Stockers Lock to Lady Capels Bridge

A slow relaxed life that is what we signed up for, we rarely get moving until after 10am so this morning was a bit of a shock when the alarm went off at 4.30am! But at least it was through choice and with the hope of being able to enjoy cruising. With our cuppas in hand, not in bed as usual, we pushed off at bang on 5am in a wonderful 18C, Mick even put a jumper on!

The canal had a layer of mist clinging to it’s surface and the sun was just peaking it’s way through the trees. Last night we’d been on our own, but as soon as we came through the next bridge we could see where everyone had been heading as there wasn’t a space free up to Batchworth Lock. We crept by, hoping not to wake anyone who’d actually managed to sleep. A beautiful cool morning, well worth getting up for.

We did our best to be as quiet as we could at locks, the clicking slightly echoing around Rickmondsworth. At Arm Break Lock (Lot Mead) the sun cast an orange glow over everything below, whilst above the mist still clung to the water. On the approach to Common Moor Lock we found out how far NB Ciderapple had got last night, he was sat right in the middle of the lock landing! There was no way of being quiet if I was to hop off, so Mick fought to get the stern into the side before pulling back out again to wait for me to empty the lock. The chap on board appeared to a comment about his mooring from Mick, his reply was “We can argue about it, or share the lock as friends”. So we shared, not much was said, but to his credit he did work his side of the lock.

As Mick brought Oleanna into the next lock NB Ciderapple turned into the marina below, at just gone 7am he’ll have had a wait for the services to open or maybe he moored there. By now the world was waking up, tube trains rattled over the bridge below the lock into Watford, people were heading to work, taking dogs for walks. It was still too early to stop at Cassiobury Park, all those trees wasting away not being climbed! There wasn’t much space to stop anyway. The bottom chamber of the next two locks was full, it’s meant to be left empty as it floods the property next door, and a boat was just pulling up at the next lock. It soon became evident that the boat ahead had novices on board, very nice novices, one of whom walked back to tell us as much and that they were waiting for us.

We’re not sure how they had managed to get this far since Saturday from Tottenham as prior to this none had stepped onto a boat. They hadn’t worked out a rhythm of working the locks and had no hot water for showers. After both of us suggested that they loosened off the centre rope they  realised that passing it round a bollard and then back to the helm would be safer. I tried to explain how best to work the Grand Union Locks, but they were too busy explaining how they had been doing them. But then if they felt safer working them their way that was more important.

It was now nearly 9am and the trees on the bends by Grove Mill pulled us in. However we were still in the sun, walking up ahead before we tied up I found a space that was 3/4 in the shade so we nudged round there and settled down for breakfast. All the doors were opened up, so Tilly went for an explore, returning after about an hour. By now the sun was starting to work it’s way along the cabin roof, so Mick went for a walk further along and found a space with trees on both sides of the cut. With Tilly inside we pushed off and move 0.18 miles to the shaded spot on a slight bend. Oleanna wouldn’t come in fully, but that didn’t matter as we had good shade. Moored near the green of hole 4 and the Tee of hole 5 we had plenty to watch as golf buggies zoomed along the track from ball to ball. There was even a tuck shop buggie that came round for refreshments. Well at £165 off peak for a round of golf you’d expect no less.

In our shaded mooring I got on with sorting my folio. A huge batch of production photos arrived from a photographer in Scarborough which meant I now had a lot to sort through. Several hours of work and I’m now at the point of reducing what I have. A big thank you to all those who’ve helped with photos, considering last week I only had about six pictures of my work, I now have over a hundred, so I can pick and choose what I show now.

Mick sat out on the towpath bimbling away the day whilst Tilly was extremely busy in the undergrowth. At one point she discovered that she didn’t have a private wood and that she’d have to share it with another boat cat. There was no point in arguing over a few trees and friends. So we made sure that we were both aware of each other, had one hiss and then slloowwly moved away, just in case! Boats came past with hot people on the sterns looking jealously at our shady mooring. One chap pulled up behind us and has every intention of moving up when we push off tomorrow.

This evening we have had our first barbecue of the year. Slightly reduced rations compared to normal. Sweetcorn, veg and halloumi kebabs, turkey steaks marinaded with ginger garlic, soya sauce followed by bananas, sadly without chocolate!

7 locks, 5.11 miles, 5am start! 3 moorings, 10.30 finish, 18C up to 28C, 2 boats shared with, 7 hours of freedom, 1 pirate cat, 2 friends, 84 photos, 12 shows, 5 hours work, 1 hour of direct sun, 26 golfers, 1 tuckshop lady, 6 balls flicked out of a pond, 3 hosepipes, 1st barbecue, 1 shady spot to remember.

