with this place though. Maybe they figured it wasn’t worth the bother, but there’s a canny pantry full of stuff in the kitchen. You’re welcome to take some; I’ve stocked up my room with more than enough to last my lifetime.
We followed Edd to the kitchen which was on the ground floor. Sure enough, the pantry was stocked with catering sized tins and dried goods. Edd also showed us where there were some granny type shopping trollies we could use to transport the stuff. We loaded up a trolley each and also asked Edd for some spare bedding which we got from the laundry room.
Why don’t you join us, I had asked him and the rest of the guys had agreed. He had been there by himself for almost two years now. But he was adamant that he wanted to stay. I’m eighty eight years old and I’ve been living in this home for the last twenty of them, I’m just fine where I am he had said.
We had tried to talk him round, the more experience the better we’d learned on our journey so far, and we knew Edd would add value to our group. We were now in a world without technology and we were going to need old timers like Edd to show us how things had been done before.
We left him some shot gun cartridges and a spare radio. It should work for about thirty miles or so, so if you change your mind, just give us a shout we had told him.
We stayed and had a drink with Edd and then he showed us out again. As we passed the living area I couldn’t help a little smile to myself. All the residents Zimmer frames were lined along one wall. Walkers, I thought!
Chapter Forty Six
We loaded the supplies onto our boats and set off again. We made great progress the rest of that day. The canal once again had a much more rural feel to it after we’d left the junction at Stockingfield. Once we’d passed through Bishopbriggs we were well and truly out in the countryside again. At Cadder we passed through a pleasant wooded area with wonderful picturesque views of the Kelvin valley to the north. We continued east from Townhead Bridge and under another bridge before safely navigating our way through Wyndford lock. We carried on a few miles further east before mooring up for the rest of the afternoon and that night. There were thirteen more locks leading down into Falkirk left to navigate at that point and they would take us back into built up areas again, but once we were through them we would be back at the coast again.
We all met up on the Hue as we did every night back then and discussed our plan of action for the following day. There was no way we were going to be able to take the Hue into the North Sea. It couldn’t run by itself and it would have been impossible to tow it in the sea. We had also doubted whether or not we would be able to take the Gamebird out into open waters too. It would be too risky for anyone on board. The Saltwind and the Hope were fishing vessels that we had used many times before, so we knew we could use them. But we were heading into autumn then and the weather was so interchangeable and there was no cover on them for more than a couple of people in each cab.
We decided to strip the Hue of what we needed from it the following morning and take the other three boats. That way we could move quicker and if we found something better, we’d leave the Gamebird too. We were going to be heading for the coast, so we hoped that we would find something suitable on the way, after all once we were on the Firth of Forth there would be many harbours both small and large, so there was sure to be something.
Chapter Forty Seven
The following morning we stripped the Hue as planned. Anthony and Becky joined Paul and Sophie on the Hope and Margret and Maddison joined David and Sandie on the Saltwind. This meant that mine and Lia’s families could squeeze onto the Gamebird and at least we’d be able to keep the children warm and comfortable for a day longer. We did our best to build some temporary shelters on the back on the Saltwind and
We followed Edd to the kitchen which was on the ground floor. Sure enough, the pantry was stocked with catering sized tins and dried goods. Edd also showed us where there were some granny type shopping trollies we could use to transport the stuff. We loaded up a trolley each and also asked Edd for some spare bedding which we got from the laundry room.
Why don’t you join us, I had asked him and the rest of the guys had agreed. He had been there by himself for almost two years now. But he was adamant that he wanted to stay. I’m eighty eight years old and I’ve been living in this home for the last twenty of them, I’m just fine where I am he had said.
We had tried to talk him round, the more experience the better we’d learned on our journey so far, and we knew Edd would add value to our group. We were now in a world without technology and we were going to need old timers like Edd to show us how things had been done before.
We left him some shot gun cartridges and a spare radio. It should work for about thirty miles or so, so if you change your mind, just give us a shout we had told him.
We stayed and had a drink with Edd and then he showed us out again. As we passed the living area I couldn’t help a little smile to myself. All the residents Zimmer frames were lined along one wall. Walkers, I thought!
Chapter Forty Six
We loaded the supplies onto our boats and set off again. We made great progress the rest of that day. The canal once again had a much more rural feel to it after we’d left the junction at Stockingfield. Once we’d passed through Bishopbriggs we were well and truly out in the countryside again. At Cadder we passed through a pleasant wooded area with wonderful picturesque views of the Kelvin valley to the north. We continued east from Townhead Bridge and under another bridge before safely navigating our way through Wyndford lock. We carried on a few miles further east before mooring up for the rest of the afternoon and that night. There were thirteen more locks leading down into Falkirk left to navigate at that point and they would take us back into built up areas again, but once we were through them we would be back at the coast again.
We all met up on the Hue as we did every night back then and discussed our plan of action for the following day. There was no way we were going to be able to take the Hue into the North Sea. It couldn’t run by itself and it would have been impossible to tow it in the sea. We had also doubted whether or not we would be able to take the Gamebird out into open waters too. It would be too risky for anyone on board. The Saltwind and the Hope were fishing vessels that we had used many times before, so we knew we could use them. But we were heading into autumn then and the weather was so interchangeable and there was no cover on them for more than a couple of people in each cab.
We decided to strip the Hue of what we needed from it the following morning and take the other three boats. That way we could move quicker and if we found something better, we’d leave the Gamebird too. We were going to be heading for the coast, so we hoped that we would find something suitable on the way, after all once we were on the Firth of Forth there would be many harbours both small and large, so there was sure to be something.
Chapter Forty Seven
The following morning we stripped the Hue as planned. Anthony and Becky joined Paul and Sophie on the Hope and Margret and Maddison joined David and Sandie on the Saltwind. This meant that mine and Lia’s families could squeeze onto the Gamebird and at least we’d be able to keep the children warm and comfortable for a day longer. We did our best to build some temporary shelters on the back on the Saltwind and
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