Gloucester & Sharpness canal, Thursday 6th August
Tuesday
An overload of precipitation caused us to remain dry and comfortable inside, we therefore have nothing of interest to report.
Wednesday.
We had a long chat with a narrowboat owner from Sharpness who was out for a walk; he told us that the Berkeley Arms pub was closed as the landlord is ill. We had intended to visit this original pub as so many people had told us about it. We stood at the gate across the car park and took in the wonderful view across the Severn which is almost a mile wide above Purton and close to Slimbridge.
We then had a enjoyable chat with the bridge keeper who lives in the village; we learnt a lot about the village. We then walked to the church of St. John the Evangelist. It is a very small church, but one that has a lovely warm feeling about it. I had a strong feeling of Déjà vu on entering: the size, construction and furnishings were almost identical to that of the chapel at my school. That brought on a lot of good memories.
Leaving the church, we crossed the road and helped to launch an old Enterprise dinghy that had been repaired for use as a general fun boat. One of the men used to own a Drascombe lugger; I saw Myra’s eyes roll upwards on hearing this news; she walked off to talk to someone else. I chatted about Drascombes; Myra had found a man that has a 1954 Ford Zephyr; in that small period of time we both were enjoying interesting conversations.
At 2.30pm daughter Clare arrived with her children Caleb and Madeleine. Caleb is staying with us until Saturday, this will keep us from nodding off for a few days.
We passed a 'Caraboat', these are quite rare as I believe that only some 25 were ever made.
2009 Totals: 420 Locks – 749 miles – 20 Bus pass uses.