Denham Deep Lock to Stockers Lock

According to the weather report today the temperature could reach 30C and it certainly had the potential to get higher. Mick dug out a different sun hat for me with a wider brim than my cap so that I’d have a bit more personal shade. Normally on days as hot as this we’d find some shade and stay put. But at the moment we need to keep heading north as we have an appointment at the end of the month which would be easier to get to by boat. But at the same time we don’t want to get too far as I have a meeting in London next week, so the West Coast Main Line needs to be on our doorstep for a few days. So with this all in mind we pushed off to see how far we’d get before the heat got too much for us.

Along the long straight to Widewater Lock a twenty first century Swampy has found himself a clearing and has camped out where HS2 will cross the canal. On our way south I spotted that he wasn’t on his own as his camp fire was surrounded by a selection of cuddly toys, today they must have sought extra shelter as they were nowhere to be seen.

A couple of boats turned out of Harefield Marina one towards us the other towards the lock. There seemed to be plenty of crew on board so we’d have a lock partner for a while. As we approached the lady at the helm realised that we were close behind, seeking permission to join them (it’s only polite to ask). There was a chap who we asked and he said he thought it would be alright, it turned out he was nothing to do with NB Glissanda, but luckily it was fine with them. When you mention how old Oleanna is people sharing locks tend to panic a little, not wanting to bump or scrape us. But by now we’ve already done 350 miles and around 250 locks we already have the scars to prove it. Our partners were only going to do the first two locks, wind, have lunch and then head back to the marina, so we waved goodbye to them at Black Jacks Lock and carried on our way.

My wide brimmed hat was now getting too hot and the outdoor sensor on our weather station was reading in the 40’s. There was a risk of being burnt when touching the hatch as it was soo hot. So after Copper Mill Lock we found a shady spot and pulled over for lunch. We quickly decided that we’d had enough and called it a day. This pleased Tilly as she would have hours to explore the undergrowth. Mick sat outside in the shade whilst I busied myself sorting through photographs that people have sent me to compile a port folio of my theatre work.

Our mooring was shady, but quite close to a sewage works! Every now and then there would be a whiff of pooh, was this a suitable place to spend the night? Maybe not. The afternoon was cooling a little and there was a bit of cloud cover. Tilly had been hanging around the boat exploring the roof so when she got near the side hatch she was encouraged inside, so at 5.30 we pushed off again. Under the giant pipes of pooh we headed on. The pound after Springwell Lock was way down, so we made sure all paddles were closed fully and that the gates were firmly shut before carrying on. We ended up crawling some of the way along the bottom to Stockers Lock. Once up the lock we pulled in at the first of the visitors moorings. Hooray a second place to explore in one day!

A few boats came past us most coming up, the last NB Ciderapple at about 9 pm all making the most of a slightly cooler evening.

With the forecast similar tomorrow we’ve decided that we’ll try to get up extra early and cruise before the heat of the day gets going.

5 locks, 6.53 miles, 1 Eco Warrior, 0 long johns, 0 thick socks, 2 pairs shorts, 1 metal fisherman,  1 excessively large aerial! 1 smelly mooring, 3 hours sorting photos, 32C at 7pm, 3 trees, 2 friends, 2 hot, 1 cool roof, 64,000 going to TMLD.

Bulls Bridge to Denham Deep Lock

Mooring next to a water point has it’s advantages, so whilst we had a leisurely breakfast we did a load of washing whilst filling up the tank. When the tank was full, as nobody had joined us, Mick gave the roof and port side of Oleanna a rinse down with the hose and brush attachment. During our stay in London we haven’t given Oleanna a good clean, hoping that we’d disappear a bit into the crowd. However this didn’t work, shiny will shine through a good layer of dust no matter what! But for Mick to suggest giving her a clean meant that she was getting quite bad. The last few days of dry weather in Hanwell had covered her with a good layer of dust. I should have joined him and followed along behind, to make sure the job was done properly, but I had other things to do. At least the solar panel had a good clean to make the most of the sun.

We pushed off at 11.30 and headed straight on, no sneaking back into London without permission!

I must have been down below for some of our journey in a month ago as I didn’t recognise several new buildings. One has an improved stretch of towpath and around it has all been landscaped. A lonely boat sits on a mooring below it, we wondered whether the Managing Director had insisted on a private mooring. A footbridge over the railway has been raised for the cross rail, so now the ramps up to it are very lengthy, two lads on scooters were enjoying riding up and over it very noisily.  Shortly afterwards I realised why I’d not seen much of this stretch, there was murderers bridge!

