Weather and Albions

"We're off to London on the boat tomorrow" I said yesterday. "Are you mad?" said Steve at the boatyard, "Haven't you seen the weather forecast? Torrential rain, gales and all that"

Well I had read the weather forecast, but Steve like so many others (grrrr) hadn't. If people bothered to look up a proper local met office forecast, they wouldn't so often say that they had got it wrong. The forecast for where we were going, ie along the Paddington arm past Northolt was spot on. We had a stormy night, then a bright sunny morning with the wind strengthening in the afternoon, just like it said. We didn't get a spot of rain and the solar panel was earning it's keep when we arrived here.

Anyway, here we are half way into London at our traditional stopover at the Black Horse at Greenford. The fumes from the nearby samosa factory taunt us as usual and as a special treat we also get whiffs of roasting coffee blown all the way from the Nescafé factory near Bulls Bridge.

Talking of Bulls Bridge, as we were heading for it, we spied a tasty little tug coming in the opposite direction. I like tugs, and this one had the name I might well have chosen for our boat had it not already been called Herbie. That name is Albion. I once had a great trip aboard HMS Albion a commando /helicopter carrier many years ago travelling from Portsmouth to Rosyth. I also used to be great fan of perhaps the second best Morris side I ever saw, Albion Morris. (The best was Gloucester Old Spot Morris -see them and you'd realise what Morris was all about).

Anyway this smart little tug drew alongside and her skipper shouting against wind called out "I read your blog".

Hello Mr Albion, love your boat.

 

Posted with Blogsy