Out & About Summer 2021

Out&About feature

horses. There’s not too many left.” Sadly, like many other business up and down the country, the Covid-19 pandemic saw them cease operating overnight last March. It coincided with the company’s 50th anniversary and the national lockdown meant all the celebrations they had planned had to be curtailed. “This season is different,” Steve adds. “We have lost a little bit of momentum and Covid has changed things a lot, but we are moving forward. “Last year would have been our 50th year and we were planning all these things we could do and then we went into lockdown. “Everything was just left how we left it that day in March and I picked it up again 12 months later.” Since then he has been working hard to get the boats ready for the season they always hoped would go ahead this year. The horses spent lockdown holidaying in a field in Hamstead Marshall, where Steve would visit them every day, but he

says they seem very pleased to be back working again now after getting a bit bored doing nothing for so long. They are now back at their summer home in Kintbury and have thrown themselves perfectly into working life again. “I took Monty out on the Monday we reopened and it was like he had just done it the day before,” Steve explains. “It’s amazing really. Then we did the same with Drummer and he was okay too. That put my mind at rest. I think they are really happy to be back.” Charlotte, who arranges the bookings and does the catering for the trips, says that when things get back to normal they hope to be able to offer two trips a day, for up to 53 people. “It has been the first time in the company’s history where they have not operated for a season,” she adds. “We hope that when restrictions ease we can get back to normal. “We have started with small coach groups of up to a maximum of 30 people and hopefully soon we will be

O&A SUMMER 2021 “It is quite amazing that a small business like us has been running for 50 years,” says Charlotte. “There’s only three companies like us in the whole country. “We usually welcome people from Australia, Canada, Norway, the US, all over the world; it’s amazing. “It’s hard work but it’s very rewarding. We do love it.” 35 able to open it up a lot more and put on our public trips again.” The company’s day hire boat is also available again – within coronavirus restrictions applying to the number of households that can mix. Leaving from Kintbury too, Steve will give friendly tuition in how to use the self-drive motorised narrow boat before families and friends, of up to eight, can head off to explore the local area from the water. The couple, who live in Kintbury, are now looking forward to getting things back to normal and maybe being able to enjoy a belated 50th anniversary party at the end of the season.