COWROAST CHRONICLE
Another wet week but better than of recent. Less than an inch of rain some days.The weather seems content with short sharp heavy showers rather than the permanent deluge of the last three months.
For a couple of days it was almost like Spring and now the snowdrops and daffodils are making serious attempts to display. Looks like Roy and Annie on Panther are first in the daffodil stakes.Though I wouldn't trust him not to poke a couple of plastic ones in the ground.

The ducks, swans, geese and anything else that flies and fornicates round here are going through their pre-coital routines spending more time spooning in the woods than floating on either the canal or our lovely  new lido. I love the way the ducks, in their own duckish way, can manage to look embarrassed when one walks past their courting.

Bloody men! i'm staying up here till you calm down

The first steps......not sure what they are planning but then ...life is a pair of ducks isn't it

We have geese, a pair-and I'm told that's all that's needed-at Cowroast for the first time for quite a while. They are by far the noisiest inhabitants of our commune honking away for no good reason. They probably do have a reason but it aint obvious to this mere mortal.The ducks will nest anywhere and the geese have yet to decide.But I'm watching them....I know how territorial geese can be. Years ago there were a pair on the towpath in Berkhamsted between the Crystal Palace and Boat pubs. If they got their dander up, or should that be gander up, then you had to walk down the parallel road rather than get attacked. I know from personal, painful experience that swans and geese when they are in a bad mood go straight for the nadgers.
We've also got rabbits on the mooring which would suggest that the mink isn't about-yet. Mind you this old boy that I saw on the path on Monday didn't look too fit or spritely.

I looked up red eyes in rabbits on the web and apparently they get conjunctivitis like ooomans and one of the causes is depression! So we're going to have a Happy Bunny campaign the form of which is yet to be decided. All suggestions welcome-perhaps I can get a grant from the local burrow council

 Oh and I took this picture of a kingfisher in Wigginton of which more later.

All alone

Every year I promise myself I'm going to harry the appropriate authorities about the various cables that cross over the canal by the lock. In the past we've lost swans and geese who haven't seen the wires and finish up brown bread. We need some straps or coils or something to warn the incoming birds. Blow me down I'd not long written the above and all the lights went out. All over Cowroast-even the BMW garage. (at least that will give Johnny Bosch a taste of what we had in the Blitz) The cause? A power outage caused by a swan flying into one of the aforesaid cables! The RSPCA have taken the swan away so hope they can get it back to full health.In the meantime its mate pines.
If I hear anymore I'll let you know.

The canal is still very full of water (what else?) and I keep fancying a spin down to Bulbourne. Independence loves deep water but whenever we have a half decent day I'm elsewhere. Took a fill of diesel from the Coalboat "Towcester" on Saturday so I'm fuelled up for heating for another month. By which time we should have broken the back of what has been a soggy rather than cold Winter. Mind you it's not just the canal that's full-the back road to Northcott is swamped and closed. And that's my rat run to the pub at Northchurch.





Now the wind has calmed down and the trees look less threatening Mike on Albion Mills has returned to his mooring.

I've just realised my Boat Safety Certificate is due for renewal in May. Where did that 4 years go? When the scheme first came in it cost 35 quid -now I'm looking at just under 200. And I bet the examiner isn't making a fortune out of it. So I must get a date booked in and do a list of things necessary to pass. They have changed the rules again particularly on gas, but I don't mind because a poor gas installation is a fairly speedy way into the Great Marina in the Sky.


The BSC is due at the same time as the MOT on the car. Nice cheap month there then.

