Ben and Kat and the Mikron Theatre

 Saturday 31st July 2021 in Goring.
MM was dwarfed by the footbridge in Reading this morning.

Ben and Kat arrived mid-morning, having driven up from Sussex. Kat had baked a special cake that looked, and later tasted, delicious!

It rained a lot today but that didn't deter Kat from taking the tiller.

The rain meant that many boats had not moved much, so the normal moorings at Goring were all taken. R eventually managed to squeeze MM into a spot next to the bank a few hundred yards downstream where Kat cooked an amazing late lunch with prawns, lemon and spaghetti - the first time that M has let anyone cook in "her" galley!

Getting off MM was not easy as the river path was at the same height as MM's roof, so the gangplank came out to bridge the gap. Thankfully, the rain had eased off by now.

A group photograph before R walked Ben and Kat up to Goring Station to catch a train back to Reading. They are going to stay in High Wycombe tonight and then go to Windsor tomorrow to do the official tour of the Castle.

We had told Ben and Kat about "The Real Greek" restaurant in Windsor and the following day they sent us a picture of them enjoying lunch there!

We discovered that the Mikron Theatre was performing tonight next to Goring Lock. We walked up and enjoyed an excellent performance all about the start of women's football in the 1920s, which was later banned by the FA! The audience was all clad in waterproofs, as the rain had returned by now. It was an excellent performance; the company writes all its own material and music, and the cast of four all act, sing and play instruments.

To M's delight, her friend Linda, from yesterday's cruise, was also there.

Today: 10 miles, 2 locks and 5.5 hours.

Trip: 372 miles, 202 locks and 185.8 hours.

Breakfast in Pierreponts with Linda, Water Woes, and Gilly and Den Visit.

 Friday 30th July 2021 back at Reading.

Early morning in Goring. Rare to get a very clear mirror image opposite our mooring on such a large fast flowing river.

Pierreponts in Goring is one of our favourite breakfast venues and we had arranged to meet M's good friend Linda (from their school days) at the restaurant for breakfast at 8:30 when it opened. Linda was there already when we arrived. R had his usual boiled egg with Marmite soldiers. Love the egg cosy! Even though Pierreponts has changed hands since we first went there, the food and service are still excellent.

M and Linda always knew that they had been at junior school together but, in the course of conversation today, they discovered that they were also at the same infant school at Sidlow Bridge in 1952, nearly 70 years ago!

Although we were taking Linda back to Reading (where we needed to be tonight), we were very short of water and so first had to go in the opposite direction through Goring and Cleeve locks to get water at Cleeve. There are very few water points on the Thames and there was a queue for water. There are two taps, but the flow is very slow and the Environment Agency has put rediculous restrictors on the taps, so that if your hose is a bit thin or too long, water gushes out from the tap and the flow is even slower. Quite how this waste of water is environmentally friendly is beyond us. In the end, the flow was so slow that we only filled to half way or we would be there still (we will be coming past here again on Tuesday to top up).

As we arrived at Mapledurham lock, this trip boat arrived. The Captain had a lock key and so could operate the lock like a lockkeeper. He decided that it would be safer if he went in first as he had a new crew and didn't want to run into us! Good thing that he was there, as the bottom lock gates kept on getting out of sequence and he was able to override them.

We had arranged to meet up with Gilly and Den at Reading. We were hoping to take them for a trip but a series of delays meant that, by the time we got to Reading, it was too late. Also the only mooring we could find was right under the footbridge, tied up to a tree and a buddleia bush!  Some of the boats on the south side of the river had even resorted to tying up to the "No Mooring" notices in desperation! There really is a woeful lack of moorings on this popular river during the summer holiday season.

Fortunately, Gilly and Den seemed happy just to come on board to see MM and have afternoon tea. Afterwards, they made their way back to their car across the footbridge. It was so nice to see then again after so long.

Even by day, the footbridge is a very graceful structure and the resident swan made a lovely picture in the evening light.

As darkness fell, the bridge lit up. giving it a magical quality - even when moored right underneath it!

Today: 12 miles, 6 locks and 3.9 hours.

Trip: 362 miles, 200 locks and 180.3 hours.

The Rolastons and Ruby Visit.

 Thursday 29th July 2021 in Goring-on-Thames

A charming "Good Morning" from the resident swan! Clearly he was not having a good day...

Our lovely next door neighbours arrived mid-morning, with Ruby a young friend of the family.

