After the Cavalcade [PDF]

My Short Story AFTER THE CAVALCADE The day started bright; but it didn’t start well. I was held up in rush hour/ school run traffic on the way to the station, and Nigel was delayed by a dead train on the line. I reached Paddington Basin long before him and by the time he arrived, I was supping tea onboard the boat Pickle’s Folly was tied to, courtesy of Gerry, an IWA committee member. Once we had boarded our boat and checked it over, Nigel started the engine and we cast off. Easing into the sunshine in Little Venice we headed west but were prevented from entering the Paddington Branch of the canal by a long Black Prince hire boat badly moored at a water point all but blocking the narrow exit. “We won’t be long” we were told as Nigel tried to hold Pickle’s Folly against a strong side wind. The boat was not behaving as she should and by the time the way ahead was clear we were helped to come alongside a CRT workboat by its crew. We cleared a massive tangle of bunting [not ours] and plastic bags from the propeller which made the boat far more responsive! The sun was still shining as we edged past the water point and headed for home. The West Way flyover shaded us for a short while and as we passed under Ladbroke Grove we spotted a Sainsburys store: we stopped to buy more food and drink for our journey. I found it very strange passing over the aqueduct spanning the North Circular Road, because I usually drive below it and completely ignore it. It felt good slowly cruising along the canal, looking down on all those frustrated and stressed drivers. Because of our late start, it wasn’t long before we stopped for lunch, watching the coots chasing the moorhens, and the moorhens chasing the coots. On the move again we passed Horsenden Hill, Greenford Road and the A40, Western Avenue – all known to me from the road rather than the water. Willowtree Marina had a swan sitting on her nest on the canalside jetty. Swans were everywhere as we passed under Uxbridge Road near Southall – I counted thirty before I gave up. The wind had been steadily building through the day and by the time we approached Bulls Bridge I could see the wind-driven waves on the main canal through the bridge hole. I started the turn early, expecting to be blown across the canal as Pickle’s Folly stuck her bows into the wind. I felt pleased that my anticipation was correct and I managed to miss the narrowboat moored opposite by a metre as the wind took us across the canal. As we approached Cowley Lock, Nigel joked “What’s a lock?”. Since leaving Paddington seven hours previously, Cowley was the first lock we met. We decided not to push on to The Coy Carp as we had originally intended and we stopped just before The Swan and Bottle in Uxbridge. We woke the next morning to the sound of rain on the roof. It rained while we ate breakfast, and it rained almost all day. Nigel coped far better with the strong outfall below Uxbridge Lock than I did last week bringing the boat down to Paddington and as we started the upward journey towards Hunton Bridge we both got wetter and wetter. We crossed HS2 territory as we passed Hillingdon Outdoor Activities Centre: should the railway be built, the centre will close as it will cross their lake on a raised track. We lunched at Rickmansworth, opposite Tesco’s store, and as we left we joined another boat waiting for Batchworth Lock to empty. The owner was clearly concerned about sharing the lock as he edged his boat, Ruby, alongside Pickle’s Folly, not wanting to touch either our boat or the lock side. Standing at the tiller he explained he was from the River Stort and was making for the Ashton Canal. Sharing our biscuits with him, he softened as we proceeded through the next few locks. He reminisced that 11 or 12 years ago he was travelling this same stretch of canal and when he approached lock 73, by the base, he found Dick’s Folly in the lock with a damaged rudder. He helped tow our boat out of the lock and over to the jetty of the base. We decided to stop at R&S Marine at Croxley to see if Ralph was there and could look at our inverter which was not supplying power to the 240volts sockets. Ruby passed us as we moored, but as Ralph wasn’t at the basin, we caught her up at the next lock. Onwards and upwards, we made our way up the canal as the rain began to ease. When we reached Lady Capel Lock, I looked for the windlass, but it wasn’t where I thought I had left it. I walked through the boat, thinking I might have left it on the foredeck. It wasn’t there. As I opened the lower gate paddles with the spare the gent from Ruby looked sheepish and said he would have to walk back to the two Cassiobury Park Locks as he had left his windlass there! I admitted I had done the same and volunteered to go back. Nigel said he would slowly head towards the base while I did so. I started jogging along the towpath and by the time I approached the Rough Wood Bridge number 166 I met another boat coming up the canal. I asked the man at the tiller if he had picked up any stray windlasses at the lock and he waved one in the air. He offered me a lift back to Pickle’s Folly but I felt I had to go back to the locks and have a thorough look for the second windlass. I couldn’t find it so I started jogging back again, hoping Nigel hadn’t got far as I was running out of fitness! Fortunately Nigel had stayed at Lady Capel Lock and met the man who found the windlass as he reached the lock. Strangely, Nigel showed me the two windlasses we had on board, but I was holding the windlass I had been using; so there had been a mix up somewhere. Ruby’s owner was very grateful to me for going back to look for the windlasses, but I suggested that I was just returning the favour after he had helped with Dick’s Folly. He was by now looking for a mooring place so we suggested he stop opposite the base and he moored on the towpath as we moored alongside Dick’s Folly and began setting up the boat for the next users. Date of trip: 7th and 8th May 2014 …………………… Name …Peter Dean……………………… Age …… .

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