The heat was starting to get to us as we approached Cowley, so as a boat pulled out in front of us we decided to have their mooring in the shade and stop for something to eat. This was a relief and meant we could sit with the hatch open for a while to help cool down the cabin for Tilly. It’s no good, I have had to resort to the floor to sleep on, upholstery and fur are not good when it is hot like this. I think she misses the tiled bathroom floor on Lillian that stayed cool, Karndean just isn’t the same.

The lock was almost empty so in our favour. A group of Polish chaps had been fishing around the lock and then decided to drop a line into the chamber as I filled it. He pretty quickly caught a small fish which was put in his bag to take home for a snack. A boat was approaching under the bridge above, a lady had a pole at the front and a chap was pushing along on the arch of the bridge, no engine. Luckily they pulled in for water and a break. As we passed the lady asked if we’d like to swap. At first we thought she meant ‘did we want water?’ But no she was after swapping her engineless craft for ours. We only gave it a split seconds thought and turned down the offer.

On to Uxbidge where one of the Uxbridge boys was winding NB Ehawee and then reversing into his mooring. If we’d been on Lillian we’d have said hello, but now very few people recognise us. At the marina we pulled in, no queue for once and filled with diesel. Well we thought we were full, but the gauge suggests that that top inch or so of tank takes quite a bit of filling as it is only reading 3/4 full. At 65p a litre this is the cheapest we’ve bought since Goole at the end of last summer.

Approaching Denham Deep Lock a boat came past us, this however didn’t mean that the lock was in our favour as it was being turned in front of us, too hot now to make comment so I assisted. The chap only noticed me as I got to the top gates, even then it felt like he thought I was a lockie. As he brought his boat in a single hander appeared and asked if she could share the lock. His boat was over 7ft wide so he was worried that she might not fit. But with fenders lifted on his boat there was plenty of space. He had a friend with him, learning the ropes which became apparent very quickly. I shouted instructions over to him on how to close the paddles and close the gate. With this done the chap on the boat then started to shout instructions to his crew on how to close everything, which had already been done.

Waiting for some acknowledgment from the two skippers that they were ready I was going to be stood there for sometime. He wasn’t visible and she was too busy looking at her phone. Oh well I looked like their homes were in mine and the novice crew members hands. As the water started to lower the chaps boat was getting rather close to the gate so I got his attention and waved him back, at first he just gave me the thumbs up as if ‘it’s okay to empty the lock’, but in the end he got the gist and moved back. A couple of gongoozlers were keen to help on the other side. She wound the paddle down as the crew unhitched ropes and dropped them back on the cabin top. It took quite a bit of explaining that he should then walk down to get back on his boat and didn’t need to use the ladder. The lady on her boat was on the phone by this stage and managed to end the call so she could exit the lock, not one bit of acknowledgement from her!

The lock was now ours and the keen gongoozlers were there to help. I declined her offer to help with the paddles as Denham Deep Lock is called that for a reason. With gates closed I started lifting paddles. I just happened to look at the bottom gates and noticed one of the paddles was still part way up. It took quite a bit of effort to close it, so no wonder it had been thought to be closed by my helper. They very kindly offered to open and close the gates as we left, she had a very big grin on her face.

A space under trees was so inviting and not to be missed. We pulled in, let Tilly out, drank cold water and tried out our new chairs, very comfy indeed.

3 locks, 7.23 miles, 1 rinse, 2 straight ons, 1 melting cat, 1 minnow, 3 poles, 1 poled boat, 2 melting boaters, 1 snake, 1 Uxbridge boy, 104 litres, 1 photo samaritan, 1 novice, 1 non lockie, 2 gongoozlers grins, 3 friends, 4 trees, 2 hot for any more, 2 chairs well and truly tried out.

Hanwell to Bulls Bridge

Over the last couple of days the pound we have been on seems to have dropped a bit and we’ve been waking up on a list. Has the blood been sitting in our heads too much over night and the cause of what feels like a mild hangover in the morning? The joys of having a cross bed, but then again neither of us can fall out of bed when on a list.

Today it was time to start our journey northwards, but first we had to carry on towards the Thames. The River Brent is shallow, full of silt and weed, along with rubbish! So even though it looked wide enough near our mooring we weren’t confident in being able to wind without getting stuck or having to spend hours clearing the prop . Some people manage to turn at the bottom of the locks, but that would have meant a long reverse back and no guarantee as this is where there is quite often a build up of silt. Mick pushed us off from where we had settled whilst I stayed below dealing with emails.

