Well, I guess it was inevitable, wasn’t it? The Environment Agency is putting up boat licence fees for next year by 4.6 percent – that’s inflation plus two percent.
We all take locks for granted as we travel up and down the Thames. These days, the modern electronic controls and smooth hydraulics that are in use at most locks allow easy passage from one river reach to another and the hardest problem for lock keepers to face is simply trying to fit a huge number of boats into the lock chamber.
Muriel Gooding – Micki to her friends – has lived beside the Thames just off Chertsey Lane in Staines for 44 years and in that time, she’s experienced quite a lot.