OTHER BOATYBITS
Ady is still toying with buying a boat and we went to look at a few last week. Nothing appealed and driving back I was thinking that in all the years I've been looking at boats for sale I am always surprised how little effort brokerages put into dazzing the boat up. Indeed they almost seem to be saying we don't care if you buy it or not. Every one of the four boats we viewed last week had stuff lying about-bits of redundant plumbing, sealant, mucky basins, shower trays ,shelves, cookers. Now I know my boat looks like that all the time but when I sell her I'd like to think I'd daz her up a bit.
If you visit a second hand car dealer in the worst part of town there will be clear evidence of an attempt to smarten the cars up. I know it's mainly cosmetic but people wanting to sell a boat must realise first impressions count for a lot and brokers are taking enough commission to warrant more effort.A boat is a big investment and if it looks like someone just got off it and couldn't be bothered to tidy up then you look elsewhere. Rant over.

As a bit of light relief you might enjoy this video. It is of the Pontcyssillte Aquaduct which I crossed in Independence back in September

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Zj1vXds7RgU

Bits and Bobs

My last post showed Ollie modelling one of the excellent aprons made by SEAMS. (Still a couple available) Here you see him modelling a paramedic's stretcher having come a cropper sur la piste. I don't know the French for clumsy bugger but his knee is repairing nicely thank you. Good luck Ollie-looking forward to a Phantome Vasseau dans L'Agneau..

Caz's birthday approaches so as part of the pre-birthday warm-up we went to the Greyhound at Wigginton for Sunday lunch and very good it was too

As were the photos of the kingfisher on the wall (see above hee hee)

 In the evening Battlecat helped out with the crossword. He's very good at the one across question which does rather get one down........


Talking of getting one down I fear I have no progress to report on the Chilli Challenge. Despite conditions akin to the Hothouse at Kew , frequent inspection, prayers being offered to St Omiass, the patron saint of chillis and no end of advice from people who don't know their oboe from their brass I have no progeny. The Facebook reporting progress

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chilli-Challenge-2014/1446548205577797

has had its first "germination" report (Two world wars, One World Cup and innumerable penalty shoots-out and the German Nation still give us grief) but here on Independence no signs of growth. A waiting game......I still think my seeds might have been tampered with....or my compost....or my seed tray. Hmmmmm.

The Marco Polo on which I soon set sail is currently on a cruise of Norwegion Fiords. From my previous post or, more likely, from the newspapers you will be aware that a man died following an incident in the English Channel involving a freak wave which smashed windows in the ship's Waldorf Restaurant. His widow has complained that the ship is poorly maintained and to be fair she is entitled to be a bit miffed. However, I could not avoid a wry smile on hearing the the owners had offered her 25% off her next cruise which, in the unlikely event she will wish to  travel in that particular vessel again, she will still be worse off as she will now have to pay the single person supplement. Apparently everybody on that trip got the same offer before the wave hit but as the Times pointed out the following day "this was because of a norovirus  outbreak earlier in the cruise"
I'm really looking forward to the trip!

 I know black cats are meant to be lucky but what about black sheep. I came across these three when walking round College Lake, Bulbourne.
Presumably there are three families somewhere missing a ne'erdowell.......I might take one on board Marco Polo with me if they are lucky. I might also take the man that's doing my Safety Certificate for Independence as well.....and my flares....

A Week of Variable Fortune

The whelming response to my last post indicates that the wok is clearly everybodys'  favourite cooking utensil.  There was also inconsiderable interest in the success of my fish pie. Well, astoundingly good thank.you. Apart from a midweek defeat of Fulham by the nauseous Liverpool (penalty in extra time) the week has been good. It started with a trip to the Rex Cinema in Berkhamsted, always a treat, to see La Bellenza (art house film about Roman high life) and to keep the Italian theme going a meal at Carluccio's-mushroom pasta-very good.
The weather is dominating the headlines and apart from a pleasant Thursday and a gorgeous Sunday we continue to be battered by wind and rain. As I look out of my porthole the rain is horizontal and the ducks are being blown backwards. Bits are falling off the trees and the aeriel just flew over Toddington Services on the M

Not a kingfisher-a plastic bag-but easier to photograph

SCLINCA
We have kingfishers on the mooring and I've developed a foolproof system called SCLINCA  for seeing them at their best. It is a system I have evolved over many weeks and by using my powers of observation and deduction.

