Friday, September 09, 2016

Squeezing into Slough

This weekend is the moderately , OK partially, OK not very famous, Slough Canal Festival. It’s quite possibly the smallest of all our canal festivals but none the worse for that.  Even as I write, people are planning midnight break-ins into ferret farms to nobble the favourites in the ferret racing, and the good people of the local residents association are preparing the ingredients of their truly scrummy samosas.  Cheery old buffers in boiler suits are oiling and polishing their stationary steam engines and the Dulux dog is having a shampoo and a comb. 

For my part, it looks like I’ll be steering CRT’s mega boat Jena down the arm on Saturday morning ready to welcome the steady flow of curious visitors and their inevitable questions about boating and canal life.  I hope they get her innards tidied up a bit before the public come on board. With all that space, people do tend to just dump stuff.

jena1

Taking Jena down the Slough arm is no small feat as space is tight here and there, not least at the entrance to the arm itself.  fellow volunteer Richard did that immaculately.

jena2

At the moment Jena lies snugly tied up in the off side brambles just outside Packet Boat marina.  Getting back on board might be the challenge of the day.  There are good opportunities for falling in in the process. Yesterday we moved her there from Paddington in warm sunshine.  I fear that Saturday's weather might not be so kind. Sunday looks better.  if you’re in the area, come on down, It’s a cute little festival and has a good atmosphere.

2 comments:

Giles said...

Indeed, what scruffy neer-do-wells left two bikes and half a sandwich there? 😇

Vallypee said...

Your old stamping ground isn't it, Neil?