Cheshire cat - and dog

Linda the lockie was on duty when we came up Hurleston on Friday and it was a chance for a natter and a catch-up. Of course the big news is that she and partner Mark have taken over narrowboat hire outfit Cheshire Cat – so while shepherding boats safely and considerately through the flight, Linda is also fretting about whether her customers are having a good time. She desperately wants them to enjoy themselves and to have a positive experience of the canals so you can only imagine her reaction when she got a hysterical call from one of their first hirers – “we’ve crushed the dog between the bank and the boat”. It transpired that the dog – as is their custom – had attempted to follow its owner as he jumped off the boat but didn’t make it. Poor pooch then got walloped by the boat as it thrashed around in the water but proving that it’s not only cats – Cheshire or otherwise – that have nine lives, the dog escaped albeit with a broken leg. I’m pleased to report that the vets in Trevor promptly attended to the limb, the patient is now doing well and the hirers, on their return to base, said that they’d had a fantastic time notwithstanding. Now that’s the spirit, isn’t it? Makes you wonder about the odd miserable sod you see cruising for whom travelling our wonderful waterways seems more like a penance than a pleasure.

How can you not love doing this?