Here's one I took earlier-last year.

SCLINCA stands for "sodding camera left in car again" and so if you too want to see a 'king kingfisher just make sure you don't have a camera with you and lo! They will display their plumage like a model strutting the catwalk, dive, catch fish, perform aerial acrobatics, give you two verses of Eskimo Nell and engage in a discourse on Hobbes's Leviathan.
Take your camera and you'll see empty branches till your eyes fall out.

A Criminal Record
Talking of cameras I have to advise the more delicate of you that I am now a convicted felon. A rogue, a villain, a threat to society, a scoundrel. I abase myself. I am detestable amongst men. I am lower than a snake to be crushed underfoot by the might of the Thames Valley Constabulary. Twenty years of perfect driving and sixty seven years as a an upright, clean living and wholesome human being. All for nought. My life is in tatters and my reputation destroyed. All because I drove at 35 mph (allegedly) through the miserable cesspit that is Aldermaston. I am, of course, innocent as charged. Everyone who has ever driven with me knows me to be slower than a germinating chilli seed..................... The charge is surely some conspiracy to break my spirit and dissuade me from  my wish to become Queen, an aspiration in which many of my best friends support me.But I must be brave. I have not sat twice through Les Miserables not to know the dignity of the wrongly convicted hero. My time will come. But not in Aldermaston, a place which until the day of the alleged offence featured nowhere in my life. I was aware that during the Aldermaston Marches in the 60s to "Ban the Bomb" Ady had striven for world peace by emptying the lavender buckets at the start of the march. A fact not marked anywhere by the Aldermasturbatians in their miserable town. No plaque to the great heroic shitshifter of a bygone age. A time when an Englishman could not be criminalised on the click of a camera nor tried and gulagged in his absence.
A time when the Thames Valley Police would have been directing all their resources to the fact that their manor and its inhabitants were being washed away by the current great deluge. Instead they send a highly paid rozzer to Aldermaston to take the film out of a sneakily concealed camera, bought, no doubt, second hand from the KGB;  take said film to Boots, requesting at the ratepayers' expense for the One Hour Service and returning to his bunker via his Aunty Dolly's where he shared his glee at having nailed the man who would be Queen.
" Look Aunty, remember that nutter who wants to be queen-well we've got him stitched up here with the irrefutable evidence of an iffy Russian Leica tied to a lampost in Aldermaston. Better than that Mitchell geezer on his bike in Downing Street. This blokes got no mates in high places to get him off. Her Majesty and Prince Jug Ears are safe for another Garden Party or two."
Nay bother I'll pay the fine and do my time knowing that God at this very moment is sending a tsunami of Biblical proportions in the direction of Banbury nick where Dolly's nephew sits unaware of the judgement heading up the M40 at a speed far in excess of 35knots. And the bastard wont have the option of a Tsunami Awareness course either. Hee hee.

Life goes on and so do I. and on and on and on.

The Berko Chilli Challenge

My thoughts turn to chilli
Or rather to the Berko Chilli Challenge.
I have the seeds and the rules. I have the compost and the trays.
The chillies are to be grown from seed and their progress photographed at regular intervals and submitted to the judges. To both germinate and bring on the seed and plants requires a constant warm environment.
That's where my problems start. On a boat, if you aint on it for more than a day then you don't heat it.so all those Berkhamstedians in their centrally heated houses have the advantage of me. At great expense I have decided to retrieve the electric green house heater from the bowels of the shed and fit it up in the middle cabin. I hope I remember to turn it on when the fires aren't lit.

There are 4 types of seed

The Impropagator

Cherry Bomb
Hungarian Hot Wax
Ring of Fire
Numex Big Jim

which taken together sound like a good night out in Naples .

