Starcross to Chertsey, via Bakewell

No, not a candidate for Britain's most obscure bus route but what I did last Sunday!

The internet is a strange thing. You read people's blogs - and realise that they read yours - and you feel you know them. It was obvious to me that Sarah (and "her" Jim) on Chertsey and I had a lot of common interests and with them being moored just down the cut at Stretton meeting-up seemed both obvious and easy. It still took me a while to pluck up courage to suggest it though. I'm not terribly good at meeting people or talking to strangers, but as I say, fellow bloggers don't seem like strangers at all.
Still, I needn't have worried. I had a splendid afternoon, starting with a cup of tea on Bakewell and then being given a guided tour of the famous Chertsey. Jim even started up her engine for me - just so I could listen to - and admire - it!
Then Sarah suggested we re-convene later in the Swan at Brewood where we carried on the conversation for the rest of the evening, talking not just about boating but of all the other things we seemed to have in common. We might have touched on the" trad v. semi-trad v cruiser stern" topic once but we didn't mention toilets at all!
Yes, the internet is a strange thing. Thanks to it I now have two more friends who without it would just be "those jammy bastards that have the Large Woolwich!"