Our Last Voyage On The Maggie Of Leigh In September 2021 we made the very sad decision to put our narrowboat, “The Maggie of Leigh”, up for sale. The chosen broker, Whilton Marina was a good two days from our mooring at Fenny Marina by boat, but about 40 minutes by car. I was reminded of Turner’s painting, The Fighting Temeraire, although our voyage was eastwards not westwards, and so we didn’t have to cheat to get the sunset in the image. Also, hopefully, The Maggie will find a kind new owner and not be broken up like the Temeraire was. Saturday 11th September. Weather cloudy but dry. Arrived at Fenny after a slow drive from Essex, in a lot of traffic. (we had called at a fabric shop in Weedon en route to cheer up the Memsahib). I was pleased to find that the boat was dry inside, and internally did not seem to have suffered from the long absence since our last visit. Fitted new piano hinge to the bottom step below which windlasses etc. are stored. The sun came out in the late afternoon for our sundowners on the after deck. Had lasagne for supper, but I drank too much wine. Sunday 12th September. Weather cloudy with sunny intervals. Felt slightly delicate first thing. It must have been overwork, not the wine. Clearing junk accumulated during our 22 years of ownership. Took 6 black sacks to the rubbish compound. Drove to the shop in Fenny Compton for extra supplies of wine. At 10.30 moved the ship to a berth close to the Wharf Inn, where we had booked a table for supper that evening. Walked back along the towpath and moved the car to the Wharf Inn car park. More sweeping and cleaning in the kitchen and forward cratch Drove to Whilton to meet our fellow voyagers David and Stella with their black Labrador Lottie. Left our car there and climbed into David’s for the drive back to Fenny. David dropped us off at the Wharf and then parked the car at the marina. Very pleasant meal at the Wharf that evening. Monday 13th September. Weather cloudy with sunny intervals. Put to sea at 07.50 am and had am good run to Martens Doles, arriving at about 11:00. The Nation Lockswere fairly busy, mostly hire boats. The trees on the offside of the canal were teeming with berries, sloe, rose and hip, blackberry, tingle and crab apple.
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