The Lady at Waits Quay St Ives
The Lady at Waits Quay St Ives

The warm air heating soon warmed The Lady after another cool night and the kettle was boiled for hot drinks, after which I took Daniel for a walk around the marina to see the wreckage of an old lifeboat, surviving the attention of the noisy geese. Then a slow and steady cruise along the rest of the Old West River. Through Hermitage Lock and on to stop briefly at Westview Marina, Erith, for water and other supplies before on to Brown’s Hill Staunch, St Ives Lock to moor at Waits Quay where we had a ball game before spending a quiet evening there. It has been 50 years to the day since the war broke out between England and Germany on the day that my parents were married.

I was the first awake on a cold morning and so switched on the heating and lit the Calor gas boiler kettle for our morning drinks. Daniel complains that he had been particularly cold in the central saloon (‘bridge deck saloon’, in Banham’s parlance). Soon the hot air heating and all of the boat variably warm and we proceeded to shower all of the members of the family. The sun was warming and tussles with the colder air all day to give us periods of warmth and chill.

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I took Daniel for a walk around the marina, but the boats were quite poor and lacked interest. Daniel was rather weak with his cold but I also dragged him over the bridge and along to the wreckage on dry land of what appears to be an old lifeboat. It had been on the far bank for as long as Diana I have cruised this river and seems to be the overambitious restoration dream of someone. The domestic geese hereabouts are in a large flock of a hundred or more and freely swam around this part of the river and graze the banks. Very noisy and possessive of the far bank they are as well. Back to the boat and, after the girls had a good time playing ‘My Little Ponies’ with ‘Sylvanian People Riders’, we eventually set off for a slow and steady cruise along the rest of the Old West River. Through Hermitage Lock and on to stop briefly at Westview Marina, Erith, for water and other supplies.

Then on to Brown’s Hill staunch, with a lock keeper wished us well and hoped that ‘you sort yourself out’ on the question of whether to buy a new boat or not. We stopped for lunch at a field edge upstream in company with two other cruisers and Diana used rings, grill and oven to cook us a very nice Sunday lunch of hamburgers, potatoes, carrots and new potatoes which all of us (except Deborah) were pleased to see. Then through St Ives into the marina but no boats of interest there. To Waits Quay where we were the only ones mooring there until quite late. The river has been so very quiet this week that it’s been almost eerie at times. At the Waites, Di and I left the children for a walk around the town and then I joined the children for an energetic ballgame on the Waites Green that eventually cleared all but one of the courting couples that were sat resting and wooing there. A quiet evening of reading matter, TV and this Journal.

No lack of reminders that this is 50 years to the day that the war broke out between England and Germany. So much distress. So many memories I am glad that my lifetime is seen no more wars on this scale stop I fear that our holiday will end tomorrow as Diana does not think we can make it back if we stay on board for another night stop.