SEEKING solace away from the busyness of this always-on world is what initially brought Midge, husband Alan and their dog, Welly, to the canals where they now enjoy frequent spells aboard their 38in narrowboat, Jinty. Alice Elgie reports…
Midge tells me: “In 2015, when our daughter was about nine years old, we bought a boat share in a 57in narrowboat called Concorde. We had some brilliant holidays and loved the es-capist nature of narrowboating. We played games and sang songs, undistracted by a TV and away from the pressures of the outside world so when, some years later, we were lucky to get a small inheritance from my father’s estate, we decided to turn our boating dreams into reality.”
Jinty is moored on a small, friendly marina in the couple’s hometown of Milton Keynes. Find-ing a spot where they could mix with others who also enjoy leisure boating, as well as keeping costs low by all mucking in to keep the grounds nice, was very important, and Midge has cer-tainly found her community feet. “One of my roles is preparing food for the other boaters at the monthly work parties – I have learned quite a bit about mass catering as a result! But it’s been great for meeting like-minded folk who also love boating.”
They arrived at their berth in July 2024, but not before they went on their first adventure, bring-ing Jinty home from Laleham Reach, near Chertsey. Midge shares how, with Jinty being moored on the Thames and therefore the couple deciding that a helmsman course would be beneficial to build confidence, their trip home was delayed when training was postponed due to flooding. However, serendipity stepped in when the chance for a holiday of a lifetime opened up while they were waiting: “Our daughter, Isobel, is a keen rower and she was in her final year at the University of Nottingham in 2024, so there was a good chance she and her crew mates would qualify a boat for Henley Royal Regatta. I had actually put our name down to secure a mooring for the Regatta several years before we actually got a boat (!) and then the week we knew we (again) couldn’t do our training, we heard we had actually been offered a mooring for regatta week!”
Despite being expensive, the couple decided it was an experience they would likely never have again and decided to go for it: “We had a fantastic week in Henley, and it was amazing to be moored next to the top rowers in the world, including the future men’s single gold medal-list at the Olympics, Ollie Zeidler, who were literally rowing outside our windows!” With their daughter and friends able to camp next to the boat on Fawley Meadows, a brilliant week was had by all, and Midge and Alan certainly found their river legs, next deciding to embark on the Thames Ring in summer 2025.
This trip had a slightly different feel as the couple had to plan their cruises carefully around work commitments. Midge shares how they get the most out of trips on Jinty as they move to-wards full retirement: “I already have the luxury of being retired, but Alan is still working four days a week, so over four long weekends we travelled in stages from Milton Keynes to Henley, where we stopped again to watch our daughter rowing.”
The couple then continued their journey around the Thames ring and Midge laughs as she tells me how when they arrived on the Thames at Oxford they cruised straight into the Oxford University annual rowing bumps competition. “It was absolute chaos! Our friend, who was travelling with us, ran aground when a bossy marshal told her to switch off her engine, so we had to go back through the racing to rescue her!
Their trip home was even more eventful when a lock closure saw them, with the help of a pi-lot, cruise their boat through Central London past the Houses of Parliament and Tower Bridge: “It was the experience of a lifetime taking our own little narrowboat past such incredible landmarks!” Midge tells me.
Despite a quiet life being the catalyst for buying Jinty, it seems Midge and Alan have found themselves enticed by adventure, although plans for summer 2026 are slightly more sedate, with a gentler cruise along the Oxford canal. However, no matter where they are, Midge shares that the closeness they feel as a couple – undistracted by outside worries – is the true highlight of their boating season.
