Saturday 7 January 2012

Are the words "I have a cunning plan" marching with ill-deserved confidence in the direction of this blog?

"The rivers of Yorkshire to Stratford-upon-Avon in 12 days? 204 miles and 106 locks in less than a fortnight? Who do you think you are, man? Jeremy Clarkson?"
But we have bought tickets for Twelfth Night at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, and there are very limited performances of that play during the summer season. No other play will do, as it is a GCSE set text for our daughter.

The box office staff were highly entertained when I told them that we would be arriving by boat. Sadly they were unable to provide moorings outside the theatre, even for disabled ticket holders, so we will have to endure the inconvenience of crossing the bridge to find our seats.

Unless by some miracle we can find an empty mooring in Bancroft Basin. In August.

Nah.

We have boated to Stratford for the theatre before. Two years ago we hired one of the excellent fleet at Bidford Boats and took the children to see Romeo & Juliet. That week on the Avon was when I properly fell in love with narrowboats and Mic & I decided that one day we would own one.

While we have to rush to get to the theatre on time, the rest of the summer will be spent dawdling down to Tewkesbury and then back home by the Western canals - spending as much time as possible meeting old friends and exploring new places.

Now that would be proper narrowboating.