 I'm going for the strangest shape prize-I specialise in rude vegetables.
Seed planting is under way both on board and at Pam's (who is another competitor)and I've already sussed out some of the other entrants to get a feel for how they will perform under pressure.
There's Janice and John who are the main movers and shakers in organising-and judging-the competition and having won the sunflower competition last year obviously know what they are at in matters horticultural.
They have also supplied the seeds but one can buy one's own as well and whilst some people can get quite paranoid about such things I would not suggest for one moment that the seeds supplied by the organisers might have been , say soaked in  alcohol to render them impotent. It worked on me.
Then there's Pam-a formidable opponent as I know and one who not only has considerable gardening skills in her own right but also has a sister, Tricia, in Leeds who often phones the local Radio Leeds Gardening Programme for specialist info. I suspect I am battling the Yorkshire Mafia here.I am also concerned in that in one of my attempts to please I let her have first fill from the bag of compost. Could the remaining soil be tampered with? Is there a chilli weevil? You never know.

I met follickly-challenged John from Northchurch the other night and was heartened to discover that his level of competence is not promising in that he had failed the simple inititative test of taking delivery of the seeds, rules and growing instuctions. Assuming them to be junk mail and failing to notice the giveaway telltale sign of a picture of a chilli on the outside of the envelope he cast it aside. No worries there then.

Hmmm? I wonder what this contains.....

Solicitor John is also in the a Chillithon and I suspect that he has a greenhouse although I was unable, due to Lambago, to scale his garden wall the other night to find out. Probably as well because I am told he has a pack of killer cats in his garden to deter such spying. And then there's Ted. He has already let slip that he has a greenhouse and as he lives at the posh end of Berko he can probably afford to heat it to the type of temperature found in a chilli's homeland.

More Chillifest news anon.
 
Valentines Night  very pleasant evening with Pam, Natalie and Joseph in the Pizza Express where I took a "selfie" though as I used the mirror to do it it's more of an "eifles"



The Marco Polo
It's 12.30 on Saturday morning. The storm is raging and the boat heaving from side to side. Marvelous.
I wont go to bed yet as I am enjoying the ride.
There was a mixture of news on the midnight bulletin.

We've won Gold  on the bobsleigh thingy for girls.Amazing and well done.
The noxious Miers P Organ is in custody for phone hacking-wonderful-can we bring back ritual disemboweling?
Sir Tom Finney is dead. He was a great gentleman and sportsman and magnificent footballer. We will not seen his kind again. Very sad.
Fulham have sacked their manager-why?-and replaced him with a German, Magath! My patience is sorely tested. I fear we are panicking too late.
The Cruise ship Marco Polo is struck by a freak wave mid Channel, smashing through the restaurant window and a passenger has died. My enthusiasm for the forthcoming trip on board the aforesaid vessel is waning. I now see they have changed the itinerary for my trip so we no longer stay at Antwerp but at Zeebrugge on the last night. Presumably Zeebrugge has a double-glazing firm dockside and Antwerp doesn't.

Independence rocks and rolls all night long and in the morning the mooring has chimneys, branches, wheelbarrows,buckets all in places where they weren't last night.
The partner of the tree that came down a fortnight ago has developed a serious lean towards the canal so Max and Lesley have moved off their moorings before they get a trunk call.

The tree has a definite list to port so Max and Lesley move off their mooring

The Cowroast Lido between the moorings and the road continues to expand and is attracting gulls, ducks and swans. Presumably when it floods the road/the mooring/Surrey somebody will do some drainage maintenance and delido it.

Now we have a second tree at the other end of the moorings which is on the at risk register. CaRT are attending this afternoon in the form of three fellers who are tree fellers.
The tree at the far end is speedily despatched .Unfortunately it is speedily despatched on to an adjacent meter cupboard so CaRT are in the cart.


 Sunday brings the best day for ages and Pam and I have a walk round Wendover Woods which looks wonderful in the sunshine even though like us on the mooring they have had a few tree casualties.

