Swan Upping at Reading

Swan Upping

We watched the swan upper boats gathering together.  Getting close to a swan is not enticing as Geoff will attest to.  One poked its head through our swan doors yesterday and bit his finger!   Is that why we call them swan doors I wonder.

Thursday we carried on down to Sonning and moored just above the lock.

en route we passed a load of children learning to paddle a dragon boat.

There were a crowd on the shore awaiting their turn
What great fun for them all

I was collected later by Giles to go and see a performance that Finley (9) was in.  What a fantastic show.  I had visions of an amateur production and nothing could have been further from the truth.  It was held in the theatre in Didcot and was a fantastic performance and extremely professional.

We did manage to spot Fin in his two scenes.  The costumes and the choreography were wonderful and I thoroughly enjoyed it.   Later Giles dropped me back at Petroc which involved a short walk down the towpath in the dark.. Luckily he walked down with me and saw me safely on the boat.  Geoff had obligingly left the front flap of the cratch up but no lights on and both he and Barney were fast asleep and neither would have known if I hadn`t made it back safely or not!!

Total distance:2.60 miles Elapsed time:0h55m23s
Locks:1Bridges:1 
Average speed:2.82 mph (3.90 lock/mph) 

Onward to Henley tomorrow for the weekend.