Sandiacre church from the cut

A lovely view

A pool of dead trees a mile from Willington

What's in the water???

A novel piece of art in Burton town centrre

A Malt shovel and a pint

Post 13 - Moving on in every sense

The day after Sandra's funeral we sailed to Trent Lock for the night, to empty the loo and fill up with water. We were absolutely jiggered when we got there. I think everything caught up with us. I know we had to be extra vigilant as Marian was preoccupied, obviously, but locks are dangerous places if one doesn't keep one's focus.

When we began life on the cut we quickly decided to moor on a Friday and not sail again till the following Monday. The months between April and October see a huge increase of boats on the water but the weekends bring out the occasional boaters. It is just too busy so we find it more peaceful being moored. Plus of course it allows us to catch up with little jobs.

But we had to break our golden rule and sail on the Saturday as we had arranged to meet some people for a meal on the Sunday evening. It was bad enough sailing on the Saturday but it was the Bank Holiday weekend. Everywhere was so busy. Most of the locks we had to queue at and Willington was full of boats, we were fortunate to moor there. One local asked me if there was a regatta as he'd never seen so many boats.

We sailed on the Tuesday to Shobnall which is a mile from the town centre of Burton on Trent and moored there for a while. Marian went back to Somerset to see the children and meet some old friends for a meal and just do something different after all the months of pain and distress. I stayed with the boat to get a few things done. I visited the Marina there and asked if they could look at an issue I had with a little leaking diesel.

Shobnall mooring. A boat turning in a winding hole in front. Under the bridge to the right is the Marina and Marston Pedigree's museum

Steve who owns the Marina came a couple of days later to look at the issue and gave me a price which was extremely fair. The job not only took a bit longer than expected but he also identified a couple of things that given time would need swift attention. So he kindly fixed those and wouldn't take a penny more than his original quote, even though I offered more. Honesty, kindness and integrity are values still practised by some. I cannot recommend Shobnall Marina highly enough. Their work is excellent.

It's 25 years since we last visited Burton and the changes to the town centre are obvious and very well done. What surprised me, however, was the loss of so many pubs in the heart of the brewing industry. Now that is a real sign of the times. Sadly as many of us know a pub is more than a place to have a drink, it is a place where come together as a community and establish friendships. For some of the elderly it is perhaps one of the few places they can go and have some human contact. The demise of the English pub can only encourage further isolation in neighbourhoods. A community is not a community if everyone lives in isolation to others and is either not aware of others' needs or doesn't want to be involved.

Moored at Langley Mill basin. Sadly again for reasons RIP

The first baby Coot's we have ever seen

Part 12 - The reality of how brief our lives can be

Marian's twin sister Dee was found to have cancer in late October 2016 and was awaiting an appointment to discuss her results with an oncologist. Two days before she was due to meet him she took ill and was rushed to hospital as she had fluid round the heart, slowly squeezing it and which would have killed her if left unchecked.

We were over at Leighton Buzzard at the time, so Marian got a train to be at her bedside. The next four weeks were awful and we prayed that she might recover but things just kept getting worse. It was dreadful and we made effort to move and be at her side in the Derby hospital.

We got the boat to Weedon and I moored there whilst Marian went to spend time with her. Sadly she was able to be at her side when she died. Dee didn't die alone. A terrible time is always had when you lose someone you love, but this was her twin and I can't describe or truly understand the close bond they felt and shared. I'd known them both for 38 years. Marian was truly lost in her grief and although the immediacy of Dee's death was hard to both of us, it was magnified many times more for Marian.

We had tired to reach the Erewash canal as Dee lived 4 miles from Ilkeston but only managed Loughborough. We sailed 55 miles and encountered 36 locks in four and a half days to try and reach there, sailing as dawn rose and until the night closed but the strong winds over the Trent thwarted us from going further. The physical aspect of this helped to focus our minds away a little from the raw grief.

Dee was head of pastoral care at a school in the town and two former pupils said of how she had helped them when they had been feeling suicidal. She did much with her life to help others. It still doesn't seem real.

Dee's funeral was on the 29th December and the church was full.

Worse was to come when our sister in law Sandra, who lived in the same village announced her cancer had returned. just before the funeral. Sandra became ill quickly and like Dee never seemed to get over one thing before another developed. For us as well as the family's involved it was difficult to grieve for Dee when at the same time there were such worries for another young woman.

Sandra's funeral was on the 27th April and again the church was full. She too was a lovely woman and we had known her almost as long as we've been together.

Dee was just 59 and Sandra was but 54. Taken to early.  RIP

But a mention for the CRT officer whose area the Erewash is. Stuart was most supportive and helped us enormously by allowing us to stay on the stretch of water much longer than we'd originally intended. It was an act of kindness well received.