Sam was quick to volunteer to steer MM as we set off from Reading towards Goring.

Ben was next on the tiller. Both the boys quickly got the idea of steering the stern of the boat and anticipating her next move, so MM went in a fairly straight line down the middle of the river.

It wasn't long before dare-devil Sam found that you could walk along the gunwale and we were surprised (and a bit alarmed) to see his face looking through the window! Kerry was very nervous, but nobody fell off all day!

Phil took a turn on the tiller next.

Meanwhile, the children had lunch inside MM.

Ruby was a bit nervous about taking the tiller at first but Phil talked her through it, she grew in confidence and did a brilliant job.

Soon Phil and Ben were walking along the gunwale and sitting in the front of MM. M photographed them through the front window.

Kerry also tried the tiller with Phil looking on.

The call of the gunwale and the front was irresistible and soon Ruby and Joe were up there too, both of them circled the boat more than a few times.

When we arrived in Goring it was time for a bit of a picnic and a glass of Prosecco. Kerry had kindly brought all the food and drink with her and M had bought sandwiches for us, so M didn't have to cook at all today.

The end of a lovely day as we wished then farewell and R walked them to Goring Station to catch a train back to Reading and their car.

So pleased that we could have such a great trip with them on MM.

Today: 10 miles, 2 locks and 3.6 hours.

Trip: 350 miles, 194 locks and 176.4 hours.

W H Smith's House, Hollyhocks and MM Tied to a Tree.

Wednesday 28th July 2021 in Reading.

Once more, we had chosen a memorable place to moor; this time opposite the magnificent house once owned by W H Smith of the stationery emporium; it is now a conference centre.

The island at the end of Henley's famous rowing course is called Temple Island after the "Temple" building on it. The regatta is scheduled to start on 9th August, subject to government regulations and the course is already laid out, dead straight for a mile and a quarter. Good job we are passing through in July; Henley is heaving throughout the regatta.

This notice board on Shiplake Lock correctly summed up the weather today!

Sonning Lock had a magnificent display of hollyhocks all along the locksides, such a beautiful old fashioned flower.

We needed to moor in Reading overnight as our neighbours, Kerry, Phil and family, are arriving here tomorrow for a day trip. Again, moorings were in short supply and we had to resort to tying MM to a tree!

We walked into Reading for the inevitable "few bits" amid heavy downpours interspursed with bright sunshine.

Today: 10 miles, 4 locks and 3.9 hours.

Trip: 340 miles, 192 locks and 172.8 hours.

M down in the Engine Room and a New Battery.

Tuesday 27th July 2021 at Henley.

Once more, the engine was started with the jump leads and we cruised up to Maidenhead where we moored up and R set off in search of Halfords (a mile away) and a new battery.

Not long after, R called M from Halfords because he had forgotten to measure the old battery before he left and he asked M to measure it while he waited on the other end of the phone. M blanched at the prospect because it involved lifting the heavy engine cover, then standing on the engine and carefully lowering herself down on to the baseplate next to the, still quite hot, engine. M has only short legs and the base plate is a long way down! All this with a tape measure in one hand and her mobile phone in the other to get directions. The failed battery is not easy to access and measuring it involved leaning over the hot engine. Having successfully completed the task, M declared that she never, ever, wants to do that again; although in the future she will have a greater appeciation of what is involved when she asks R to get the washing line out of the engine room (it normally sits on top of the battery box!).

While sitting on the back deck recovering from her ordeal, M noticed a number of media broadcast vans on the road next to us. A passing lady asked if we were aware of where we had moored up; M said we weren't. So the lady explained that the house opposite was where Tom Dean, (who won two gold medals at the Olympics) lives, and both TV and radio were there to interview the family. Apparently, the entire neighbourhood had congregated in the family's garden at 3:00am and the celebrations went on well into the night!

R eventually arrived by taxi, due the the weight of the battery, and quickly installed it. It worked! Hurrah!

We set off through Maidenhead's beautiful old road bridge.

 At Boulter's Lock, the lockkeeper busied himself looking after the pretty gardens while the lock was filling. Good man!

 

Cliveden House, infamous as the site of huge political sex scandals in the 1960's but now a highly respectable National Trust property.

  We smiled at this, a kid's canoe club all gathered around a large "Danger" sign!

By now it was getting late and we had been on the go since early morning. Despite the fact that several mooring sites were marked on the map along that stretch of the river, there was no sign of them in reality. However, R knew that there were lovely moorings just north of Henley and we eventually stopped there just as the warden arrived to collect our £12 mooring fee, which we were very happy to pay.

