We are currently moored up at Horbury Bridge, Middlestown in Wakefield which, according to Paul, is the furthest North we will be going. It is also the place where the hymn ‘Onwards Christian Soldiers’ was written and performed for the first time as a children’s marching song.
We have woken up to the sound of rain hammering on the roof so it is unlikely that we will be going anywhere today. We have been forced to realise that this adventure is not a race, but an experience, and that the whole purpose is to enjoy it and not get stressed if we are forced to stop or slow down. So, today we will catch up on some TV, light a fire, give Paul a hair and beard cut and maybe even pop to the pub for a Sunday Dinner (did I mention that we are conveniently moored up outside a pub!)
Zak is finally settling into boat dog life and is now much more relaxed. We have been training him on the engine deck to come ‘onboard’ with chicken treats. He definately doesn’t like it when I am out of sight so he comes off with me to do the locks and then he needs to learn to jump back on afterwards. He is actually great at waiting at the locks whilst I do my thing, unless of course a cyclist goes past then he’s off chasing them down the towpath. Need to work on that a bit more too!
In other news, Paul chopped a bit of the end of his finger off with the axe but was very brave and our adventure very nearly came to an end on Thursday as we came out of flood locks at Castleford. The signage wasn’t clear and we turned left instead of going straight on and we’re headed straight into the buoys that indicate the presence of a wier. It was terrifying, Paul had to do an emergency 180 turn with the engine thrusting in reverse for all its worth. I naturally supported Paul by sitting inside the deck in a foetal position crying my eyes out. Just to give you some kind of perspective, this was the weir we were headed towards…..
After that experience, we called an emergency meeting with ourselves to discuss ways to ensure we are more prepared going forwards. We also took a day or so out to get our heart rates back to normal.
We are missing everyone very much and we love the comments that you leave as they make us smile!
I’ll leave you with some pics from our travels. Lots of love x
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