Donna The Duck

The Chronicles of Donna the Duck:

Chapter 10: THAMES TALES

She looked rather ruffled and flustered and seemed very relieved to be back in her quarters again,  I will never know what caused her to fly out onto open water that time, it was the first and only time she ever did it.  At least it shows that she stayed in her cockpit by choice as she clearly had the ability to leave at any time she should so wish.

The days on the Thames could not have been as pleasant for Donna as those on the canal had been. Some moorings were unsuitable for letting her swim free,so she had to make do with a stroll on the bank with the dogs. The weather was much cooler so the front doors of the boat stayed shut leaving her on her own more. When bored she would settle in a corner, put her beak under her wing and sleep.  I would often sit with her, watching the scenery glide by, she seemed to like this as she would stand at my side, chittering away as I stroked her.  Sometimes I would have her on my knee so she could see the world go by.  This she loved too, but as we passed geese or other ducks she took surprisingly little interest.

The scenery on the Thames is spectacular especially the luxurious mansions with velvety lawns sweeping down to the river.  The locks are certainly in  keeping with this splendour.  Unlike the canal locks which you operate yourself, the Thames locks are operated by Thames Conservancy Lock keepers in their smart black and white uniforms complete with peaked cap.  If you needed to pass through a lock when the keeper was off duty you could operate it yourself but it was extremely hard work, so you usually arranged to go through in working hours when the keeper operated the lock electrically.  The locks and surrounding gardens are all show pieces and the lock keepers vie with each other for an Annual Trophy for Best Kept Lock.  The lock keepers houses are all attractive, the gardens were full of colourful flowers with crisp neat edges.  Any item lying about was painted white, all this made any time spent waiting in the lock most enjoyable.  We had been on the Thames before and although the keepers were courteous  they obviously did not have a lot of time to chat.  This time having Donna aboard made all the difference, we  found several were willing to chat, ask questions about her and tell us their duck stories.  One keeper told us about a drake he had, it had been hand reared and was very tame.  It had the freedom of the river but always came back to spend time with his adopted 'dad'.  We laughed as the keeper told us how the drake destroyed his authority when trying to put boaters behaving badly in their place.  He would try to lay down the law only to have the effect ruined by a drake waddling after him making fun of him.  We could just imagine it. On another occasion a lock keeper , very taken  with Donna, told us his duck story.  It seems he had a small flock of mallards that lived on his stretch of the river but spent much of their time in his garden.  After a very ferocious summer storm they were all missing and he was quite worried about them.  He very soon had a telephone call from a lock keeper colleague on the next lock down..They must have been washed down river in the storm but were safe and sound on his bank. The keeper said that he would come and fetch them, but his colleague said  that not to worry he would put them in an old wire cage he had and pop them onto the next boat going his way.  This he did, however the cage was one that had only wire on all sides and the boat chosen to transport them was one of the very glossy, very white, very clean, and very showy boats that I am afraid we usually call 'Gin Palaces' .Perhaps you can imagine the state of this boat after a trip of several miles with a flock of frightened ducks on board, with nothing between them and the deck but a bit of wire.  Ducks squirt pretty regularly anyway but when frightened, well they do it lots more often,  Anyway the lock keeper said when the cruiser arrived it was a sight to be seen. It took him a considerable time with bucket, hose and brush to get back into the cruiser's captains good  books.  Anyway we had a good laugh at this story and left the lock with regret. With such duck stories our trip down the Thames was enlivened no end but we were soon turning into The Grand Union Canal at Brentford.  We had done 150 miles on the Thames and enjoyed it all immensely even if the weather had been cool and blustery.

  We had had a day in Windsor and lots of other interesting stops.  However we did have a schedule to keep to if we were to get back to our mooring on time.  So I had regretted not being able to spend time exploring Henley and Hampton Court. So promising ourselves more time next time  to stop and stare we moved on. On turning into the Grand Union Canal, the change was as sudden and dramatic as it had been when we turned onto the Thames.  The weather improved , the wind dropped and the sun came out, of course canals being so much narrower are more protected but this change seemed surprising but was very welcome. The elegant scenery was replaced by ugly suburban sprawl.  The backs of factories faced us and dirt and rubbish abounded.  The first two locks on this canal were manned by British Waterways employees and the comparison between them and the Thames Conservancy  was extremely marked.  The locks are scruffy, the men surly and we were made to feel we were a great inconvenience to them, causing them work.  We were pleased to move away  from this depressing area and move slowly back into the countryside again.

    Our days returned to their former pattern and Donna was able to have her freedom again.  Life is so much more leisurely on the canals, you travel at 4 miles an hour or less, often overtaking walkers to have them overtake you again as you operate and travel through the locks. I would often hop off when going under a bridge and walk a mile or so with the dogs and rejoin at another bridge.  Donna could  not join us as her waddle could not keep pace with us.  She would catch sight of me on the bank and quack loudly but always stayed put.  Her confidence on the water, grew, however, she would go further afield, often to the opposite bank but she always kept her eyes on me and  came back to be lifted back on board, she knew she was a valued crew member and knew her place.

The holiday continued, we moved slowly northwards back towards the Midlands and our mooring.  Donna had settled into the life and she had become part of ours. One afternoon we found ourselves at the bottom of a long flight of locks.  It is a great help when working a flight if you can share the work with another boat.  Not only is the work involved in operating the locks shared, the two boats help to keep each other stable in the lock, as there is no room to move about and bang onto the lock walls.  So we waited and sure enough along came another narrow boat and we joined forces.  Of course you get chatting and they proved to be a very pleasant couple from Germany who had hired a narrow boat to sample life on our rivers and canals.

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