Pam next to a fallen Pine

 The Pine seems particularly prone to falling down syndrome which is worrying in that I have two on the mooring that could take shed, boat and germinating chilli seeds out at one fell swoop.

Silver Birch don't seem so prone to being prone

                                                          


Going                                              

Going

Going

Gone!

OOOOOPS!

                                        










Until next time dear friends.....
                                         It's goodbye from me.........

                                                                           
                                                And it's goodbye from Battlecat     

A question for you. If you were to be stranded on a desert island which one item of cooking equipment would you take with you?
My ample and curvaceous form would suggest I would probably opt for the bread maker or the chip fryer but nay.
The Wok.
A most wonderful tool which can cope with most foods at short notice. A boon to the washer-up and a very handy thing to hang on a boat wall;  instantly to hand should burglar, inflamed spouse or grizzly bear  give cause for concern.
As I have nothing to burgle, have no errant (extant or potential) spouse nor am I likely to come face to face (or to be more correct-face to disappearing arse) with a Grizzly my choice is mainly culinary. My recent success in the kitchen for the Chinese New Year has confirmed it is the must have tool for the unskilled amateur.

My Chilli Prawn stir fry-bliss.

But what would you save?

Truth be it is less likely you will be stranded on a desert island but rather on piece of soggy southern Surrey surrounded by water. This really is getting past a joke with Berkhamsted featuring on the news last Friday as the wettest place in Britain. How dare God, the elements, the odious Eric Pickles allow such to happen to a town so chock full of perfect people ? One gob is well and truly smacked. The cheek of it. Here in lowly Cowroast the foul weather continues unabated with great hardship being borne by the peasantry living hereabouts. I for one have twice had my satellite dish blown off signal in the middle of The Voice and once off the roof altogether during Songs of Praise. Blasphemy.
Yet no assistance forthcoming from the likes of Pickles, no visit from the Environment Agency to offer comfort , tea, money. We soldier on ever aware of the plight of others even more sub aqua than Cowroast Sur Mer  struggling with what I hear on my crackly wireless to be a "shortage of fresh handbags"

 A stroll around the Reservoirs at Marsworth last weekend showed how matters have changed over the last two years. When I say a stroll I am not being truthful. We were blown round the reservoir at a rate of knots previously unmeasured in Buckinghamshire.Two years ago we had no water. Even in the Winter we  here in Cowroast were sans d'leau. Navigation was closed and as the picture below shows the reservoir was empty (apart from two girls and a dog). Methinks we did complain too much. Last weekend the reservoir was lapping over the bank between it and the canal with waves driven by the wind which would not have looked out of place on the beach at Tenby.

Believe it or not the picture above is insufficiently focused to show that there is, in fact, under those trees a fisherman.  I thought we were barmy just going for a walk, albeit short. But to sit there for hours in the rain and wind to catch something which you will not eat........eh?

So no water shortage. Instead navigation is closed because of too much water.
The canalside cottages at Cowroast Lock have been flooded in their cellars by water from the marina overtopping and coming through their gardens.The towpath is impassable (which is how Berkhamstedians pronounce "impossible") and there's more to come. Plus the cheerful buggers are talking snow. What to do.  I know have a cuppa and I'll cook some sausages for a roll. I'll use the wok of course.


 The following is the advice posted on 7th Jan 2012

From next Tuesday the Tring summit will be closed between
locks 39 and 49.

The Tring reservoirs are extremely low and the Cowroast
borehole is reaching the limit that can legally be extracted.

The net weekly loss of water from the summit is 61
megalitres - the equivalent of 220 lockfuls

This water loss is huge and it is not the result of either
lock usage (last week there were only 17 lockages) or leaking
lock gates but of what the BW hydrologist calls "soil
moisture deficit".

The prolonged drought conditions have lowered the water table
so far that the dry ground is absorbing water from the canal.

By lowering the summit by 300mm this loss of water will be
minimized.

