Celebrity start to the Easter Weekend

On Thursday evening, as a fitting start to the St Pancras CC Easter cruise, we went to ‘The Grapes’ in Limehouse for an evening with some of the locals.

Cindy the barmaid was a ‘ten out of ten’ hoot. Everyone needs a Cindy somewhere in their lives!

Sir Ian Mckellen heard we were there and popped into the pub for chat. (It just happens to be his pub!)

Friday dawned bright and a bit chilly but everyone was eager to get out on the Thames for the days trip up through the city to Brentford.

Gary and Yve, who we met on the Ventura cruise a few weeks ago, came to join us for the day.

With an hour to go before the ‘off’ there was time to open the Champagne and make a toast to a safe and enjoyable trip.

At 1 o’ clock sharp we were flushed out of the lock at Limehouse and, with horns blaring (a requirement as you enter the main tideway), ‘Chance’ got its first taste of Thames water this year.

Two Champagne powered people happily sighting Tower Bridge.

We follow the lead boat ‘Doris Katia’ with Andrew and Frances on board as we head towards one of the worlds most iconic sights.

Gary and James on the ‘blokey’ end of the boat while Yve and Doug get the drinks and nibbles ready inside.

Safely through Tower Bridge and we pass probably the oldest building in the city – the Tower of London …………

………. and then soon we pass two of the newest buildings – the ‘Walky Talky’ and the ‘Cheese Grater’.

Two happy bunnies approaching the seat of government.

All’s well on the Westminster waterfront.

Nb ‘Doris Katia’, in the distance, leads us up towards Battersea.

With Vauxhall in the background our additional crew for the day – Yve and Gary, thoroughly enjoyed the trip.  Gary took the tiller for the best part of an hour as we got into quieter waters.

The delightful Albert Bridge – always a treat to look at both for its architecture and paintwork.

After a fantastic trip up through the city again – a bit choppy in places but that only adds to the fun of it all, we got onto the Grand Union Canal at Brentford and made our way up to Hanwell and moored up for the night. It wasn’t long before we met up in The Fox to enjoy a drink or two with St Pancras Cruising Club Commodore Andrew and his wife Frances who, as always, are responsible for the safe organisation and planning of these terrific tideway cruises we so enjoy.  Frances, Doug, Eve, Gary and Andrew all wrapped up against a chilly evening.