what changed?
by the always-getting-older Rachael
Stafford (having planned to stop in Chester, but the castle was closed so we moved on)
Is it our age? Back then we were just twenty….now we are almost double that. Or was it just London? Last time we were in the UK we spent most of our short time in London and we found the general populace to be something between surly and distant. In Soho we picked an apple off a barrow to buy and were immediately instructed to put it back, “You might touch where you come from, but not here!” Shop assistants from whom we desired service sat behind their counters saying not a word. Some purchases we made with nary a “May I help you?” or “Thank you, have a nice day” passing their lips. They didn’t even tell us the total we needed to pay, instead just taking our money and returning the change to our outstretched hands. Maybe London is still like that – we won’t know.
But it is not the experience we have had this time. We have found people to open, warm and friendly, even jovial. Just take today, for example.
The day started at Sainsbury’s, gathering a few provisions – three jars of marmalade for Grandpa, ten jars of curry sauce (at only 5p, they were a bargain too good to leave on the shelf), four packets of pita breads etc etc. The man in front of me in the queue turned, and with a grin on his face, enquired, “Setting in for a siege are we?”
”No, but we are off to a castle…” and so began a conversation that did not finish until his purchase was complete.
Then it was the shop assistant’s turn: “What’s all this for?” Of course, some people might be offended at her apparent nosiness, but as I was at that moment thinking about friendliness, I called it *interested*. Which is just as well, because her questions came thick and fast: where have you been? what on earth have you found to do for so long in England? isn’t it boring? what was Asia like? what’s been your favourite place? where do you stay? when will you go home? how long have you been away? how long did you have to save up for a trip like that? did you say you were travelling with children? what, eight? And So On.
Much more engaging than the early nineties London crowd!
Later in the afternoon we spied a sign to a staircase lock, something Grandpa had talked about, and so we backtracked to take a look. The bridge we needed to cross required this sign:
Squeezed up next to a hedge, we left the vans to watch the lock proceedings – this was even more exciting than the Dutch ones, the drop between locks being at least a couple of metres, and there being a queue of canal boats waiting to move through in both directions.
But as interesting as it all was, the highlight was the fact that there was a toilet dumping facility and both our loos were FULL. Into the narrowboat hire store I tripped, Rob believing requests for services are more likely to be positively acknowledged if a female asks (and to be fair to him, as much as I hate doing it, I have to admit I have never been denied, but he has…so maybe there’s something in his theory).
“Are you the boss?” I ask.
”I sure am and I make all the decision too,” (yay, he’s the jovial sort)
”I noticed you have a dumping station…what would be the chances of a travelling family using it? We’re in motorhomes and our portapotties are full.”
”Well, I dunno,” he hesitates, putting on a hard-to-believe scowl.
”It’s gonna cost ya, really cost ya.”
”You name the price – it’s probably not going to be too much – yeah, we’re that desperate!”
”Don’t be silly luv, the door’s open. Glad to help.”
”Most obliged. Thanks a million.”
See, they’re friendly out here in the country!
8pm at the service station, having just finished dinner and hoping we’re not going to need to travel too much further before finding somewhere to stop, we’re filling up with water from the HGV water hose. A truckie saunters over, can in hand.
“Guten Abend!” He obviously read our number plates!
Jboy13 pulls the hose from our van and offers to fill his can for him. Such a simple act of consideration was permission for the guy to stand there giving us his full life history (went to Australia in the seventies), asking about our vans (and giving us redundant information of where to buy them in England), telling us his future hopes (wants to go to Canada, and 11-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter are keen, 19-year-old daughter has just started nursing training, but would follow later….but the missus isn’t keen, so they’ll be staying here)…and that’s not the end. We discuss bio-fuels, world hunger, a guy in Australia who used to run his Ford Falcon on water (had a tank on the roof), water rates in Oz and England, the legality of sleeping on the side of the road (or not), the history of trucks with sleeping cabs in England….you get the idea. Friendly. Not at all distant, certainly not surly.
Time on the road: need to check Jboy13’s record!
Distance covered: 159km
Tags: 2008/09, postcard: England
rayres
heh i remember going to wigan pier & learning about the all-important Three C’s of the north – Cotton, Coal and Canals! the entire local economy pivoted on those things..
glad to hear the reception is a bit warmer this time! 😀
Aren’t locks interesting.
e enjoyed the Keil Canal locks whilst cruising. Everything is automated there but still facinating.
Glad you found some friendly souls this time.
Hi to all the kids.
More wonderful photos. We are reading Paddle To the Sea and it talked about locks. We liked looking at your photos of them 🙂 Great timing!
I’m off to England in 2 weeks… am crossing my fingers that I have the same experience as you!
This is much talked about in the media, how us Brits have loosened up. It’s put down to the death of diana, which led to an astonishingoutpouring of grief, mostly displayed publicly. Apparently, ever since we’ve all been much more open and friendly. Who knows if that’s true or not!