A blast from the past

Llangollen trip - probably 1983

I was recently sorting through some old prints of a canal trip I shared with three friends back in (I think) 1983. I think I was 22 at the time and we hired a boat from Meastermyn Cruisers sharing the week with John, who later was to be my best man, and Rod and Rita, mutual friends from Norwich.

It was an Easter trip and we had predictably mixed weather including snow on the Middlewich Branch.

The purpose of this post is mostly an act of self humiliation to show a very young me with a deplorable dress sense!

Cords and home made jumper - not a good look!

The odd thing is the image of me outside the shower. I look so thin but I distinctly remember feeling fat all through my adolescence and onwards..... youth is wasted on the young.

I am told that at the age of 57 I still adopt the same chest out pose!

It's interesting to note that at the time the lift bridges on the Llangollen were still made of wood and activated by hanging on a chain. I even found a photo of me reliving my childhood climbing up the counterbalance beams using the twin metal braces as handholds. 

As a teenager I often used to climb to the bridges, and shut them by running on the inclined deck, and then jumping off just before it slammed into the ground. In know, I know, very hard on the infrastructure and bad form to treat BW property in such a cavalier manner- but things seemed different back then.

It's funny which episodes stick in the mind. The boat must have had a TV because we watched Woody Allen's "The Sleeper" and if you have ever seen it you will realise why the very small loo was christened the Orgasmatron. Miss World must have been showing at the time as well because Rita, being a forward thinking lady, described it as a "meat market" and John and I spent the whole week winding her up by enthusing about its delights and merits.

Seeing these old photos from 35 years ago makes me realise what an enduring role the canals have played in my life.