Climbing the steep hill out of Belper and spotting
‘The Thorntree Inn’ sitting prominently at the corner of two roads, brought
back memories of our lovely MFV Thorntree moored on the Blackwater river in
Maldon, Essex. It’s over twenty years ago now that we all embarked on our very
special adventurous period of living aboard, but it still springs readily to
mind with all the ups and downs of an alternative lifestyle. Of course, there is
a certain amount of ‘distance lending enchantment’ and this is particularly the
case with our three daughters – who at the time must have wondered about the
‘whys and wherefores’, but now look back with affection and some nostalgia for
the freedom and off shore perspective it all represented.
On a recent trip to Belper – our first visit to the mills of the Amber Valley –
and accompanying our two grandaughters in a paddling swan boat on the river, I
did think a little of those days around the Millennium described fully in ‘A
Family Afloat’. Naturally the scene on and around the Derwent is vastly
different to the comparative silence and unique atmosphere of the Blackwater
and the Essex marshes but I expect that has changed too since our stay. Any
attractive river frontage now seems to draw people like a magnet and the
mystery and magic of a quiet contemplative day is sadly lost…
But it was a happy crowd at Belper on Saturday afternoon, and looking beyond
the amusements and ice creams, the river itself with trains passing regularly
across the bridge was both relaxing and full of a certain energy and joie de
vivre.
I’m attaching photos of the Belper ‘Thorn Tree’, our ‘Thorntree’ and our
stately cruise aboard a Derwent swan – all in praise of National Non-Fiction Day
June 18th 2022.
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