MandM
Free Member
We happened to be moored in Thrupp on the South Oxford Canal, the sun is shining and we are being entertained by the antics of various hire boaters coming through the lift bridge. It seems like no two skippers at the tiller handle it the same way. Then a 70 footer comes through going at a good pace. Bearing the name of a nearby University College.
There is mum and dad and two children meandering along in a canoe. See the boat bearing down, they quickly decide at that point to abandon the canoe. They make haste in their retreat onto the towpath. Me and my boater mate are shouting instructions to the guy on the tiller. (put it in reverse, push the tiller over to the left - no not that left, the other one) By some miracle he manages to avoid pining the canoe between the bow and the concrete edge of the towpath. Once he is back on track - he turns round waves nonchalantly to us and shouts thanks. The family are visibly shaken by what happend or could have happened.
Nearby is Annie's tea shop which sell the most amazing of patisserie specimens. So we went into Annie's cafe for a bun and a strong cup of coffee to revive our shattered nerves. On returning back to the canal we sit and watch in chin dropping amazement. As one of the most bizarre events takes place before our very eyes. A boater who shall have to remain incognito (we now know him well) decided that his bicycle needed a wash. So he ties a rope to it and then flings it into the canal. Soon, there is a small collection of people intently watching his activities.
With the bike now hanging in the water at the rear of the boat. He goes aboard and starts the engine puts a few revs on and proceeds to power wash the bike in the wake. He was raising and lowering the bike on the rope. After a while he drops the rope and turns off the engine. He then retrieves the bike gives it a few perfunctory pokes and a rub in various places. Then throws it back into the canal.
By now the small collection of people have grown and a mini crowd settled back to watch events unfold. One of the bystanders has been filming the event on his mobile phone. He says he is going to send it to you've been framed. My friend Brian asks the boater what the next 'wash cycle' would be. However the joke seemed lost on the boater. We went back into Annie's cafe for a bun and a strong cup of coffee to revive our aching ribs.
Later we returned to the Thrupp lift bridge and continued watching the hire boats ram the bank on the turn 45 degree turn that you could easily turn the Titanic in. We were ensconced on one of the seats provided for the viewing the public. (The public are known to boaters as Gongoozelers) To watch an endless stream of hire boat entertainment. It had gone quiet and I was just observing the world go by. When a couple decide to hire a canoe. He gets in and settles down, so far so good. Before he can get a tight hold on the edge, she quickly steps in. One foot on the boat one foot on the bank. Legs ever widening until there is a big splash. Surprisingly she was not an un-happy little bunny as she was laughing albeit with some embarrassment. After she was retrieved from her predicament her demeanour suddenly changed. But it did not change until the first item was recovered from her jacket pocket - which was her mobile phone. First rule of boating - always empty your pockets of wallets, phones, keys etc. Second rule, never go boating without a change of dry clothes.
We went back to Annie's for a coffee and a bun. We come out to find a two film crews trying to film their respective celebs and boats coming through the lift bridge. One has John Sergeant at the tiller. The other has Larry Lamb lazing on the front deck. One boat is holding out while the other comes through under the lift bridge. The film crews sneakily eye each other with little if any acknowledgement of the other. Sergeant and Lamb totally blank each other as they pass. A bit later, the Sergeant film crew send a 'runner' to ask if we can operate the swing bridge and take our boat through while they film the event. Told us that it would be used in the series as background to illustrate how the bridge works.
A few months later, we start to watch the 'John Sergeant barging around' series. Our endeavours must have ended up on the cutting room floor. We were not included, but I still think I'm more photogenic than Sergeant and a better dancer. We have met a few other notables while cruising the waterways. John and Norma Major at the top of the Wigan flight of locks. Complete with their police 'minders'. Pru and Tim almost bumped into us as Sutton Stop. And I had an enjoyable chat about football with the late Graham Taylor of Watford and England management fame. While we waiting to pass through a lock near Alrewas.
There is mum and dad and two children meandering along in a canoe. See the boat bearing down, they quickly decide at that point to abandon the canoe. They make haste in their retreat onto the towpath. Me and my boater mate are shouting instructions to the guy on the tiller. (put it in reverse, push the tiller over to the left - no not that left, the other one) By some miracle he manages to avoid pining the canoe between the bow and the concrete edge of the towpath. Once he is back on track - he turns round waves nonchalantly to us and shouts thanks. The family are visibly shaken by what happend or could have happened.
Nearby is Annie's tea shop which sell the most amazing of patisserie specimens. So we went into Annie's cafe for a bun and a strong cup of coffee to revive our shattered nerves. On returning back to the canal we sit and watch in chin dropping amazement. As one of the most bizarre events takes place before our very eyes. A boater who shall have to remain incognito (we now know him well) decided that his bicycle needed a wash. So he ties a rope to it and then flings it into the canal. Soon, there is a small collection of people intently watching his activities.
With the bike now hanging in the water at the rear of the boat. He goes aboard and starts the engine puts a few revs on and proceeds to power wash the bike in the wake. He was raising and lowering the bike on the rope. After a while he drops the rope and turns off the engine. He then retrieves the bike gives it a few perfunctory pokes and a rub in various places. Then throws it back into the canal.
By now the small collection of people have grown and a mini crowd settled back to watch events unfold. One of the bystanders has been filming the event on his mobile phone. He says he is going to send it to you've been framed. My friend Brian asks the boater what the next 'wash cycle' would be. However the joke seemed lost on the boater. We went back into Annie's cafe for a bun and a strong cup of coffee to revive our aching ribs.
Later we returned to the Thrupp lift bridge and continued watching the hire boats ram the bank on the turn 45 degree turn that you could easily turn the Titanic in. We were ensconced on one of the seats provided for the viewing the public. (The public are known to boaters as Gongoozelers) To watch an endless stream of hire boat entertainment. It had gone quiet and I was just observing the world go by. When a couple decide to hire a canoe. He gets in and settles down, so far so good. Before he can get a tight hold on the edge, she quickly steps in. One foot on the boat one foot on the bank. Legs ever widening until there is a big splash. Surprisingly she was not an un-happy little bunny as she was laughing albeit with some embarrassment. After she was retrieved from her predicament her demeanour suddenly changed. But it did not change until the first item was recovered from her jacket pocket - which was her mobile phone. First rule of boating - always empty your pockets of wallets, phones, keys etc. Second rule, never go boating without a change of dry clothes.
We went back to Annie's for a coffee and a bun. We come out to find a two film crews trying to film their respective celebs and boats coming through the lift bridge. One has John Sergeant at the tiller. The other has Larry Lamb lazing on the front deck. One boat is holding out while the other comes through under the lift bridge. The film crews sneakily eye each other with little if any acknowledgement of the other. Sergeant and Lamb totally blank each other as they pass. A bit later, the Sergeant film crew send a 'runner' to ask if we can operate the swing bridge and take our boat through while they film the event. Told us that it would be used in the series as background to illustrate how the bridge works.
A few months later, we start to watch the 'John Sergeant barging around' series. Our endeavours must have ended up on the cutting room floor. We were not included, but I still think I'm more photogenic than Sergeant and a better dancer. We have met a few other notables while cruising the waterways. John and Norma Major at the top of the Wigan flight of locks. Complete with their police 'minders'. Pru and Tim almost bumped into us as Sutton Stop. And I had an enjoyable chat about football with the late Graham Taylor of Watford and England management fame. While we waiting to pass through a lock near Alrewas.
