Gentle start from Thatcham this morning. The mooring there was perfectly OK but strange. Without sound you would have thought you were in the middle of nowhere, but the railway line was very adjacent although hidden by trees so every so over we had a great roar which you don't notice after a while. In addition you could quite clearly hear the platform announcements and also the siren sound of the level crossing every time it shut for another train. The motorists round here must have a fair bit of waiting to do.
Not many boats on the move, we met 2 or 3 going the other way but unfortunately no one to keep us company in the locks. We plan to stay at Newbury for a couple of days. We initially thought we would go up above the lock as we remembered it as a nice mooring, but there was no one in the centre so decided we would try that for a night first.
There is plenty of park area for Barnaby but can't leave him in his favourite position lying on the shore. There are so many people feeding the swans with bread that he wanders off to try and scrounge some! We are just hoping that it will be quieter in the evening when all the children have been taken home to bed, and that they are not replaced by a slightly older drinking generation. Geoff walked up to see the moorings at the top of the lock and they are 24hrs only so a good job we stayed here at least for today.
A surprise visit from our friend Mike Peaker this afternoon which was great.
We have been joined by 3 other narrow boats now, two of which are headed in the same direction as us.
3.55 miles, 5 locks, 2hrs 51min
2 comments:
Thanks to you we are able to watch TV! Currently in Paddington basin & no sat signal, read about your mini aerial so bought one from maplins this afternoon(though we did go mad & got the £14.99 one)& a cheap £17.99 freeview box. Works a treat and Mark is now happily watching Tour De France highlights.
you obviously have a very superior version if you paid £14.99!!!
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