Giddy-down
I’ve written about it before here. I never tire of it though, this man-made wonder, a former highway of trade. Today on the way in to work, the water was a milky green, like pea soup only not really but kind of. I drifted off… I imagined how I’d love to take a big old barge and have it towed by horse along the path just like they did before they used engines. Just think of that a moment, lying on the roof in the honey sun, half pissed on white wine, passing under a stone bridge, a brief coolness of shade with an inch to spare. It would take days to reach the Shannon from Dublin, as though it was New York to LA in an old Chevy. A gentle Shire, eighteen hands high is our Chevy though.
I wonder if I had paying guests could I make a living out of this. They’d all have to do as I say though, which wouldn’t be much like.
I have never seen or heard of that before. I’d love to be on that barge, wouldn’t much like being the horse, though.
Yeah. That’s the stuff.
thought about that too, you can get barges down the shannon too but they cost an arm and a leg.
Horse holidays not so popular, Kate, no.
But if you do go for it, you should definitely bags the front end.
Barge holidays have really come down in price. Funnily enough, I was thinking of doing it in early September. It’ll have to make up for India this year.
I also looked into buying one a few years ago. Well, a narrowboat. To be my house. Can get a fairly decent one for about 40K but mooring charges are expensive.
Ever been to Lowtown near Robertstown? Barges and narrowboats in all states of repair. Very interesting.
Meadow, my love of the canal was born in Robertstown where I went on a school trip in 1980. And it was sustained by a family holiday where for once, I saw my father totally relax and be the man he really was.
The Canal Bank in Limerick was a favourite childhood haunt. It was like finding the ruins of some lost civilization and marvelling at the engineering while mourning it’s loss.
You can sign me up for one of those cruises.
@ Meadow. 40 large for a narrowboat? I’m stroking my now absent beard in sinister Far East stylee.