Awake after a cold night to the sound of high wind and torrential rain but we venture around St Ives from our central moorings to do some shopping and enjoy a fine ‘Welcome Café’ lunch before cruising over to LH Jones for some fuel and water. Then through St Ives lock, Brownshill and Hermitage Lock, admiring the 1800 Brownshill Staunch in particular as being of old design due for renewal. The girls loving the menagerie at Hermitage before we cruise along the ‘Old West River’ to moor at ‘Twenty-Pence Inn’ where Gary Skinner is delivered by his Dad and joins Daniel to supervise the girls as I treat Diana to dinner in the pub.
A cold night, but we were warm in our sleeping bags. Daniella woke in the middle of it and Di had to reassure her, because it was a strange place. Even so, the children love being on The Lady and soon settled down in their front cabin. At 7.00am, I put on the gas to boil the kettle for drinks and also switched on the warm air heating. The cabin temperatures were below 50degF at first, but soon warmed up into the 60sF. Daniella was first up and joined us in the aft cabin in her ‘blanket suit,’ designed to keep her warm through the coldest nights. Daniel joined us from the ‘Little Lady’ and we started our breakfast and listened to the radio news. We had all awoken to the sound of torrential rain and high wind. After tidying up and getting ready, we ventured out during a lull in the rain and walked around St Ives.
First to Tooks, where we had our ‘elevenses’ and then the girls did their shopping, whilst Daniel and I went to the electrical and DIY shops. I bought a couple of outside sockets for my future riverside electrics and then a couple of tools for my tool kit. Lunch at the Welcome Cafe. A pleasant and simple (and not overly large) meal, but well cooked and economical. We always enjoy our meals there. Back to The Lady and we cast off during another lull in the rain and cruise over to L H Jones Boatyard for fuel and water. I also treated myself to a new pair of size 12 boots for the boat. The St Ives lockkeeper had returned by this time, after his lunch, and so we started the long cruise through St Ives lock, Brownshill lock and Hermitage lock and along the Old West River, until we moored at the Twenty Pence Inn. The rain poured off and on and the wind blew, but the rain always held off as we actually went through the locks. Our new paint and varnish work attracted attention, as each keeper asked if we were going to the ‘wooden boat rally’ at Upware, which had a gathering this weekend. A woman worked St Ives lock, where we walked in The Lady to avoid the weir and chances of hitting the low wall. The normal man at Brownshill was there and we chatted about the lock designs. I pointed out that an old photograph of Little Paxton (Belhouse) staunch showed the same type of low gates and mechanisms as at Brownshill. With the Brownshill gates due for renewal in the next few years, I hoped that they would be restored, rather than replaced as the last examples of a string of Great Ouse locks. They had been built about the year 1800, according to a past supervisor. At Hermitage, I had to walk over to the lockkeeper’s cottage and knock several times before he appeared. There were two Muscovy ducks in his chicken run that kept ‘gasping’ to be fed, a light Sussex cockerel looking quite splendid and several hens scratching about. Quite a menagerie. It was fine at Twenty Pence for a while and the girls had the chance to play on the tyre swings and slide, before Di drew a bath from our hot water tanks and put them to bed. She was reading them a story when Daniel’s friend, Gary, and his father arrived to join the party. After a little conversation, Gary was left with us for the week, his things put in Daniel’s boat, and then he stayed with Daniel in The Lady watching the TV, whilst I took Di for a bar meal in the Twenty Pence Inn. She had lasagne, and me scampi and chips, both after a soup and bread and glass of Liebfraumilch wine to drink. Back to join the boys and we had some hot bedtime drinks and chatted a while before all retiring to bed. No chance to hear the news today and we were thus in blissful ignorance of it. I trust the world was not coming to an end.