The lovely Great Crested Grebe from Prickwillow pottery still treasured 30 years on
The lovely Great Crested Grebe from Prickwillow pottery still treasured 30 years on

A pleasurable night at Prickwillow, moored on the River Lark and then to try some shopping and to find Prickwillow Pottery open to be able to buy a splendid Great Crested Grebe ornament. Then on to Littleport for water and fuel before cruising up the River Wissey to Hilgay and on upstream as far as we could. The UK air crisis is averted by offers of using Heathrow for the extra traffic, Seve Ballesteros won the Open Golf Championship in the ‘best performance of his life’ and a supposed truce and end of the Iran/Iraq War which is probably too good to be true! Next, British Leyland, now to be taken over by BAE, is to close down two factories, with a loss of up to 5,000 jobs. British Leyland is to be taken over by BAE, with a loss of up to 5,000 jobs

A sound night at Prickwillow, without any noise to disturb us. Nothing human, that is, as there were some noisy toads calling at 4.00am, before the dawn chorus. It made me lay awake and wonder when the last time was that I had heard grasshoppers or crickets, which make a similar, if softer, sound that is increasingly rare these days. Back to sleep and was then woken up with my morning tea at 7.30am. After breakfast, I took the girls to the shops – the post office at Prickwillow was closed, but the girls spent their pennies on ‘chewing gum’ machines outside. Then I went to the Pottery and bought a Great Crested Grebe ornament for £60 and I think it is very nice. All aboard and then we set off on today’s cruise. Back down The Lark, along the Ouse to Littleport, where we filled up with water and we would have filled up with diesel from a floating fuel tanker, but there was nobody about to serve us. Then downstream with Daniel in line astern. I can now cruise at 6 knots and 1500 rpm and this meant Daniel kept dropping behind. I played a joke on him by creeping into a tributary, letting him pass, and then trailing him! He went faster and faster with us in pursuit, thinking he had been left behind! Eventually, up the River Wissey to Hilgay, where we stopped for tea and a walk round the village.

Went to the dairy and shops for some milk, the playing field to let the girls enjoy themselves, and then returned to the boat. I also made a number of phone calls, after interrogating my answering machine. Tried a little fishing at Hilgay, but could catch nothing. On up the Wissey to try to get to the Head of Navigation, but the sluice bridge was a foot or so too low for us. The river had risen that much due to all the rain we had experienced and so we moored a little downstream at the lake in the river. No breeze this evening and so no sailing and no fish around that would take my bait. The news tonight is of the UK air crisis being relieved by the Government and CAA offering Heathrow Airport to cater for some of the flights. It could mean night flights. The US Democrats are meeting in their convention to nominate Dukakis as the Presidential and the Texan as their vice Presidential candidates and the disappointed Jessie Jackson is publicly supporting this ‘ticket’. The weather today was almost completely dry, with just a smattering of rain and warm, sunny weather is forecast for the next few days. Seve Ballesteros won the Open Golf Championship by playing what he described as the best round of golf in his life. The main story today was of an agreement to end the Iran/Iraq war, but the news seems too good to be true, as Iran says it will accept an unconditional truce. Next, British Leyland, now to be taken over by BAE, is to close down two factories, with a loss of up to 5,000 jobs.