This summer my daughter had a party in Tonbridge for 2 hours, which left me with my 2 four year olds for a couple of hours, and nowhere to go! So we walked to the castle for a little look, and that’s where we spotted a little line of rowing boats neatly moored up next to the Castle Bridge on the River Medway. Obviously, we couldn’t walk away once we’d spotted them!
The rowing boats (and one motor cruiser) belong to Tonbridge River Trips. I chatted briefly to the nice gentleman and he fitted the kids up with appropriate life jackets and off we went. He asked me ‘Have you ever rowed before?’… to which I replied ‘Not really’ with a wink, haha. He would find out later, when I tagged his small business on twitter that I have an obsession with water, and given the chance I would probably row across the Atlantic!
One of my good friends (a Clipper training crew mate) lives in the beautiful Norfolk Broads, and he invited me for a day of sailing on the broads. We hired an absolutely stunning traditional Gunter Rig half decker sailing boat (Rebel) from Hunter’s Yard, Ludham. She is the fastest boat in their fleet and is nearly 100 year’s old.
I took my children for a walk in the beautiful Warwickshire countryside, to explore the canal network and have a look at the infamous Hatton Locks.
Hatton Locks – the view upstream
Hatton Locks consist of a flight of 21 locks, built in c.1930. The locks are incredible. We parked roughly mid-flight near the café and pub (which I highly recommend), and although it sounds obvious – looking upstream or downstream all you can see is locks. It is simply amazing, quite a site. And a feat of modern engineering that should not be underestimated.
