Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2000 11:45:14 +0100 From: Ann Harvey Reply-To: Canals To: Canals Subject: Amos's August trip - the homecoming [ The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] FRIDAY 25 AUGUST We woke bright and early to the promise of another hot sunny day. There^Òs a special privilege to seeing the sun set over Tixall and then waking to this beautiful view. We (reluctantly) set off this morning at 8.45 and passed Chris and Pat Kenway^Òs boat ^ÑMerchant^Ò. Had I walked in the other direction looking for wood for the bonfire last night I would have met them. (Sorry I missed you, but you had a narrow escape - you might have had to join our disorderly party instead of enjoying the peace and quiet of the wide.) This morning^Òs trip has been magic, with not a cloud in the sky. At 11.00 am we were passing Stafford BC and an oncoming hireboat got caught by the wind and was blown all over the place. One crew member jumped off onto the bank on the club side with a rope, only to be marooned as his boat backed off to let Koinonia through. This is where I wished I had a video camera as the whole episode was hillarious. We reached the next lock at 11.10 and passed the traffic on the motorway, and the mile long queue waiting to join it, all at a standstill. We arrived at Penkridge pound at 2.00 pm we went off for a couple of drinks in the Boat, then up to the shops. The weather has turned humid making us all very tired. We decided not to carry on any further today. Pat^Òs leg which he hurt earlier in the week is now very swollen and sore. We spent the rest of the afternoon resting on the boats and then walked to the Cross Keys for a meal in the evening. It was a nice meal and well priced. We didn^Òt stay all evening, but went back to Koinonia so that Pat could put his leg up. SATURDAY 26 AUGUST I woke up to rain and a headache (must have been something I ate) so we didn ^Òt move off till 10.30 when the rain had eased. We decided not to have a lunchtime stop and arrived at Compton at 5.00 pm, and moored above the lock under the trees. Penny and I went shopping as Pat^Òs leg was looking bad, and after we got back we had a really dramatic thunderstorm, with the rain bouncing 6 inches off the water. We were all tired after a longish day^Òs boating. SUNDAY 27 AUGUST The rain had gone away and it was a nice sunny morning. We went through Compton lock and took on 95 litres of diesel (£32.+) and had a pumpout (£6) while I listened to The Archers. Koinonia followed onto the boatyard mooring as we left and then at 11.15 we all carried on with the clouds increasing. We arrived at Bratch at approximately 1.30 and it was 2.35 when we entered the top chamber and we left the bottom one at 2.50 pm, then we moored below Bumblehole lock at 3.30 pm. Pat^Òs leg has been rested as much as possible today with Penny steering when not locking, but his foot is now swollen. We made do with the Round Oak that night, as Pat couldn^Òt possibly have made it up the hill to the Mount Pleasant, which we prefer. We had a couple of drinks in there and then back to Amos for G & Ts, cheese and biscuits and dominoes and to plan next year^Òs cruise. MONDAY 28 AUGUST My daughter phoned to say that they will come to Ashwood and then walk from the Navigation up the canal towpath to meet us, hoping to burn off some of the children^Òs energy before they get onto the boat. We cast off at 10.10 am. The rain has now gone and it^Òs a nice sunny morning with a slight breeze. We made quite good progress, helping each other through locks, so when we got to Swindon I went back and reset the lock and opened the gate for Koinonia, which was just in Marsh lock. As I came down from the lock and under the road, my grandson was running along the towpath, followed by my granddaughter, daughter and son-in-law. Once they were aboard we had a sunshower as I worked Hinksford lock, but it was soon over and we had an enjoyable ride back. We stopped at Greensforge to water up both boats and tip the rubbish. I got soaked as I tried to turn off the water ^Ö which promptly shot out of the other tap, and I was right in line. After mooring up the children were introduced to the ritual of cleaning brass, Ben on the roof and Kathryn on the portholes, then we all went into the club for a well-earned drink. We discovered that it is Pat^Òs birthday next Sunday, and he proposes to celebrate on Saturday night. There is a 70^Ò s night booked and I have an idea to surprise Pat and entertain the club. The family then left and we set about packing up and cleaning the boat before we too went home. POSTSCRIPT SATURDAY 2 SEPTEMBER The planned 70^Òs night in the club is supplemented by a ^ÑThis is your Life^Ò for Patrick. I have communicated by phone and email with various members of the club, written a script and gathered props (wigs, dresses, leathers and whip, basque) during the week. It was an enormous success and Pat was very surprised but carried it off well. A video was made and I am promised a loan of it and will try to do a copy for ourselves. Unfortunately the flash on my camera has decided not to work so I will have to rely on others to take photos. There was an American Supper, and club members supplied and played the music. Ken and I did Irish Bingo and Diane and I sold the raffle tickets. Prizes were supplied by them and by the club. There were some wrapped ^Ómystery^Ô prizes, (probably bought at an Ann Summers party) which they insisted were opened on the spot. ---