I WAS desperately trying to steer our 58ft canal boat into a lock and at that moment I'd have given a lot for an extra two inches. Locks, you see, are only an inch or two wider than the boats they are designed to transport.
Minutes before the laid-back crew of Black Prince Holidays at Stoke Prior on the Birmingham and Worcester canal had handed over the pride of their fleet. Now we were facing our first test. Biff... the Duchess gave the lock gate a disdainful cuff, before shouldering her way into the narrow space. Fortunately, the massive gates are designed to endure. Wonderful engineers those Victorians. That's when our Samaritan on a bike popped up. I don't know where he came from, but every time we approached a lock (and we had quite a few to get through that afternoon) there he was ready to help with the hard labour of cranking open the gates and to murmur a few words of gentle encouragement. The canals are like that. The pace is slow - you are pushing it at three miles an hour - and there are plenty of people who like nothing better than to potter beside this tranquil backwater. We were quite miffed when our Samaritan quietly disappeared, but by then we were getting the hang of it. The secret is to straighten the boat yards before you get to the lock. Then send a couple of willing helpers scooting along the tow path to open the lock; and glide in like a gigantic black swan, while enjoying the admiring glances from the bankside.
|
It took us a few hours to relax, but after that we started to chill. Jack, our six-year-old son, was in his element. One minute he was "helping" to steer, the next he was sprawling out with a comic in the surprisingly comfortable sitting area or haring along the tow path, crank in hand, ready to do battle with a lock gate. At the end of the day, he sank into his own double bed and was asleep in seconds.
The next morning we woke to wild cries. Jack had spied a duck and her ducklings sailing serenely by and we were dragged to the foredeck to feed them. Pretty soon we were on our way, slipping easily now into the routine. Tea and soup kept us going through the morning, a soaring heron lifted our spirits, and at lunchtime we simply moored and fell into a waterside pub. By the time we got to Worcester, the locks had taken their toll and we were happy to stop and do justice to a meal of sausages and mash, cooked on board. The next morning we turned round and by the end of the weekend we had covered a distance of - ahem - perhaps 10 miles. But you know what? It didn't matter because, hey, we had travelled to a different world.
|
GETTING THERE: Drifters (08457 626252 or www.drifters.co.uk) offers seven nights' self-catering in a four-six berth boat from Black Prince Holidays from £655 (Express readers £555, quote Express/ CWP), including fuel and car parking. A three-night break costs from £440 (Express readers £390, quote Express/CWP). For more information on enjoying Britain's waterways, visit www.waterscape.com Heart of England Tourist Information: 01905 761100 or www.visitheartofengland.corn
|