The plan is to put stop planks in at New Ground Bridge just
north of Cowroast. This will mean that the level in Cowroast Marina
will be maintained but the rest of the summit will be
lowered. 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Canal and River Trust have been working on Cowroast Lock today. Seems to be a sort of patch and repair job rather than replace anything knackered. A couple of boats-including some poor sods on a hire boat-have gone through but the day is such that nobody fancies moving. It's the wind that puts most boaters off.

The forecast is dire and now the Thames Valley is increasingly becoming the Thames River the political bullshit has been ratcheted up noticeably Too late I fear but they seem prepared to throw money at the problem now but as soon as the rain eases and the levels drop we'll be back to low maintenance and "we're all in it together" nonsense.
Here's an idea 

Cancel HS2 and spend the money on flood defences-a petition you might wish to sign.

   http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/60378

 Wednesday 12th Feb. Just arrived at boat-wind and rain really giving it everything-sat inside listening to the trees creak. We've had one down-who's next I wonder sincerely hoping it aint yours truly. The poor old hire boat that went through yesterday is back moored above the lock. I would think in the history of narrowboat hiring nobody has ever had a worse week of weather than this poor sod. We saw him at Marsworth on Saturday by the ex White Lion pub while the wind blew Marsworth half a mile closer to Dunstable. Then yesterday above the lock at Cowroast heading south and now on his way nack Wyvern Shipping, the hire company, should give him a medal.

Meanwhile I am cooking Fish Pie for Pam and I this evening. It takes your mind off the weather although it's a long while since I had to take the heeling of the boat into consideration when moving pots of boiling water.. Not too sure how to transport the fish pie from boat to Berkhamsted in its uncooked form-could be fun in this wind walking bent double up the mooring sliding in the mud and keeping a brimming pot safe. But it's an oblong dish which should sit nicely in my carrier bag. I'm fine with oblong dishes but for preference would rather the dishes for my pie are squared. Ho ho ho. You didn't see that one coming.

Time to mash the potatoes and start thinking about the forthcoming CHILLI CHALLENGE.

 Chilli Challenge! ? What's that I hear you cry. Well I'll save it till next time. Suffice to say that Janice and John, friends from the Lamb, won the Berko Sunflower Challenge in '13 and thus are entitled to choose and organise the challenge for '14. They've chosen the chilli and on Sunday evening last whilst rejoicing over Fulham's magnificent 2-2 draw at Old Trafford I heard the envelopes drop through the door containing the seeds, instructions and rules. When I have assimilated them I will tell you more. I am already making plans as the contents of my Homebase trolley shows. Let Battle Commence.

There's Only One "F" in Fulham!


Talking of people less fortunate avid reader will recall that I was selling bags and aprons on behalf of SEAMS. They are situate in Gulu, Uganda which Pam visited last year.More about them on the right of this post.
Well I'm pleased to report that all the bags are sold but there are a few aprons left so don't forget it's only 314 days till Christmas (if you're reading this on Thursday 13th) and  would be the perfect gift for the cook in your life. Of course you do need the figure to carry it off and here's our model  Michelle wearing one whilst assisting in the making of the latest batch of marmalade. Irresistible. (The marmalade-not Michelle)

ONLY 13 POUNDS
 EACH
Bargain!

Whilst we are on the subject of aprons-here's the equally gorgeous Olivia modelling one in the Alps. I know there's a joke there somewhere about yodeling and modelling but maybe another time. Ollie is cooking in his chalet and very smart too.And as tidy as one would expect.

Until next time with news of a windswept canal, a sodden towpath and a Chilli Challenge.

中国新年快乐

Isn't he lovely!

Annie looks coolie in her blue Chinese shirt

Loy rooks Loyish

Impersonation of a lampshade

 And a very Happy Chinese New Year it was. We feasted well  with Annie and Roy and Carrie and Mac aboard Independence. 


