Thursday 21st May, Rushey
‘But Scientists, who ought to know,Assure us that is must be so...’
Hillaire Belloc, when writing the above, could have been thinking of the weather forecast on Radio 4 this morning. The broadcast was a classic and had Myra and myself laughing out loud. The forecaster’s exact words were ‘There is a lot of weather about today’.
We were reassured to know that not even one part of the country would have to make do without weather for today; after all, fair is fair.
We caught the free bus from Lechlade to Tesco at Cirencester; we make this trip each time that we visit the Thames. All the passengers apart from us are regulars; they know each other and the driver well. It is a small, friendly community which is extended to anyone travelling with them. A road closure that the driver had not been warned about caused him to turn around and make a large detour; he telephoned his depot and told them in no uncertain terms what he thought of them. We were all laughing as we could hear both sides of the amplified conversation. He explained that he had to call at one hamlet because ‘Pauline would be waiting for me to collect her’ – and she was!
The return journey takes a little longer – the driver helps with the bags and shopping trolleys as far as the passenger’s house front gates.
Having boosted the profits at Tesco; on our return we loaded Martlet with the goodies. Fortunately, grandchildren Caleb and Madeleine will be joining us on Wednesday to help us reduce the food stocks as we head northwards along the Oxford canal.
Leaving Lechlade, we decided to keep going for a while as the weather was dry and at first, not too windy. We chatted to the lock keepers on the way and will see some of them in two years time on our return; some will have retired together with their vast knowledge of the river and the associated bird and wildlife.
We stopped above Rushey lock and will probably make for Pinkhill Lock tomorrow; our last day on the Thames is Saturday.
2009 Totals – Locks 183; Miles 335.5; Bus pass uses 2.
