Monday 15 April 2019




COWROAST CHRONIC(le)

Greetings Gentle People and welcome to this Brexit-free Blog.
The good news!!
Spring is here 
The Lamb PH has reopened and the rejoicing is uncontained. Oh hang on it just closed again-a plumbing crisis apparently (I know the problem) but the people running it seem to be doing  good job and it's great to see the old gang dribbling back in (Oooh Matron!) 
The current landlord, Corey, has kindly agreed to fly the flag on St George's Day and sell red rose buttonholes in aid of the Hospice so if you're passing....

STOP PRESS! It's open again. Yippee.

Talking of pubs

The poor old Cowroast Inn remains closed and looking very much the eyesore I predicted a year ago. The "For Sale" signs have come down and we await to hear its fate. Development? Indian Restaurant? Home for Unmarried Boaters? Who knows- but it won't serve as a pub anymore methinks. A tribute to the inadequacy of the capitalist system which allows organisations like Punch to ruin a community facility and then disappear. Disgrace.

Enough despair.
This photo was on FaceBook and was taken by a chap from BMW at Cowroast. I hope he doesn't mind me using it cos it's a great picture and if you screw your eyes up very tight you can see Independence
As I say, Spring is here.





I've even worked a few locks. Roy and his crew, Roger, were bringing Panther back from Watford after some remedial works so I set a few locks for them from Winkwell northwards-nothing too onerous but it's nice to be able to help the aged as they say........on the previous evening I drove to Winkwell to meet up with them . At some stage I collected half a Stop sign. Very strange. No idea why. Must ask Roger. Or Roy. Or Roy Rogers- another cowboy.

Talking of locks, Pam who runs the Health Walks in Berko has one organised in May as part of the Chiltern Walking Festival. This one is called "Unlock the Future" (Joseph's clever title) and apparently will include a talk by me on the history of the locks pictured here-Gas Two as they're known to boaters. Fortunately it's only a 5 minute talk which is a worry because that is twice as long as the limited knowledge I have will take to impart.
Pam enjoys her Mothers' Day gifts
Details of this and many other Festival Walks can be found here



Spring brings with it another annual joy. The MOT on Karen the Kia-bosh- 10 quid short of 600 sobs; about what the car is worth! Along with my speeding fine from Somerset and Avon rozzers and April has been a bugger- I did win £125 on a Hundred Club draw for the local primary school and another 70 on the horses but that i soon eaten up by a car that isn't allowed in London anymore because the powers that be advised us wrongly to buy diesel cars. As is usual the Ps that B are very adept at taking money off you but not so keen when they have mislead a whole nation with duff advice.

Not wishing to get all bitter and twisted about the speeding fine (Oh yes you do) but I see that Somerset & Avon Police are the biggest revenue stealers from speeding fines.Police in the area dealt with nearly 200,000 speeding offences in 2017/18 - 160 times as many offences as Wiltshire, which had the fewest offences at just 1,191.
A speed camera in Taunton has caught out more motorists than any other in Avon and Somerset.
Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show the trigger-happy camera situated on the A358 at Henlade has been the most active.
Guess where I got done? Yup Sodding Henlade. I remember the name but not the camera but from the TBs' point of view this hen laid plentiful golden eggs........

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Enough of my woes....

Easter is here and I hope you all have a pleasant and peaceful weekend-I'm thinking of wearing a name badge that says anyone mentioning the "B" word from Good Friday to Easter Monday will have to donate a quid to the Hospice.

Want one?

 

   BE AWARE!
 MENTION THE “B” WORD IN MY PRESENCE OVER EASTER  AND YOU WILL BE EXPECTED TO DONATE £1 TO THE HOSPICE OF ST FRANCIS








Don't forget it's St George's Day on Tuesday 23rd so wear your red rose and celebrate how lucky we are to have been born and bred in such a blest country.......apart from the speed camera in Henlade of course.
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The Plan is to get some paint on Independence this Spring. The weather forecast for Easter and onwards is promising so it's time to dig out the old clothes (I have no others) and get scraping, sanding, priming, huffing and puffing. Of course before that I have to tidy the mooring and find all the decorating gear and before that I've got work to do inside the boat. Hmmmmm. This calls for a LIST. That'll take a couple of days. Maybe three....any volunteers? I'm bored already.

Peace on you all.
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Pop-up shop, Faversham, Sat 20th April 2019

We are running a little pop-up shop outside our office in Faversham, Kent. Come down and see us for a chat, try on some helmets and get geared up for spring cycling. Here are the details:
Where: Outside the Alexander Centre in Faversham town centre.
When: Sat 20th April, 10am-2pm
Helmet fittings: Get your head measured and find a helmet that looks good and fits well. (We've got helmets for all the family, not just ladies)
Panniers & bags: We pride ourselves on having the best range of stylish panniers and bags. Come down and try before you buy. 
Coats & rainwear: Keep the wind and rain at bay and come and try some of our stylish and practical rainwear. 
Cycling gifts: From cycling soap to cycling pasta, we've got lots of fun gifts and trinkets. 
Grab a bargain: We'll be selling off some old stock with big, tasty discounts of up 50% off. 
Where's Faversham? If you are looking for a little Easter jaunt, Faversham is a very pretty market town near Whitstable in northeast Kent (1 hr from London) and could be just the ticket. My husband and I came to Faversham one Easter weekend and ended up moving here!
There's a great Saturday market and the rather-wonderful Easter Hat Parade is also on in the town that day. So get your bonnets on and come and see us. And check out Saxon Shore if you are pondering a move...
See you there!










I know it's been a while and soooo many of you have asked when will I write another blog. My answer to both of them is here it is. My la...