Great Bedwyn Day 5

Five days in Great Bedwyn  today!  Apart from Paddo, where we stayed for nearly a month on and off, I think this is the longest time in one place.  It's certainly a bit different from Paddo - the only thing in common is the trains that speed through the station are coming or going to Paddo!

I am getting to know a few of the locals, especially the landlord of the Cross Keys and his staff! Sammie is trying to shag every dog in the village, boy or girl, he isn't fussy.

Elaine took Bombo to the vets today to get his teeth cleaned.  Apparently they now put Shane Warne's nashers to shame!

Bombo was still a bit sore and was reluctant to flash his tonight !

Elaine will be back soon so we can plan our future cruising plans or whatever!

So to today's happening on the boat ... not a lot really!  I sanded down the rear deck with wet and dry and got another coat on before anyone came past for a chat, it is now acceptable.  Then it was the hoovering, washing clothes etc, riveting stuff!

I did have a quick chat to a couple of Aussies that cruised past on NB Matilda Blue, they have lived on the boat for seven years, the last five touring Europe.

The boat in front is waiting for his brother to join him - he has just flown in from Mexico Melbourne.  Another boat has pulled up behind flying a Aussie flag off the bow but I have't spoken to them yet. Bloody Aussies everywhere!

Now I am sitting down to a 'spag bol' then it's off to the pub ... as long as I don't act like Sammie I should be OK!

All Thatched Out!

We enjoyed our TV night last night - I gave up at midnight, whereas Elaine had a film fest and didn't crash till about 2 am!  She said she had been deprived for so long she needed to make up for it!

Consequently we had a stay put day today to explore Great Bedwyn.

Before we went out Bombo did his Churchill impersonation!
I dont mind, but how many times do you want to hear "We will fight them on the beaches yada yada yada" ...


Elaine tells me that this is horseradish?

Fine old 1964 Morris truck ...

The main drag through Great Bedwyn with thatched cottages aplenty ...

Picture perfect ...

It is a very nice little village, no tourists, just a couple of pubs, one general store, one strange post office (inclusive of a flea market), one bakery and finally a hairdressers.

Quick change of tack as we were buzzed by a very very low flying helicopter!

This was our favourite house in the village ...

A very famous person was born here ...

Yet more thatches ...

The old Rover again from yesterday, it looks like a daily driver ...

Cabbage white.....I hope!

Loved the bakery ...

Nice headstone outside the P.O. (there were a lot of them, for some reason!)

Probably the most unusual hairdressers building I have ever seen ...

The dogs were very excited looking into this graveyard, the reason being that there was a cat in it!  They live with three of the bloody things, yet they go mental when they see a strange one ...

Once back onboard the good ship it was time to give it a good clean.  Elaine attacked the floor like the good little scrubber that she is, whilst I cleaned the bathroom ...

Tonight we went up to The Cross keys for a swift one.  Nice pub, with friendly locals and most importantly dogs welcome!  Back on board now - had tuna pie for tea with a nice glass of white - maybe we will put the tele. on too ... high life or what !

Walking The Plank!

We went on our pub crawl around Hungerford last night - it was pretty quiet really.  We didn't find any pubs playing music either, never mind it was good to go out and have a few.

While walking the dogs this morning Elaine commented that she thought that Hungerford was a bit similar to some of the Aussie country towns that are full of antique shops ... then we spotted a chap sitting on a bench sporting a full mullet ... it really was country Australia!

Our plan for today was to stay in Hungerford and find a pub for a Sunday roast then we would move on to try and get a satellite signal as we wanted to watch Southcliffe tonight.  Pretty ironic really as we were in Hungerford (Southcliffe is about a chap who goes walking around his village blasting people with his shotgun).

Geoffrey was very comfy in his bed when we went out ...


These young chaps were playing soldiers in a field by the canal ...

We walked up to the Hungerford visitor moorings which were empty ...

The boys met some little friends ...

We went into the Sun Inn and had the most fantastic Sunday roast.  Elaine, being an ovo lacto pescatarian, had grilled fish but with all the roast trimmings.

This was the Sun Inn a few years ago ...

And today ...

We walked back to the boat via the town centre, they have painted the main railway bridge in the old Great Western Railway colours.

We left our mooring late afternoon in the search of a mooring in the sticks to get a good satellite signal.

This poor old lock cottage was in a very sorry state, but structurally it looked OK ...

We shared the locks with a family going to Great Bedwyn ...

The boys were resting in between locks ...

We passed Rock n Roll - George and Carol have let her go a bit!

It was yet another lovely summer's day.

More lovely lock settings - but there are a mighty lot of locks on this canal...and very few moorings, so on we went ...

We finally pulled up close to Great Bedwyn.  All the moorings in the village were full so we tied up amongst the reeds.  I read Maffi's blog the other day about a boater tying his boat to a tree...what a great idea, it's so simple ... no risk of smashing your your fingers bashing the pins in!

For the first time since we have been living aboard we deployed the plank, the boys had no problems with it.

 

First things first, set up the dish ... magic 90%
I left Elaine on the boat and took the dogs for a walk to Great Bedwyn ...

It was a stunning evening ...

Yet another fantastic little village ...

We will have a good look around tomorrow, we may even stay here for the day.

This Rover was parked in the street, I think it is a 8hp 1920s model, it all looked pretty original ...

OK nearly time for Southcliffe!