Bartimaeus

Yesterday morning after breakfast, Clare mentioned that she wanted to find a post box as early as we could.  We identified one a few miles ahead near the canal, but decided that rather than take half the day to get there, we should cycle there immediately.  We got the tandem out and set off in the sunshine.

The towpath was easy cycling most of the way, except for some slightly awkward bits around the locks.  However when we arrived at Swindon (other Swindons are available) there was a particularly awkward gate to get on to the road.

Initially Clare thought it was fixed in place, but I correctly guessed that it was on a hinge.  She pushed it to its full extent in one direction and I was able to get the front of the tandem through.

Clare's saddle however was too high to get under.  With a little more effort I was able to close the top part of the gate with the front handlebars outside the contraption, which then allowed the second saddle through.  It was a short ride to the post box.  We took advantage of the convenience store to buy some milk and then returned to the inconvenient gate.  I tried and failed to go forwards through it, but was easily able to get the tandem through backwards.

We got back to the boat in warm sunshine and considered moving on.  I had remembered that the weather forecast had a midday shower in it, so we decided to have lunch first.  The shower was quite brief, but very heavy - we were glad we weren't travelling in it.  The forecast also had heavy showers for the following day, so we decided to stay in this pleasant spot for another day.

After dinner I suggested a circular walk, starting along a path leading from the bridge over the lock.  The start of the path was very overgrown despite a tarmac surface, but looked passable.

After a little distance, we found that the vegetation had been cut back very thoroughly on both sides revealing that we were on a narrow road.  The work all looked very recent, at which point I remembered hearing machinery during the day.  Perhaps this was as far as they'd got and we could expect more.

The showers in the forecast started arriving mid-morning today and continued frequently for the rest of the day.  We stayed in the boat for much of the time, but I did venture out to investigate the trimming.  I could see and hear a number of workers in bright orange cutting and shredding along the lane.

They managed to have their lunch break during a warm and sunny period, but were back at work when the next shower came over.  Inspired by their activity, I took advantage of a quiet afternoon to cut my hair.  When the workers had gone for the day we went out to admire their work.

The next shower was imminent, and I had seen from the rain radar that it was likely to be very heavy.  We were safely back inside before it started, but we would have been soaked in seconds if we had been caught out.

The rain we've had today won't be enough to make up for the short-fall in June, never mind July and August.