Wargrave to Marlow: a weekend of 'firsts'
This was our last weekend on Happy Chance as she's coming out of the water over the winter. So with the sun on our backs we headed down the river to Marlow . It was the first time we'd been to Marlow and the first time we'd operated the locks on our own. (The locks are manned most of the time but between 1-2pm during the day and after 4pm in the winter it's 'self-service'. And as there were so few people on the river we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to figure out how it's done.) Luckily the instructions are very straightforward and (apparently) there's no way you can flood the river or cause a major catastrophe, which I was very relieved to hear as I was operating the lock. Another first was dinner at Villa D'Est e in Marlow - a great Italian restaurant. It's not cheap but it serves delicious food, has a buzzy atmosphere and is packed with lovely people (walk up the High Street, turn right at the top and it...