Elland was legged through Blisworth Tunnel, before being towed by Bilbo the horse.
Bilbo looked splendid in his harness, with Sue Day following on behind.
There were crowds of people over the weekend, no doubt brought out by the weather. We were up with the working boats and David and Elaine on NB Patience who we are crusing with this summer were on the long pound, but we got to see each other over the weekend. We were fortunate to meet up with Al and Del from NB Derwent6 , and a good time was had with them all over the weekend. Hilary and Andy off of NB The Maisibert also came and joined in, it was lovely to see them both again. We also got to meet up with the Pinnock family again with their boats Alder, Clover and Fazeley. It is always a pleasure to be in their company.
Hadar and I were well protected by the Pitsford Home Guard who were on patrol, looking out for a German attack.
What no one expected was a pirate attack, which crept into the festival onboard Historic Working Boat George, one of the last remaining Royalty Class. The pirates were about to empty peoples pockets of their loose change in aid of the "Friends of the Museum".
What was so wonderful, were the amount of people crowding into Stoke Bruerne over the weekend. The place was heaving at times.
But when the festival closed down for the day, peace and tranquility was restored.
On Friday evening we got our dinner from the fish and chip van. They were excellent. We were then entertained by Ramshackle a folk group. It was wonderful to be amongst friends enjoying a evening of singing and laughter. Saturday evening a B-B-Q was laid on, but Keith and I ate onboard Hadar as we had plenty of food. After dinner we joined Elaine, David, Al and Del and the Pinnocks at the entertainment tent for the evening. Music was played by Suffolk N' Watt who were excellent. They were so good that we were all joining in with most of the songs played, it was a complete blast. Hilary and Andy joined us a little later as they had been having a few problems with their boat. Sunday after the festival closed down we had dinner then headed to The Boat Inn to meet up with Elaine, David, Al and Del for a last get together before we would all go our seperate ways. We are now at High House for a couple of days, before we leave on the next leg of our Summer cruise with Elaine and David. As I type Elaine has just delivered our post, so I am off to open the box. I may possibly post again when we get to Stratford-upon-Avon, I will wait for the next urge to come over me. Happy cruising.
