We got home on Thursday evening and next morning it was raining, that’s what I call good planning.
A year ago I read a book about someone who bought a canal boat, it was not a great read (unlike “It will Never Catch on” available on Kindle now) but it did mention on several occasions the bacon butties at a cafe called Gongoozlers Rest which is based on a canal boat at Braunston so this was our luxury for the last day and it did not disappoint. A full English for Gill and an extra large full English for me, wonderful despite having to be served on polystyrene due to covid.
That was after we had descended the last seven locks of the holiday, driven through the longest tunnel (2000 yards) and spotted the only cygnets of the holiday. It seems ducks breed earlier than swans.
We handed the boat back and then set off on a frustratingly long drive home due to accidents on the motorway.
Thoughts on the holiday? It was great to be out and about doing something rather than stuck at home. The dry weather was a plus, we did not imagine when we booked that we would not have a wet day, it could have rained continuously. Obviously it would have been better had we been able to eat in the warmth of cosy pubs and restaurants and visit museums and churches but we knew that was going to be the case before we booked.
The variety of the waterways was a bit of a surprise, we expected the Trent and Mersey canal and the river Trent would be a little different because of their size but each of the other canals had their own characters and the River Soar was great. Talking to the owner of Napton Narrowboats apparently the water levels in the Soar can change considerably and they have had customers stranded but we had no such issues, no danger of flooding when it does not rain.
My guess is that the summer on the canals will be mayhem, what with staycationers as well as every private boat owner wanting to get out as soon as it warms up the queues for locks will be horrendous, it was noticeable that there were many more boats about by the last few days of the holiday.
How times have changed, I only made one cash transaction throughout the holiday, I started with £30 in cash and still have £18 and on returning home there were only three letters awaiting us (apart from the electioneering leaflets of course).
So another good holiday, we will probably have another canal holiday next year, hopefully by then the pubs will be open.