Saturday 2nd September 2006

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Alan, June and I walked into Wantage after breakfast, to pick up a few necessaries — including a copy of Wisden which Alan had ordered from the bookshop but forgotten to collect yesterday. We called in at Waitrose and I couldn’t resist buying a bottle of Hendrick’s Gin. I found out accidentally, earlier this year, that there’s a gin that bears my name. It’s rather expensive, but an interesting and enjoyable flavour.

We had some spare time remaining after we got back, so I spent the next hour entering the churches of Birmingham into my GPS. I wasn’t sure how far we’d get by the time that evening Mass becomes an option, but using the GPS I could see what church was nearest as we went along.

It was about ten past eleven when we left the house and set off in June’s car. The traffic was rather heavy around the Oxford ring road and the M40, but we still got to Alvechurch by 12.45, leaving plenty of time for lunch. At Alvechurch there is a pub called The Weighbridge just by the boatyard. While June and I went to join Nick and Penny in the pub, Alan went to check at the boatyard.

Amongst other things he heard about one of their boats that had got sunk just recently. Apparently the crew hadn’t noticed that they’d failed to put the weed hatch back properly after clearing the propellor. Somehow or other they failed to notice that the boat was getting lower and lower in the water — and presumably slower and slower — till eventually it sank completely. The boatyard weren’t too happy about this, not surprisingly. The boat has been pumped out and refloated, but it’ll take a good while to dry it out properly inside. Apparently it was only about four months old.

Our boat is called The Firecrest. Nick and Penny said they’d already been to have a look. Nick was excited about an interesting-looking bulge at the front of the boat. Not sure if they’re something to do with the bow thrusters (which we’ve been told the boat has) — or maybe they’re some other feature. Later, when we’d all got on board and had a look around, we realised that we’ve got a really excellent boat. It steers nicely, even without the bow thrusters; the engine compartment is very nicely laid out and the engine runs quietly. Inside it’s just as good. There’s plenty of room in the kitchen, which even has a sky-light; it’s got (if we wanted to use them) a DVD as well as a TV and a six-CD autochanger. It’s the first boat I’ve been on with ‘electric toilets’. Press a button and they flush automatically. Unfortunately there’s a somewhat unpleasant buzz in the lounge when the boat is under weigh and there’s a slight leak from the skylight — but on the whole it’s all very positive. The people at the boatyard were very friendly and helpful as well. Alan phoned up in advance to ask if there was any chance of taking the boat early. He always does this, just in case, without any expectation that it will be possible — but as it turned out they were able to do our boat early and we were able to set off fifteen minutes before the scheduled time. Usually, by the time the preliminaries are completed, we end up cruising off some time half an hour or more after the nominal time.

So, having left at 2.45, we headed towards Birmingham. I took the first turn steering and it was a little tricky to begin with, as the canal was rather narrow and bendy for the first few miles. It was already raining lightly when we started and the rain continued, more and more steadily, until the early evening.

When we came to our first tunnel, at Wast Hill, I found it as usual quite a test of my steering. It’s quite difficult to concentrate on the steering for that long. It only needs a slight lapse of attention and you’re nudging the wall — not disastrous, by any means, but a minor irritation.

By about 5.15 it was time for me to think about where to go to Mass, so Nick took over the steering. Comparing distances and Mass times, the best bet looked like the Oratory, at 5.45. There was just time to get there, as it was about a mile away. I found that the priest was an old friend from the English College, Guy Nicholls. I had hoped to see him briefly after Mass, but he beetled off somewhere and I couldn’t see where he’d gone. I caught up with the boat just after Farmer’s Bridge locks, where they’d waited for me about fifteen minutes earlier. They’d gone through the flight in just over an hour, which was pretty good going.

We went off to a pub that Nick knows: the Bartons Arms. Nick has been there twenty five years before, when it was just an ordinary pub — apart from the amazing decoration. This is quite amazing, with elaborate Victorian tiling (elaborate but not overdone). There’s a touch of the ecclesiastical about it, with stained-glass windows and impressive-looking arches and pillars. On the way out we commented to one of the staff, about how splendid the building is. She very kindly showed us some of the parts upstairs that were roped off. She said the place was built in 1901, which is a bit later than we thought. Just qualifies as Victorian.

But it wasn’t only the surroundings that made the place special. They had a very good selection of real ales, including a wheat beer called White Dwarf which I particularly enjoyed. The menu is Thai and it was really excellent. The service was very friendly as well. We really enjoyed ourselves.

Back to the boat by about half past ten. It’s been a long day, but (despite the rain) we’ve been pleased by how it’s all worked out.

Next Day