War Horse

A little out of place through Blackburn and Burnley, Nick’s pink shorts are right at home down here on the Thames, in fact he looks a little underdone without a captain’s hat, Henri Lloyd deck shoes and striped shirt.

Murk’s morning walk resulted in discovering Abingdon Heritage Open Day, a stroke of luck as it happened for just one day. Designed to transport visitors back 100 years the town was transformed by war horses, soldiers, choirs, Punch and Judy shows and perhaps the most surprising touch – windows displaying information on war-time residents, many owners even opened their front doors for passers-by to experience the places soldiers lived before leaving to fight.

Moving out of Abingdon the water was busy, boats of all shapes and sizes out for Saturday morning on the river. Magical boat houses hide away beneath the boughs of trees beginning to turn, some of the enormous human houses are pretty impressive too. The miles ticked up as locks came and went. Tucked out the way compared to others, Day’s Lock was quiet but since 1983, crowds gather there every March for the World Pooh Sticks Championships.

Beyond sad, we’re marking all the free mooring spots in Nicholson…there are more than we’d previously thought although last time down we needed to see rings, or at the very least bollards for a gap to register as moorable. Now, provided it’s plankable, it’s moorable. Home tonight is up from Cleeve Lock where, other than one disco thumping neon bright light party boat, the water has been still for hours.