Blogs from Berkshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 5

Yesterday I heard the devastating news that my Role is at "Risk" The Health and Safety Coordinator Role no longer exists and I must justify reasons as to why I should stay in the business. The justifications will be considered however at the end of the next 3 weeks redundancy looms, If I am lucky enough to be kept in a role then I will no longer travel to Africa with this company and I feel very sad about that. The last three years have been amazing, I have walked through markets in Lagos Nigeria, I have stood on beaches in Freetown Sierra Leone, Seen a group of wild Lions in Nairobi, I have driven through the beautiful countryside of Ghana, slept on a boat in Tanzania, witnessed the source of the Nile in Uganda, had ... read more

4 locks, 92 in total. Into the Chilterns, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – and it definitely is. Plus the sun has shone for a few hours and the wind is less persistent, which has bought out all the fair-weather sailors of course. The Lock Keeper at Whitchurch told us yesterday about the water pipe at the next lock – 'bloody great blue thing on the right – you'll love it' – how true, because the tank filled up in half the usual time. After that I left John to helm for a few minutes. He swears he didn't capsize the sailing dinghy and tip the two little girls into the oggin.......... It would seem that the boatyard facilities (ie toilet pumpout) are not just rare but preferably reserved for their own boaters or for ... read more

7 locks, 85 in total. Fairly uneventful trip today, apart from County Lock as we entered Reading from the west. Water flows had become increasingly erratic since we left Sheffield Lock but County Lock was horrendous. We had read that the uphill moorings are hidden under a longish road bridge but even so we nearly overshot – both of us ashore hanging onto the lines. Immediately after the lock we had to wait at the downhill mooring for the traffic lights to allow us to proceed though the single file section in the centre of Reading. As we waited a boat came towards us, desperately trying to avoid the weir stream, and he crashed into us. He did his best but sadly we have a saucer-sized patch of shiny steel on our side. We do not ... read more

4 locks, 78 in total. Shortish day today, past numerous gravel pits and osier beds – very picturesque. We were held up for an hour at Tyle Mill hydraulic road swing bridge when the mechanism jammed – this was after boaters were kept waiting for 4 hours yesterday after a mechanical failure when an engineer had to drive down from Derby! Now at Sheffield Swing Bridge – lovely moorings and very beautiful. We're moored opposite the large house, grounds and recording studio that used to belong to Kate Bush. The new owners are in the process of landscaping the grounds and have removed trees and scrub from the canal bank, so now we can see Shenfield Mill. For the last ½ mile or so to this mooring we saw a great many terns flying down to ... read more

10 locks, 74 in total. The title refers to the fact that we are now in uncharted lands - we've not been beyond Newbury before. Another longish day but we might be battening down the hatches tomorrow according to the weather forecast. What a day – cold start then wall-to-wall sunshine – shorts, sun cream and an ice cream when we finished 6 hours later. Birdsong accompanied us all the way and also quite a few grey wagtails, after the swarms of midges. Also had a buzzard repeatedly swooping low over Aldermaston Lock – never seen one that close. There were a couple of unusual locks – see photographs - and yet another white knuckle experience, this time through Woolhampton. Warning signs everywhere: Don't leave this lock until you've swung the road bridge 100 yards ahead ... read more