow is 29 deg C!
Tuesday 30th July 2013 - Shepherds Patch
Colin met up with Bill again to play golf at Gloucester Golf Club. The day started off dull, but soon turned into a lovely hot summers day. Anne spent the day on Ceilidh doing work (work?) then cooked tea again for C&B. He left for Watford about 7pm.
26th July 2013 - Ceilidh at Shepherd Patch, Ken and Annie back to Fleet
Left for train at 9.30am. Taxi took us to the station, which is unmanned with no ticket office but an imposing ticket machine. It wouldnt let us buy two tickets in the same transaction and required them one at a time! Got the first ticket out fine, took our money for the second ticket but came up with the message "Cannot print ticket, please refer to ticket office" There was a 'help' button which was clearly routed via Mumbai. Once through the language barrier we were told we would have to buy a ticket on the train (hence paying three times!). Wait a moment the help line said and I will give you a reference number...... Brrrrrrrrrrrrr and we were cut off. Tried not to loose it, as we had only just set off.... Anyway it got sorted.
Good trip back to Fleet. Loaded up kit for camp, followed by a great scout camp.
Good trip back to Fleet. Loaded up kit for camp, followed by a great scout camp.
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| Scout Camp at Tolmers, Cuffley, Hertfordshire |
25th July 2013 - Remained at Shepherds Patch
Had the bikes off on the towpath fixing punctures. Bicycles and towpaths definitely do not mix. Caught up on emails and blog. Eating all the leftovers and short life food on the boat as we are off tomorrow for a week.
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| As a ship canal, the Gloucester and Sharpness has much more interesting craft passing through |
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