Penny's entry - Wednesday, 30th August
Today was our last day! 326 miles and 249 locks since we set out from Huntingdon! We had butterflies about arriving, were a little tearful and somehow didn't want it all to end. Sarah arranged an interview with Hebden Bridge News for tomorrow, and I had a short phone interview with Sussex Express for an article which will appear on Friday. The H.B. News are planning to put a short piece in the paper tomorrow, and then to follow it up with a feature next week - hence the interview. All very exciting and, more importantly, it will hopefully help with the continuing fund raising. We had 6 locks and 5 miles to complete before arriving at our final mooring. At Sowerby Bridge we stopped off to hook up to the mains so that we could clean the boat and get sorted out generally. We'd had to book with British Waterways to pass through the Tuel Tunnel lock. This lock is at the end of the tunnel which routes the canal under the main road in Sowerby Bridge. Firstly we had to negotiate 2 20feet deep locks which the tunnel keeper had unlocked for us, then we passed through the tunnel to be greeted by the BW man and faced with the biggest lock we've ever seen. It is the deepest in the country at around 40ft and is distinctly scary when viewed from the boat looking up the sides of the walls and the giant sized gates. We had to loop our front and back ropes around plastic coated wires running vertically down the sides of the lock and then waited for the keeper to operate the paddles. It took a long time to emerge into full daylight! Amy, Scarlett and Emmanuel had come to watch us through the 3 locks and they seemed very small when we looked up at them from Gosling. (see photos) Afterwards we continued on our way through beautiful countryside, phoning our progress through to the family and boyfriends. Eventually we approached the last lock and the welcoming committee! A strange mixture of feelings! Sarah and I had said 'Goodbye' to each other, Gosling and the Journey a few minutes earlier, as we were aware that the dynamics would change as soon as we were on land and with loved ones. As we slowly came into our mooring we saw the bunting, confetti (courtesy of Scarlett), flowers, cards and presents so thoughtfully arranged by Amy. It was very moving. Once moored, we all squeezed into Gosling for tea and cake and then opened our cards and presents. Rosie and Jim appeared from the wrappings; beautiful bean doll replicas which will now adorn Gosling on any future outings! Thank you, Amy for your loving thoughtfulness. Is it all over? Not quite! We still have the newspaper interviews, donations to collect and send, talks to prepare and - who knows? - maybe a book to write in the future. We will be writing one more diary entry in a week or two in which we will reflect upon the completion of this challenge and let you know the total we have managed to reach, and any future plans. Thank you for supporting and encouraging us this far. Bye for now! |