By the river and with the river and on the river and in the river

Family Stories by Lois

Living in Cambridge as a child the River Cam featured greatly in my life; my earliest encounters were walking by it, often with my grandma who brought stale bread to feed the ducks. When I was old enough, my dad took me and my sister fishing; I never seemed to catch anything while my sister sitting a few yards away seemed to pull fish out time after time. My dad was a great oarsman and when he was beyond being in a boat himself he would coach a team and sometimes we would ride up and down the tow-path with him as he bellowed at his crew through a megaphone. When it was time for the races, the bumps as they were called, we watch them every evening they were on; when we were older we were drafted in to work in the refreshment tents, making sandwiches and serving tea. We would also swim in the river,for fun or in races with our swimming club.

However when i was about eleven, my best friend was given a kit to make a kayak – although we always called it a canoe, and with the help of her dad (or maybe we were helping him) the boat was built and after that we spent weekends and holidays on the river. We would paddle through the city and upstream through Grantchester Meadows and out beyond Byron’s Pool, or we would set off downstream, carrying the boat past locks. It was truly idyllic, and I only have to see the words ‘Wind in the Willows’ or a willow tree itself to remember that idyll.

IMG_20150605_102722403Not my beautiful Cam but the Thames

9 Comments

  3. David Lewis
    Reply

    There’s a great advertisement for Harleys on T.V. here. A young lad is sitting on the front porch with his Grandpa when a young man on a Harley zooms by. The youngster asks his Grandpa if he ever wanted a Harley when he was young. The old man says yes but Grandma wanted aluminum siding instead. Just then a piece of siding falls off. They both look at it and sigh and shake there heads. Get the message Lois?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lois
      Reply

      She’s even written a book about her adventures travelling across America – sold more books than I have! “Bonneville Go or Bust: On the Roads Less Travelled” by Zoe Cano

      Like

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