Donald Franklin writes:-

Took Natterjack down the Thames through the re-opened Caversham Lock. Now has push button operation out of hours! Perhaps EA's lock keepers days are numbered in the long term!

Red boards but we had committed to join the Reading protest at Queens Wharf on the K and A. There were about a dozen narrow boats and a dutch barge.

Fairly good publicity considering the awful weather. Meridian TV took footage which went out on the evening news. The BBC guy managed to swamp his camera and took no footage!

Met the chairman of the K&A Trust and he said that there is to be a select committee looking into how DEFRA is managed and into BW's possibly moving to a different government department, think that's what he said, it was a bit chaotic.

Promptly returned as the Caversham lock keeper rang to say she was raising most of the sluices on the weir and the flow would be high. Punched back to our mooring after filling up at Better Boating. Under new ownership and diesel is now 58p same as other expensive operators in the area. Not many options, oh well at least it's still red at the moment.

Caversham Lock was brilliant to operate, (locky at lunch), reasonably fast but safe too.