Down the Drain

Mr. Wiley was a 91 year old Welsh gentleman who was filled with character and class. He was always in a suit and tie and was articulate and smart. He was a veteran of World War II and was a communications officer on a ship that was torpedoed by the Germans in the great naval battle of Jutland. As an avid reader of all things WWII, I was intrigued. I could not wait to get him talking about his life experiences. As it turned out, I would not have to wait long.

I’m not even quite sure where to start because Mr. Wiley was so energetic and talkative that it’s all a blur. He let us into the house and immediately greeted the two cats. The cats adored him. And he loved them back. He gave us a grand tour of the house and told us its history. In it’s day, it was the center of activity of the little town. It served both as a general store and the post office. As I mentioned before, it was 180 years old and had been added onto many times. Every time we turned a corner there was another cute little room. Our hosts are both educators. One is a principal and one is a professor. And by the amount of books they had we could tell they were very well read across a wide range of topics.

Mr. Wiley showed us all the antiques and told us all the interesting facts of the house. All the floors and walls were made with hand tools and old beams so every floor was uneven and everything creaked when you moved. I loved it. The house was filled with character. Sensing we were tired, Mr. Wiley left us to settle in. But somehow I could tell he was not finished with us. We would be hearing more from Mr. Wiley, a lot more.

The next morning he “tinkled” us at 8:30 am. We were exhausted and still struggling with jetlag so we let the phone ring. He tried tinkling us a couple more times and I’m sure he wondered what us lazy Americans were up to. After showering and eating breakfast, we returned his tinkle and told him we were expected for a day long boat rental in a town called Llangollen. When speaking to Mr. Wiley I pronounced the name just like it’s written. I was immediately corrected and told the correct pronunciation was “Kkkklan-goff-lynn (cough while you say it).” Then why not spell it Clangofflyn? It would be the first of many mispronunciations we would have. It wasn’t until we drove into Llangollen that I found out that Lanngollen was the shorter version of the town. The official name of the town is YSIOPFACHGARDIAUWRTHYBONTDROSYRAFONDDYFROWYYN-
LLANGOLLEN. And, believe it or not, Wales has a few towns with even longer names.

This was the day I was really looking forward to. I kept it a surprise from the ladies because they like surprises. About six months earlier, I had arranged to rent a canal boat for the day. Western England and Wales are crisscrossed with over 2,000 miles of canals. They built these canals to carry raw materials across the country. They hauled coal, slate, iron ore, and grains. Most of them fell into disrepair but recent restoration work has restored many of these canals to working order. The canals are dotted by hand operated locks and aqueducts. We would cross one of these aqueducts in our little boat at 300 feet over the farms below. I couldn’t wait.

TomTom told us we had about a half-hour drive. And she was right. We did have a bit of difficulty finding the marina because it was up the hill from the river. Then we saw the canal actually hugged the side of the hill. It was beautiful and I knew this was going to be a great day. The sky was filled with sun and white puffy clouds. We did not bring a picnic lunch with us because I had planned to stop at the little towns and pubs on the way to sustain us. The ladies could get out and shop. I would just sit on the boat and drink British ale, and smile. Today we would not have a care in the world.

We walked into the marina and up to the front desk. It was then we were informed that for the first time ever, the canal had sprung a leak and the boats were all bottomed-out. There would be no boat ride today. And there would be no boat ride for the rest of the summer because every day was fully booked. We were given a cash refund and an apology. I stood there with a lump in my throat because this was going to be my favorite day. All my hopes of this day went right down the drain. I felt like I wanted to cry.