What a delight to go slow on a glorious summer day on a barge down the Basingstoke Canal. The boat trip is one of the public cruises offered by the Basingstoke Canal Society, a registered charity run by a bunch of enthusiastic volunteers. The cruise that we took ran from Colt Hill in Odiham, Hampshire to the Odiham Castle and back, a distance of 1.6 miles as the crow flies but took 2.5 hours on the barge.
It was nice to travel with my beloved companion again.
For once I did not carry my camera and relied solely on my iPhone 6 Plus. I noticed that I have begun to use my smartphone more and more to capture scenery on my trips - is it laziness or convenience?
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| Aboard the John Pinkerton II barge |
The first thing I noticed was the snail pace; much more fun when I stepped onto the deck to watch the world go by. The Hampshire country side, spread out under an azure blue sky, stretched as far as the eyes could see, a perfect antidote to the stress of modern life.
The second thing was the powerful visual impression made by a traditionally decorated narrow boat - a riot of colours, painted all over the boat in increasingly layers of complexity. In the photo above, a water can sat atop the boat, complete with the boat's name. Such a water can was once used to carry water since in the horse-drawn boat era some canal water was so polluted that it was not suitable for horses to drink from the canal! And so the tradition carries on to this day.
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| A cantilever bridge that had to be pulled up to allow the boat to pass |
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| The skipper turning round the boat on its return journey |
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| Odiham Castle or King John's Castle |
We got off at the Odiham Castle to allow the crew to turn round the boat on its return journey. What remains today is the three storied keep of stone and flint. It was built around 1207 by King John as a hunting lodge while on his journeys from Windsor to Winchester. The King made history when he rode from this castle at Odiham to Runnymede near Windsor, to set his seal on The Magna Carta.
By far the sight that pleased me most was the profusion of yellow irises on the banks of the river. I love irises. The yellow flowers stand out among the duller weeds and sedges and I was most tempted to collect a few for the home but desisted from plundering the country side.
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| Bright yellow irises along the river banks |
A haiku from the Cotswold Canal, a sublime image of summer, dragonflies and lazy days.
What joy to receive
from each towpath dragonfly
its dismissive glance.