Ady was meant to be there but his  bad back prevented his attendance which was a shame cos though I say it myself the grub was excellent. Mac kindly prepared sushi which was tickety boo* and a first for some of us.
(* from the Hindi phrase Tikai Babu meaning "all right sir.")

 

 

Additionally there was prawn toast, spring rolls and prawn wonton. This was followed by Prawn and Ginger stir fry, Chicken and Oyster Mushroom in Oyster sauce and Salmon glazed in Honey and Soy Sauce all devoured with egg rice by Roy and Lychees by Annie. A moderate amount of sparkling Rose and Chinese beer helped the evening along nicely. Annie's mum, Catherine, had kindly sent some Chinese paintings she had done for us to choose which added nicely to the evening.There are some clever people around-I'm not one of them.

All accompanied by fireworks. Such fun!

 

Mac's Sushi served with Dark Soy or Wasabi

A few Chinese Lanterns make Independence look suitably Oriental

Ready for the off with stainless steel chop sticks in abundance

All looks very homely

Carrie, as always, knows when the camera is out

Chinese paintings for all. Mac complained that his full luscious form was obscured by somebody so we had to do it again

My two paintings. Not sure how to frame but will ask my man in Berko market who has a doctorate in frameology.

That's better

More Fireworks!

Sunday, 2nd February and it's not raining! In fact it is a lovely day. The daffodils are pushing their little heads out and we have a new visitor.
This young swan has taken up residence at Cowroast and like generations of swans before has taken special interest in the area by the entrance gate which up until a couple of years bach had to be fenced off to allow nesting whilst letting the moorers gain access

Sunday was the first day for ages when it didn't rain and Pam and I were able to go for a walk in Ashridge-quite soggy in places but most enjoyable.

We met a hippo!

and saw some marvelous moss

and got a little lost

and had some chocolate

  All very enjoyable followed by a roast duck dinner.

Monday and it's back with a vengeance-the rain and the wind are persistent. The boat rocks  and the trees sway. The towpath is unusable in many places and the walking boots are losing the will to live.The forecast is unpromising especially in the west of the Country which is where I am headed tomorrow. Deep joy.

To Devizes to look at boats. Ady has taken leave of his senses and is thinking of buying one. The drive down is very wet and windy with lots of incidents on the M3. Across Salisbury Plain was more like the Lake District and the River Kennet was in full spate. Ady looked at 4 boats and at least has some idea of what his money will buy.

Oooh look, Miranda, Lunch!

Don't do it Ady-buy a caravan

To Bradford on Avon for the night. We are booked into the Swan Hotel which is very good value for money with an excellent salmon and scrambled eggs for breakfast. Superb. Unfortunately the cellar had recently been flooded (can't think why) and the beer was off but we found the Dandy Lion opposite were able to meeet our needs. This is Wadsworth Country and the 6X was very good. All 36Xs of it.

The river at Bradford on Avon-not a lot of space left

The Swan Hotel, Bradford on Avon-good hotel, lovely town

A wet drive home plus I got flashed by a camera doing in a 30 zone-bugger-in Aldermarston. 

Wont go there again.

 

 

 

 

In full spate it heads off to Bristol

 

 

 

 

 

  Back at Cowroast the weather gets very nasty with torrential rain throughout the night. In the morning the field behind the moorings has filled up nicely as has the canal

The opposite bank

The new Cowroast Lido

Snowdrops!! Great to see.

Cowroast Lock approach-brimful

The pound is so high the water is over-topping the marina slipway and running down the road to Berkhamsted

Ooo er never seen that happen on the Summit before

Reports are coming in that navigation has been stopped between Marsworth and Stoke Bruerne and that the road to Leighton Buzzard is closed due to flooding. Two years ago the Tring Summit was closed in the Winter and Spring for want of water-that'll teach us to complain

Some respite on Saturday (8th) morning but wind and rain forecast. Perhaps the weather will hold off long enough for a walk somewhere dry but before that I might as well publish this soggyblog