It was only in the very last week of our holiday that the weather decided to play fair and show us that the sun really can shine in England too, sometimes. Sadly the sunshine didn’t start until Tuesday so the Children’s Festival on Monday was held in cool and showery weather. It was such a shame because everyone had made an enormous effort to build floats of a very high standard, and outfits that were never really intended to get wet. Even so, it was a joyful event with five brass bands from the surrounding towns and villages all blasting away with great vigour; the smallest children, well wrapped-up waving from the floats; and bigger children marching along in groups that represented various activities in the towns – swimming club; karate club; Morris dancing; gymnastics; majorettes and so on. The townsfolk turned out in force to cheer them on as they paraded through the streets and there was a great atmosphere of bonhomie. As the route circled the centre of town, it was possible to cheer while they went past on one side then quickly cut through a narrow lane and be ready to cheer them again when they appeared on the other side of town. After two circuits of town they all withdrew to the playing field near the centre for the judging of the floats, then in the evening they did it all again with the addition of a fair number of adults in fancy dress. A wonderful spirit was shown by all who took part, and by all who looked on. In spite of the crowds, I never saw a policeman or in fact anyone who appeared to be in charge of crowd control. How marvellous!
When the following day promised to be a good one, we again had an early lunch then jumped aboard the ‘Melody Scott 11’ and went for another dreamy drift on the canal, this time in the other direction. Not as pretty as the route towards Lancaster but very interesting and again we saw masses of birdlife. The humpy-back bridges fascinated me and when we got home and I downloaded my afternoon’s photographs, I realised that I had taken about twenty shots, just of bridges! But they are so attractive and each one seems prettier than the last. We stopped off and had an early supper at a place called Guy’s Thatched Hamlet, which sounds like a little village but is, in fact, a pub that grew. It is on the canal bank, so is very convenient to boaters, but is also close to a fairly major road so is accessible by car too. The pub is surrounded by a mass of little buildings that look like old shops and houses, and while the shops really are shops with ancient-looking fronts, the houses are really accommodation for tourists and holiday-makers, and are very nice inside.
The following day some friends came up from Warrington for lunch, which was a good choice of day as it was quite cold, blowing and wet. Indoors, of course, we were very snug with the central heating on.
Thursday again looked as if it was going to be miserable all day, but our hosts were determined to make the most of what little time we had left so we went for a drive around all the back lanes all the way up to the Lakes. Every now and again we got a glimpse of what a stunning area they live in and how much history there is to be seen and enjoyed. We had lunch in Hawes, a delightful village next to a large cheese factory, and visited the factory afterwards. The varieties of cheese made are mind-blowing. I think this particular place made about thirty different cheeses, and they were all delicious.
On Friday morning, I begged the morning off to pack, but in the afternoon the wind dropped completely, the sun came out and it was a simply beautiful day, so we packed a coolbag and jumped into the boat again. This time we took the Lancaster route again, but turned around halfway there, found some picnic tables and chairs on the canal bank and sat and ate our supper in the lovely slanting evening light. It was a fitting end to our time in England because we left the next day and by Sunday were sleeping in our own beds again.. We were sad to have to say goodbye, but happy to be coming home to see our family again. And, of course, there is always next time………!
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