I wonder if Charley would remember the day that he and I went canoeing on the canal in Loughborough?
Charley and his father had built a canvas clad canoe in the garage next to their house. Having tested it and been satisfied with the result, they embarked on building a second example, and so both constructions were now suspended side by side in the garage roof.
During the school holidays we took both canoes on two small
trolleys to the Grand Union Canal Wharf on
We set off and after about half a mile we came upon a couple of teenage girls walking the tow path and ready to call out to us as we passed by. Charley, being very much more forward than me, invited them to come on board. I was a bit concerned, but never-the-less they would love a trip to Barrow, about three miles distant. Now there were now four of us.
Arriving at the first lock however, we considered just what getting past it might entail. We all managed to get out of the canoes safely and inspected the lock. It was too daunting a task to be undertaken safely. We sat for a short while on the grass chatting, before re-embarking for the journey back to Loughborough.
On getting back and saying goodbye, the question of who could swim came up. It turned out that Charley was the only one amongst us that could.
Returning to the garage, and re-establishing the canoes in the roof space, we decided it would be better not to mention the day’s adventure to our respective parents.
We never heard from the girls again. Perhaps their parents had just ‘killed them!’
David Taylor
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