Gloriana....
As this copy is being prepared, Gloriana has cruised on the Great River
Ouse, visiting Cambridge, Ely, and St Ives, and has travelled on to the
Grand Union Canal dropping down the Foxton flight. By the time you are
reading this we expect to be back in the Peak District. As you are able
to catch up with our present activities on-line at www.gloriana.me.uk,
my thoughts for now go back to 
this time last year when Gloriana finally
motored past the Houses of Parliament
Sunday 8th August 2010
It was great, finally to be leaving Limehouse Lock and moving out onto
the Thames. Warnings regarding the tidal flow as one entered the river,
for this morning at any rate, were overstated: the exit from Savick Brook
back in April had been, in my opinion, ten times as severe. However as
we approached Tower Bridge, a very sizeable catamaran trip boat came up
from the rear, necessitating my holding back to allow it to pass before
I followed it through the centre arch of the bridge. The wash created caused
significant rolling though this was minimised as I turned into it, changing
roll to bow/stern 'seesaw'. This was a manoeuvre required several times
in the subsequent hour, one of them being due to a wash of such magnitude
that we shipped some water in the cratch, wet bottoms all round!
The run from Limehouse to Westminster was exhilarating, though at no time
concerning; thereafter it was pretty 'quiet'. After Tower Bridge our first
notable landmark was The Prospect of Whitby, a dockside pub we used to
frequent in our late teens/early twenties (living as I did then in north
London) and which I last remember visiting with my brother, Greg (you may
know him), when he was on shore leave during his time in the Merchant Navy.
I do remember that as being the only occasion I have ever won money on
a fruit machine, indeed the only time I ever played a fruit machine: the
proceeds paid for our beer all evening!
The passage past the Houses of Parliament reminded me of my vision three
years earlier, as I stood with a friend on the opposite bank and contemplated
that day. Once we were past Westminster the river traffic seemed to disappear;
passing MI6 HQ, Chelsea Bridge, and Battersea Power Station (woefully derelict),
we and our companion narrowboat, Our One, were the only boats under way.
Other recognisable landmarks included Fuller's Brewery (oft' passed on
its road side), the boat race course, and, of course, Kew Gardens. Our
One, shortly afterwards, left us at Brentford Lock, and the last hour up
to Teddington was completed in solitary splendour.
Having moored just above
Teddington Lock, we retired to The Anglers, where Alan and Suzie, our guests
on board for the day, treated us to lunch.
A truly memorable day!
Nick Furr
