Fri 19th June
Hopwas
We had a short notice meeting at 10am to sort out what was
happening with visits from the local school. We had four boats open: Remus,
Gospel Belle, Essence and Ultreya. John
Froggatt arrived, and was superb escorting the children from boat to boat,
asking them questions as he did so.
James was asked to organise the afternoon visits, so he
appointed a group leader for each group, and gave each leader a list of the
boats in order. He wielded a football rattle to signify the end of each seven
minute session. It seemed to work well.
Impromptu team
meeting
Children visiting the
boats
Off to the next boat
We all walked up the hill to St Chads for the official team
meeting, and we went through what was planned for the rest of the mission. What we had thought was us delivering a folk
night at the Three Tuns on Saturday, we were now told was also a karaoke
evening! Clarification needed.
Over twenty of us ended up at the Red Lion for a meal. The service was fast, and the food was good.
No boating today
Sat 20th June
Hopwas to Fazeley
We did not take part in the men’s breakfast, as we figured
that some boats needed to leave earlier, to avoid queues at the sanitary
station in Fazeley.
The forecast was wet, but we managed to cruise in the dry,
seeing a green woodpecker and some goldfinches in the short one-hour cruise to
Fazeley.
On the way to Fazeley
We emptied cassettes and rubbish but decided not to bother
with water as there were people waiting and we had enough.
We moored opposite the Three Tuns, where there was a small
thicket for Hugo to explore. We visited
the new wool and craft shop in Tolson’s Mill, which was excellently presented.
Hazel bought some wool for a hat, and was given the pattern and decorative
roses for it.
We then went to see the landlord at the Three Tuns to find
out what was happening this evening. He
wasn’t there so we waited for him for 45 minutes. We did notice a sign saying “Open Mic” on the third Saturday of
the month.
While we were there, John Halford came and found us to say
that we were wanted for a sound check on the stage in the field. “Stage?” we
said. “Sound check?” We hadn’t realised that we were meant to be singing in the
Millfield at this open air event. We thought it was going to be stalls and
games. So we told the bar lady that we
couldn’t wait any longer, and we went to collect our instruments from the boat.
By the time we arrived at the field the PA man had gone for
lunch. There were four mics set up, as
well as a puppet theatre. The man from Peel Puppets gave us the running order:
Puppets first, followed by dancers, followed by dogs, followed by us for 15
minutes, followed by more puppets.
Event in Fazeley
Millfield
We got our instruments in tune and eventually we had our
sound check. It had been raining intermittently, so we tried out “Rhythm of the
Rain”, whereupon John and Jan heard us through the speakers, and came to join
us. We tried “Oh When the Saints”. When
we had finished, and were wandering round the stalls, people were saying “Are
you going to sing again?” “Yes, that
was just the sound check.”
When we finally sang, we chose Joshua fought the battle of
Jericho, the Banks of the Ohio (with a short gospel message attached), Tell the
world Jesus Christ was his name, and Everybody’s gonna be so beautiful in
heaven. During the first song we had a
heavy downpour of rain, and everyone rushed into the shelter of the gazebos
opposite, which meant they could all hear us.
During the last song the PA system failed due to the rain. It was only off for a minute or two, and by
that time the puppets were ready to go on again.
We took our instruments to the Three Tuns, where we were
able to speak to the Landlord. We
discovered that they were expecting us, and we would sing as part of the
regular open mic night. We would have
four mics. We then moved the boat across the canal and moored outside the
pub.
Colin was the organiser and “resident” singer, and he
started off with some very loud material, none of which we recognised. Then he arranged the PA for us and we sang
four songs. It was hard work, as many people were not there for the music, and
were in loud conversation. Some were doing a tour of CAMRA pubs. However, there
were two or three who were listening and responding, and one requested “Streets
Of London”. We said we could do it in our second set. After our set Colin sang
again for 45 minutes before getting a young lady up to sing. Again she had to battle against the loud
volume of chatter. When we asked Colin
if we were to do a second set, he said we wouldn’t be needed as he had a lot of
people to get on! We decided to leave
at that point, as conversation was difficult and our voices needed protecting.
We moved the boat back across the canal where it a little
more peaceful for Hugo.
0 locks, 3 miles
Sun 21st June
Fazeley
We started the day with the usual mission-style 8am prayer
meeting, where we led a couple of songs without PA. We were given news of Ernie, and were told it was doubtful if he
would be at the baptism service as he is in and out of hospital having
chemotherapy.
8am meeting in the Litchfields garden at Fazeley
However, Ernie was determined, and he was there at the
baptism service, six years on from when he became a Christian at a previous
mission in Fazeley. It was very moving
to see him being helped in and out of the pool.
Baptism vows
On screen so everyone could see
We had been asked to bring our own picnic afterwards, rather
than bring and share. There was still a bit of sharing going on, particularly
with those who hadn’t brought anything.
Sandra had provided strawberries and scones, and there was a baptism
cake. It was good to see Alan and
Geraldine Ensink there. It was Alan who had finally led Ernie to the Lord.
Henry, Jack and Lin
Chris and Diana
Later, after a short visit to the local Tesco, we went to
Tolson’s Mill Café for tea and questions.
Tea and questions at
Tolson’s Mill
We had the evening off.
No boating today
Mon 22nd June
Fazeley
At the 8am prayer meeting today we planned the mega school
visits – 240 children in small groups, visiting three boats each, with six available
boats. James was in charge in the
afternoon, and every group had a leader with an itinerary, all carefully
planned. All went well until one group went to the wrong boat, and one group of
kids had no boat to go to. A quick
request to Jubilee had it sorted out, with a group of kids on board and a talk
being given at 30 seconds notice.
Visitors on Kew
School visits in
Fazeley
Don and Celia arrived after some business visits to foreign
places.
No boating today
Tue 23rd June
Fazeley to Glascote
At the 8am prayer meeting, the word was given by Adrian
Dann. It is good to have some people taking part who are new to BCF missions.
Some boats went to Bonehill Bridge for more school visits.
Before setting of for the next mission place, many boats had
to use the facilities. We were waiting
for another boat to finish, and pass us before reversing up there. When the
boat drew alongside, we saw it was Balmaha, with Mo and Ness. We haven’t seen them since we first met up
with them on the Fens four years ago.
Mo and Ness on Balmaha
When we finally made it back to the facilities we discovered
that the Elsan disposal unit was blocked, with a notice attached saying it
would be fixed in 24 hours. “24 hours from when?” was the important question.
Thankfully some urgency had been given to it and it was sorted within half an
hour.
As we were not needed for the infants visit later, we set
off for Glascote, hoping to avoid a long lock queue. We crossed the River Tame on an aqueduct.
When we arrived at the locks we discovered Balmaha, Ultreya,
Mistol, in front of us, with Solar Kingfisher and Essence following on
behind. David Brennand spent a lot of
time on the locks helping us all through.
Glascote locks
At Glascote we were all moored up in a long line.
Cider with Rosie went past – the guy knows Mick Wilson, who fitted out our boat.
Next: part 2: Glascote to Tamworth
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