Today: 14 miles, 6 locks and 6.2 hours.

Trip: 330 miles,188 locks and 168.9 hours.

Windsor Castle and Jump Leads.

Monday 26th July 2021 in Windsor and Bray.

A rather cloudy morning turned into a lovely day.

M normally runs the engine when she is using her hair dryer in the morning but this morning, when she turned the key, the engine refused to start, it just did that flat battery groan. After a bit of checking R determined that the engine start battery had failed. We have five batteries for the domestic supply and a separate sixth battery that is only used to start the engine. So, no problem, all we needed was a set of jump leads to start the engine from the domestic batteries.

We decided that finding jump leads could wait until the afternoon because we had booked tickets to visit Windsor Castle at 10:00am this morning, so we set off for our tour.

Even the railway station (there are two in Windsor) is worth a visit. Named "Royal Windsor" it is an impressive structure and in one corner is this full scale replica of one of the royal locomotives.

 We never realised that HM took part in Bake-Off - not having TV, we miss such things!

The tour of the castle was brilliant.The interior is staggeringly opulent and the reconstruction after the 1992 fire is magnificent.

 No photography allowed inside the castle but a couple of nice photos of the outside.

The moat has been turned into a beautiful garden under the round tower.

A Cream Tea in the Castle Café was irresistible, although we are not sure that a cuppa and one scone each constitutes a "Cream Tea!". So, we added cake and a Coronation Chicken sandwich (what else?).

St George's Chapel was also magnificent. The tour was brilliant, totally memorable and made us very proud of the astonishing heritage of this country.

While M went into M&S for a "few bits", R went of in search of jump leads, which he eventually found in a small hardware shop called "Windsor Traders". He also looked on line for a Halfords, with a view to getting another battery. Halfords' website listed one, but it was no longer there! The nearest one is Maidenhead, which will be our next stop.

The engine started fine with the jump leads and we cruised up to Bray Lock, where we moored for the night off the end of the lock moorings, due to all the regular "proper" moorings being already taken.

Today: 4 miles, 2 locks and 3.4 hours.

Trip: 316 miles, 182 locks and 166.1 hours.

Off to Windsor.

Sunday 25th July 2021 in Windsor.

It was cloudy but dry as we set off for an early start.

The lockside gardens on this stretch of the Thames are managed by Squires Garden Centres, the same garden centre as we have at home.

We were getting a bit low on diesel, so were relieved to find that this marina and hire fleet could sell us some. We had to moor broadside so as not to stick out into the river! The staff were very cheerful and helpful.

It was getting hot, so we rewarded ourselves with a Magnum each!

Eventually, Windsor Castle hove into view but it appeared that HM was no longer in residence, off on Her summer holidays, no doubt!. The river does a huge meander around Windsor Great Park, so it still took a while to get into Windsor Town where we were lucky to find a mooring. Predictably, moorings are highly sought after here.

M had never walked across the bridge into Eton, so we set off on foot. On the way back, we spotted "The Real Greek" restaurant and decided to treat ourselves to an early dinner there. What a good decision that was! We had a warm welcome from Ilias, the owner, who told us that his mother taste tests all their dishes and he doesn't offer them until she has thoroughly approved each of them! She was right, the food was excellent, authentic and almost like being back in Greece. The restaurant is right under the Castle walls and we couldn't help wondering if Prince Philip, being of Greek descent, used to nip down here occasionally!

We decided that we should return to Windsor in the winter, if only for the restaurant!

It was raining as we walked back to MM past a full-sized replica Hawker Hurricane silhouetted against the evening sky. 

It is a memorial to Windsor resident Sir Sydney Camm, its designer and aviation pioneer. In addition to the Hurricane, his designs include the Hart, Typhoon, Tempest, Sea Fury, Hunter and Harrier. He started his aviation career just nine years after the first powered flight and, when he died in 1966, he was working on the design of an aircraft capable of travelling at over 2,000 mph!

At MM, we were visited by the moorings bailiff, who arrived in a tiny rubber dinghy that was smaller than the umbrella under which she was sheltering!

Today, we saw a wide range of different and strange craft on the Thames.

 Every shape and size of craft!

Today: 13 miles, 6 locks and 4.7 hours.

Trip: 312 miles, 180 locks and 162.7 hours.