On the weekend of the 19th April Coulsdon Probus went on a cruise along the Gloucester Ship Canal.
After a dreadful winter and a foul first part of April we were a little apprehensive regarding the weather for our cruise, but the clouds parted and we had the whole weekend in glorious sunshine.
On Friday we were welcomed aboard by our captain for the weekend, Robert Anderson. who had his crew direct us to our compact, but comfortable cabins. Dinner was served followed by a quiz and drinks around the bar.
Saturday morning saw us off on our cruise along the England’s first ship canal, a canal that by-passed the River Severn’s treacherous estuary and made Gloucester a major inland port. Before lunch we were introduced to the nautical game of Deck Quiots, the winner being June Dolan. After lunch we spent some time at the Slimbridge Wetland Centre. This centre was set up by Peter Scot, the naturalist son of Scot of the Antarctic. The centre has a fantastic range of wetland fowl from all over the world, including a large flock of Flamingos.
In the evening after dinner we were entertained by a talented duet. On Sunday we had a leisurely cruise back to Gloucester over Sunday lunch.
Sunday was marred for some of us when we were struck down with the Norovirus, the 24 hour bug that is widespread at present. Never-the-less it was a thoroughly enjoyable weekend which we hope to repeat next year.