Corner

When we first began boating, I could never understand why some boaters would moor up in, what seemed to me, the most inconvenient places – right next to a bridge hole, opposite some huge stand of foliage sticking out into the cut or, most commonly, right on a tight bend. Later I drew the conclusion that, at least in part, it's a way of ensuring that passing traffic slows right down to a crawl, which it is supposed to do, for the sake of the moored boat. It's a trade-off, of course, between that and the increased danger of actually being hit by something coming by.

That a hire-boat following us from Hillmorton today had caught us up suggested to me that they were going a tad faster that they oughta! Then we came to a bend with a moored boat and, after the bend, a day-boat with a merry party out from Rose Narrowboats. I said to my best beloved, I said: "There's going to be trouble!" And there was. I told the skipper of the day-boat there was another boat behind, and he attempted to take appropriate action. However:

I think they avoided a major collision, but the boats were at all the wrong angle and it took some serious disentangling before they could all get on with their day!

As for ourselves, we had some good help at Hillmorton locks today, from Kev,

and Chris.

So they get today's honourable mention. Thank you, guys!