A wonderful couple of weeks, and it's handy at Priory Marina Bedford...

Goba Moorings, Bedford to Priory Marina, Gt River Ouse, 2 miles 1 lock

We did actually cruise to Bedford.. it was funny really.. We got to this bridge and it was really really low, so we took the canopy down.. no it wasn’t raining, it has been so hot that we have had the back canopy up to shade us from the sun.. anyway, the canopy came down, the chimney came off, along with the sky dish.. only to find that 100yds further on was yet another bridge off to the right just before the lock that takes you up to Bedford waterside.  That bridge was just 2.1m.. I think we could have got under it.. but my plants might not have, so we called it a day, much to the amusement of locals enjoying the sunshine on the banks as they watched us turn and return back and moor downstream of the first low bridge!!

I have ‘the photo of the summer’ of that bridge.. this is Chas on NB Moore to Life just about to go under it.. but hey he seems not to notice just how low it is… I wondered if he was going to duck or get a ducking in the water!!!!….

It’s a good job narrowboats are not too high!.. I took granddaughter Kiera into Bedford Town for a wander round.. she wanted a McDonalds.. well don’t most 8 year olds, and we enjoyed some time looking round the market and the shops.  Dad had given her some money when he delivered her to me for her annual weekly visit to grandma, and she found a couple of bits and bobs to purchase.  We sat and ate our McDonalds on Bedford Riverside..

Yes I had one too!

We then made our way back to Priory Marina to meet with Wendie, Danny and other granddaughter Niamh (pronounced Neeve) who would stay with us for the whole week.  We had a wonderful time in their company, they had brought their tent, and I had spied several places where we could moor and also ‘moor’ the tent.  It did work out very well, they could board NP in the morning and have the whole of the galley and saloon to themselves if they were early, but to be honest we all sort of woke at the same time.

We BBQed each evening.. I remember two evenings in a row though that I fetched the plates out and the bloomin’ rain came down!!   We managed ok, clearing the decks inside to find seats to enjoy some fine food.  The picture above is from what we have called “R Island”, a wonderful place just off the main river.  It’s like a lagoon as you can see in the pic above.

We have been in the company this week of weed cutters, and they were near the island while we were walking, so Ann of NB Moore2Life asked them if they would cut the weed from the ‘lagoon’ off the main river… next morning they obliged, making it much easier to extract the two boats from a very very weedy area

After a very enjoyable week, we moored once again on the GOBA moorings at Great Barford ready for ‘tent city’!  Over the weekend our travelling companions Chas and Ann had a visit from their son Chris and grandchildren Ben and Josh as well as Chas’s mum.  Other daughter Jennie arrived bringing her hubby Phil and the grandchildren Molly and Jessica.  My son Tony arrived by bus during Saturday afternoon.. there was no room in any cars for anyone to bring him up too!.. so last weekend between the two boats there were 17 people!!

Tents were erected and chairs set out.. you saw the pic yesterday.. the children all had a wonderful time as well as the adults.. Cricket, frizby, badminton, skittles.. even the children had a party on the Sunday morning with a lucky dip that Ann and I had got made up of all the shredded paper over the last 6 months.. loads of pressies for the little ones wrapped up.. red for the girls and blue for the boys.. pin the tail on the donkey which Chas drew very expertly!!

WOW!!  Just the best time ever we all had!

Today I used the new washing machines here in the Marina, very handy place this is, and the people here are sooooo friendly and helpful.  So all the bedding is washed and put away till the next time, curtains and cushion covers washed.  I like this Marina, it is one of the British Waterways ones.  They are so welcoming here….