Many Meetings in Bradford on Avon

Wednesday 1st August, 2012 in Bradford on Avon.
1st August already? We've been out since the 25th May and what fun we have had along the way!
A pretty start to the day, although rain was forecast for later. M stood on the stern with her morning cuppa watching a pair of bullfinches feeding on seed heads. The swallows delighted us with their aerobatic displays, dozens of them skimming the water, swooping round the boat and even trying to land briefly on the tiller or on the roof of the boat - something that neither of us have ever seen them do before. A good sign though, for as long as they are still here then so is the summer.

Early morning (spot the gull!).

By 10:00am, we were moored up at Bradford on Avon Marina, the base for the Sally Narrowboats hire fleet. We filled one tank (water) and emptied the other (poo) and acquired a new gas bottle before leaving. Our previous gas bottle was the original one from the launch last October and had only just run out, so had served us well.
Bradford on Avon was only just around the corner and we found a very pleasant 48 hour mooring just a few hundred yards from the only lock on this stretch of the canal.
We did a quick inventory of our chest freezer; since it is a small "chest" type it's difficult to see what's in it, and to our astonishment (and amusement) we found that we had 18 chicken breasts in there! So chicken is definitely on the menu for the next few weeks!
Another day of more happy meetings. As we arrived, we were surprised to see Richard and Lizzie on nb "Dragonfly." We had expected them to be way ahead of us but it seems that they too had to leave their boat for two weeks. It was good to see them again and a very emotional Richard updated us on the gold success of the ladies' coxless pairs in the Olympics (and well done, Wiggo!!!). Shortly afterwards, Derek and Angela in nb "Braithwaite" arrived and moored in front of us to watch more of the Olympics.
We walked along the towpath to the little tea room beside the lock where we were warmly welcomed and treated ourselves to coffee and cake in delightful surroundings. Lovely oilcloth tablecloths and vases of fresh wild flowers on each table.
Outside the tea room, we met Sorcha and Will who were recruiting new members as "Friends" of the new Canal and River Trust that has recently taken over from British Waterways. We fell into conversation with them and ended up inviting them to come down to MM when they finished work. They must have been doing a good job because we signed up as "Friends"!

Guy with two new friends.

One more happy meeting - albeit electronic - we were thrilled to hear by email from Bob Blues back at Harefield. How lovely to hear from him again!
Today: 1 mile, 0 locks and 2.1 hours.
Trip: 173 miles, 159 locks and 144.6 hours (292.4 total).