British Grand Prix, Silverstone

I mentioned in my last blog post that I'd been to Silverstone, so here are a few of the photos I took. Normal boating service will be resumed shortly.

The weather for the whole weekend was sunny and hot, just like it was the last time I came three years ago.  Friday evening saw the qualifying sessions for Saturday's "sprint qualifying".  Yes, qualifying for qualifying.  Lewis Hamilton emerged the fastest, with Max Verstappen second and Valteri Bottas third.
 

On the Saturday there was plenty of track action. I think this is a "Masters GT Challenge".

Back with Formula 1, whenever the British drivers Hamilton (of course), Lando Norris ...

... and George Russell came past the stands they were greeted with cheers and applause.

Verstappen won the sprint qualifying - a half-hour race with no scheduled pitstops - which gave him pole postion for the grand prix proper on the Sunday.

Before the race on Sunday Russell and Norris clearly enjoyed the fans' adulation.

For the race itself I was not in the best position as far as seeing action was concerned. There is only one of my photos half worth showing: Hamilton doing a victory lap with a borrowed Union flag after his controversial win (having taken off Verstappen with a collision in the first lap).

That's it from Silverstone until the next time. Meanwhile we are currently outside the closed Anchor pub at High Offley on the Shroppie.

Why did I photograph this boat?

We left Water Eaton on 21st June, moving the boat north to Downhead Park. Ally picked us up to take us to Cranfield, where we borrowed Ben's car and drove home for gardening etc. We were back on the boat on 24th June; we moved on to Giffard Park on 26th. Ally, Josiah and Micah came with us to the pub there, where we waited a very long time for the food to arrive. Not good.

For some reason I took a photo of this boat.  Too long ago for me to remember why,

By Sunday 4th July we had moved to our favourite spot just north of The Galleon in Old Wolverton. Over the next few days we did a lot more driving: to Essex, to Bedfordshire, to Norfolk, to Essex again and back to the boat on the Bucks/Northants border.

On Thursday 15th July we moved further north, to Grafton Regis.  This is so I could cycle to Silverstone for the Grand Prix weekend, as I did three years ago.  Photos to follow.  For now, though, a quick update on our current location:  Fradley, just above Shadehouse Lock on the T&M.

Water (Eaton) under the bridge

Woe is me! For I have not been keeping up to date with this here blog. And the further I get behind, the more difficult it is to remember what I did and when and where. And I just get out of the habit of doing it, which makes it even harder when I return to it. But enough excuses - that's water under the bridge. Here are some photos and words.

First, back to the middle of June.  Only last month, but it feels like half a year ago.  Here is a group of members of the Boaters' Christian Fellowship.. We had gathered at Water Eaton on the Grand Union Canal in south Milton Keynes in preparation for a few days of supporting the nearby churches in their work with local people.
 

This was to be a Covid-curtailed "dry run" for next year, when the idea would be for there to be much more publicity and greater involvement with the local community. Similar events in past years have seen schools invited for tours of boats, free short boat trips for members of the public, cream teas and so on. This year all our meetings were outside and socially distanced.

We were, however, able to offer boat trips for families or "bubbles"; I went as crew to help move the boat being used for this from Marsworth Junction to Water Eaton.  Here is a different John steering Beacon down Soulbury Three Locks.
 

The weather at the start of the week was perfect: warm with wall-to-wall sunshine.

Some of the eight BCF boats put up banners and bunting.

Eric steered Beacon for some of the boat trips.

Fuel boats Bletchley and Bideford passed through.

It was great to see our friends Steve and Sue who came for a cup of tea on board Jubilee one afternoon. I have known Steve all my life. Literally. His mother and my mother were in the same maternity ward; Steve and I were born two days apart.

I will try to be a good boy and compress five or six weeks into a few days, continuing tomorrow. We are currently at Marston Junction on the Coventry Canal heading north.