Good morning early birds!

[waterboatman]

It's Saturday! A wee bit of frost this morning. I have no intention of going out early today.

Yesterday went very well. everything went like a well maintained engine. Perseverance behaved like the lady she is. The Princess Royal was in a very good mood and enjoyed herself. When she arrived the boat was in the lock. the bottom gates were open so there was a big drop for anyone who went too close to the edge. she looked down and said 'That's a big step!' I said 'We'll see what we can do about that.' She laughed and went on into the Visitor Centre. When she came back to the lock, we had shut the bottom gates and fill the lock so that the boat was level with the top. as she stepped up to the mike I said 'We've lowered the step a bit.' She laughed and said 'Thank you.' She then unveiled a plaque on the wall to officially open the lock. she then boarded the boat for the short (three minute) trip to the bridge, where the boat stopped in the right place in the middle of the canal , where The Princess was able to cut the ribbon across the entrance to the bridge to a wave of cheering from the public. The boat then proceeded through the bridge to a temporary mooring the other side. She walked back to her car and went on to officially open our new hospital in Dursley. A busy lady. We then took the boat back to the lock where she was lifted out of the water onto a lorry to go back to her home mooring on the Gloucester and Sharpness canal at Saul junction. We then went and had a meal that was provided by the Lockkeeper's Cafe.
A good day all round.
Have a happy day everyone.

[MarkRae]

Morning WBM.

[Andyvon]

Morning WB.

Sounds like you had a great and memorable day. My wife and I met on a narrowboat years ago when we were doing a BWB skippers certificate. I'm pleased you didn't have too much ice. I remember breaking our way through that a few times on the Grand Union.

Hope you have a good day today - and stay nice and warm.

[tamborine]

Morning WBM. Rubbing shoulders with the hoy palloy now....good on ya. Open those gates to increase the flow down here.

[Zhukov]

Good morning,W/bm and all,

..happy the weekend is here,not so much the chilly conditions..

I"m glad everything went to plan for you Boaty,sounds like a good day for all involved!Rubbing shoulders with Royals,eh!..the Princess Royal does strike me as a "good egg"though,and can mix fun,with the formalities!

[waterboatman]

Morning all. It was a good day indeed. I've met the princess several times, she is a lovely lady, she like to meet 'real' people.
By the time we had finished various bits of body were protesting, so I'm going to have a lazy day today.

[MarkRae]

Tambo, I think you're perhaps slightly confused about what 'hoi polloi' means :-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoi_polloi

[Zhukov]

Same lazy day for me..in fact,just off to bed.

Excitement begins tomorrow..with a trip to Brum,to see if our boys can sort out the Superstars of Man.City..wish us luck..we might need a large slice! :-)

[waterboatman]

Go for it Zhu. I wish you all the best.

[Zhukov]

:-)

[Noraq]

Good Morning all...
Glad everything went well for you wbm....
I wore a posh frock and hat for you yesterday =)

[waterboatman]

Morning Nora. xxx Thank you my dear. The boat looked very smart, we didn't look too bad either! :o}

[Noraq]

any pics available wbm?

[waterboatman]

In the press, The Stroud Life took plenty of my talking to the Mayor. Google that you may see something.

[Noraq]

That's a Weekly Tabloid wbm...I'll keep a 'watching brief' on it and let you know the 'verdict' =)

[Andyvon]

I've just seen the pictures WBM. They show the Princess Royal opening the Brewery Bridge. She's sitting in the stern of the boat under a green tarp with four chaps in suits and one wearing a fluorescent jacket. There were lots of people on the bridge and canal bank. It looks very cold so I'm pleased you were all obviously well wrapped up. A great experience though so I hope you enjoyed it.

[Noraq]

...off to visit the Googlies again

[Noraq]

...any chance of a link Andyvon?

[joggerjayne]

Hello x

[MarkRae]

Hello.

[waterboatman]

Morning Andy. A link please?