Starting to think about where we might go in 2016, and looking back on last summer’s expeditions, Song & Dance proved a pretty good way to be busy doing nothing.

Some people said it wasn’t a good summer weather-wise, but we tend to measure things by how often we need to don waterproofs to go boating, or merely decide to stay put until the weather improves. By that yardstick it was a pretty good year. From the week after Easter until just before the end of October we covered 735 miles afloat, working through 485 locks, and hardly ever needed to tog up or abandon boating plans.

In hindsight, the decision not to head into London in the July heat-wave and then attempt the passage from Limehouse back to Brentford was clearly the right one: maybe another year, once they manage to fix Limehouse Locks! The trips up our local waterways (Basingtoke Canal and Wey Navigation) were entirely delightful, and the River Nene and Middle Levels a distinct change from our more usual canals.

Wonder what 2016 will bring!