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| All aboard! Uplander (with Tickety-Boo and crew behind) heading for London |
I have abandoned ship again, just for a few days, and am starting to regret attempting to fit in an entire day's gardening for clients and the planting of my 'Kestrel' second early spuds this evening. Under the circumstances a hot bath is a very tempting prospect, but I dare not get out of the reach of the phone just yet in case there's a 'ship to shore' call to let me know where everyone else is now, and where and when I should rejoin the cruise.
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| 'Braunston Turn', Grand Union Canal |
One of the things I love about narrowboating - on our little Luddite boat, at any rate - is the sense of escaping from the whirl of modern civilisation.
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| Nothing stops for tea - handover of a brew while locking! |
Last week was a particularly good example as I managed to miss all of the hype around the funeral of the not-much-missed-around-here Margaret Hilda Thatcher. Though not always a fan of the man's questionable line in 'comedy', in one episode of 'Mock the Week', Frankie Boyle once came up with a marvellous cost-saving alternative to the lavish state affair we have apparently squndered millions on - that if the Government could merely provide everyone in Scotland with a shovel, they could dig a hole so deep they could hand Mrs T over to the Devil in person! Pure genius; just a shame that Boyle's humour too often becomes Mock the Weak.
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| Blisworth Tunnel. If you thought you could get out of the rain in here, think again! |
I also have no idea who, where or what 'Broadchurch' is. Or was. And don't confuse me with someone who cares, either.
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| Stoke Bruerne. An idyllic village - except there's nowhere to buy bread, milk or stamps! |
The only snag of this retreat from technology is the one I'm now encountering; namely, that the loveliest, quietest, most picturesque overnight moorings generally have completely unreliable 'phone and internet connectivity. While I can usually handle this, it's a nightmare for my friend Chrissie who is attempting to finalise all manner of key PR issues for the very festival we are attending. Despite having the latest smartphone and all manner of electronic wizardry to keep her computer connected, it's a nightly struggle to regain contact with the 21st Century, and one which is often lost. It probably doesn't help that narrowboats are all steel, so to get any signal on a phone usually means going on deck, or holding up against a window.
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| Collision course! |
So, all being well, I'll be rejoining the expedition soon, in time for the journey through London, which I have been looking forward to, since while boating through the spring countryside is extremely pleasant, urban landscapes from canals can be fascinating too. The only problem is - after all that digging today, am I actually going to be up to doing my fair share of lock work?
