Aldermaston (time for friends)

I mentioned in the last blog update that we really needed to start catching up with friends before returning to France, so we have now begun a concerted effort.  I have to admit we’ve still been popping into Reading to see Ellis on most days though.  We are both beginning to realise how difficult it’s going to be not seeing him for a few months before we return for our annual family camping trip in August.  We are secretly hoping that Lauren will bring him out to see us on the boat before then 😉 

Pam & Charles also live in Reading and we finally met up with them one afternoon.  I say finally because we have been in touch many times over the last couple of years but always by phone or electronically.  They moved their widebeam to France over ten years ago and returned to the UK and sold their boat a couple of seasons ago.  Because of their length of experience over on the mainland and also their willingness to share, they became brilliant reference points for us during our planning.  Many other boaters we have met have also taken advantage of their knowledge and experience too.  They are the sort of people that make the simplest or naivest question feel important and never talk down to you unlike some people who seem to know everything and want to let you know it.  So, thank you Pam & Charles for your help in the past and hosting us in your home last week.

As I have often mentioned, we have been stuck on a cut between two river sections since borrowing Ceilidh at the end of December.  Luckily, we have a water point and a pump out station in the same section and with so much wet weather around we always make sure we are facing in the right direction ready for the next trip. When we returned from filling up with water a week or so ago we couldn’t turn around as the river flow at the turning point was too high.  The water levels started dropping and we were able to turn on the Thursday before the storm arrived.  When we returned from spinning around, we decided to moor next to Steve & Tina as there were fewer large trees around them, compared with where we were previously moored, so we would feel a bit safer during the strong winds.

Heading for the river section to turn

We’re now moored behind Steve & Tina’s fat boat rather than a few boat lengths farther up

That evening we went around to Steve & Tina’s for curry and drinks.  Steve seemed to be particularly impressed with the curry Karen had made as it was a lot hotter than those they usually have because Tina is not so keen on hot curries.  The following day we met  Maureen & Ali at the Butt for lunch and had a good catch up; hopefully we will be meeting up with Maureen in France this year as she and Garry have a home in Metz and plan to be there when we’re travelling through.

Storm Dennis arrived on Saturday, the day I was meeting my youngest son, Jake, at Southampton for football.  We were half expecting the match to be postponed and the weather was indeed terrible, probably more so than at Aldermaston as it’s a coastal city.  I suspect the main reason it went ahead was becuase it was being televised.  As usual we played well in the first half and gave up in the second as seems to be the way with home matches lately.  After watching yet another loss we both had very slow journeys home because the trains were badly affected by the weather.

On Sunday we met up with my eldest son, Chris, and his fiancée, Cee, for lunch.  It’s been a while since we had last seen Chris, so we had a lot to catch up on and it was also good to meet Cee for the first time.

Monday was to be our last quiet day; our last day on our own before heading back to Châlons. During the morning we walked up to Woolhampton which is in the opposite direction to that which we usually walk.  It wasn’t long before we joined the river section and the flooded fields and woods.  Fortunately, the towpath was generally high and therefore not flooded.  There were just a few places where it was lower and we had to walk through the water running across our path.

The River Kennet has escaped into the woods

There is a lock and a swing bridge at Woolhampton, both of which are notorious and can be difficult to negotiate even in summer conditions.  The bridge is downstream of the lock and it can be very tricky trying to moor between the two in order to operate the bridge.  Because of this it is recommended that the bridge is swung open before leaving the lock.  This does mean road traffic is held up a little longer but at least it is safer.  Saying that, I can remember a couple of occasions coming through when I haven’t really felt in control and definitely wouldn’t have been able to stop and would have hurtled straight into the bridge if it hadn't been open already.

Lock to the left and the bridge behind us

The river is coming out to the left of the lock and you can see that going upstream would also be difficult in a strong current.  The current pushes boats across to the right when they are trying to get into the lock – hence all the tyres on the side of the permanently moored boat.

Although it wasn’t forecast, it started raining while we were at Woolhampton so we popped into the Rowbarge for a drink.  It used to be a favourite of ours when we cruised the area especially as it was dog friendly.

Enjoying a pint on Monday lunchtime

We were reminded of an evening at the pub nine years ago when Karen and I went for a meal on my birthday.  Unbeknownst to me, Lauren and her friend Emily, had prearranged with Karen to turn up and surprise me.  They arrived before us and I remember thinking I recognised the girls who were sitting in quite a dark area.  I didn’t feel it was appropriate to stare and it took me quite a while to realise it was my daughter!

Over our drinks we finalised our plans for returning to France and when we got home I booked a crossing for the morning of Monday 2^nd March leaving us with just 13 nights to go.