The advantage of having done a stretch before is that the odd glimpse up from the computer means you are aware of when you’ll be needed again. The weir walkway above Osterley Lock came into view, so I saved what I was doing and headed up top just as Mick was starting to pull in. The first time we came down here the amount of rubbish sitting above the lock was disgusting, today it was hardly noticeable. The ground paddles were hard to lift, but even harder to drop once the lock was full. Mick had to take over with the windlass to force them down with a bit of boy power.

We’d heard of people winding under the Piccadilly line bridge, here it is quite wide, but would it be deep enough for us. As we turned Mick had to keep stopping to discourage a plastic bag from getting too close and intimate with the prop, but this was our only problem and we were soon back at the lock to deal with those ground paddles again.

A call to the Volunteer Lockies on the Hanwell flight worked this time and meant that the locks ahead would be set for us. Approaching the bottom lock of the flight I could see someone descending in the next chamber, Mick bipped the horn, I waved my arms and shouted to not close the gate and was spotted just in time. The bottom lock was almost in their favour so I topped it up and opened the gates to help them down. This meant that the bottom three chambers were all sat waiting for us with their gates open (the top one having blown open after being closed). By the time we had reached the third lock I could see a Lockie arrive above on his bike and start to set the next chamber. He helped us up the next three opening up in front of us and closing the lock as we finished.

All these locks have a wide walkway on the topside of the top gates. But because this is here they have to have a curved notch in them for to accommodate the ground paddle mechanism. A nice handy walkway, just don’t do it when you’ve had too much cider!

At the top of the six another Lockie was trying to persuade a swan to come out of the chamber before we arrived, this worked but only for it to sneak back in behind us. I opened up the same side ground paddle and crossed over the gates to do the gate paddle, this would hold Oleanna into the side giving the swan space. But the volunteer Lockie started to open his gate paddle a bit too soon sending the bow over, the swan managed to avoid this and went over to the other side, just as the lockie dropped his paddle making the bow return. The swan couldn’t fight past the amount of water coming into the lock, so I quickly dropped my paddle managing to avoid a very squashed swan. It wasn’t grateful and decided that we needed a good telling off in the next pound, launching himself at us and spinning round and round in the water, he wasn’t happy!

Up the last two locks and we got commended by one of the Lockies for knowing how to work the Grand Union Locks, shame his pal wasn’t quite so offay! Then on to Bulls Bridge where the 24hr mooring was empty again. Is there something we don’t know about here? As our cupboards needed restocking for the next few days we decided to call it a day, a big shop, a load of washing hung out to dry and one mardy cat. Long grass, sideways trees, not perfect but okay, really don’t know why they wouldn’t let me out! Instead I had to make do with hunting the flying things inside, not as much fun as finding friends, at least it was something to do!

10 locks, 1 twice, 4.81 miles, 1 wind, 3 lockies, 2 troublesome paddles, 1 determined swan, 1  p’d off swan, 0 rubbish, 1 yellow tank emptied, 1 bucket swap, 1/2 day hunting for photos, 2 photo samaritans so far, 1 biggish shop, 1 load washing, 1 bored Tilly!

Hanwell

When we first got to London we got in touch with friends and family with the hope that we’d be able to meet up with everyone. A few extras came along to have a nosy at Oleanna, including some unexpected antipodean visitors. However we still hadn’t managed to link up with Kathy, my best friend from college. Every day she could do we were already booked up. So when two days ago she got in touch we decided to hang around for another day. She is a lecturer at Rose Bruford College and this time of year is filled with degree shows, end of year projects and marking theses. So when she asked us if we wanted to pop along to Trinity Buoy Wharf to a sound installation some of her students had created we jumped at the chance.

It took a bit of doing getting from Hanwell to Docklands and to make the most of what free time Kathy had we were stood waiting for 9.30am to strike at Boston Manor tube station so that our fares would be cheap. Buses, tubes and the DLR today to East India. From here we walked around what was the entrance basin to the dock, the rest now having been filled in. Built a year after West India Docks they rapidly became profitable through it’s trade of tea, spices, indigo, silk and Persian carpets. The tea trade alone was worth £3m a year. The docks could handle up to 250, 1000 ton tea clippers at one time, but with the advent of steam powered ships by the mid 20th century most of the trade had left. During WW2 the docks were used to construct floating docks which were used to support the D Day landings. In 1967 these were the first of London’s docks to close fully. Now the entrance basin is a wildlife refuge and is quite silted up. Certainly the one remaining lock from the Thames would take quite a lot of effort to get through!

Trinity Buoy Wharf is the sight of London’s only light house at the confluence of the Thames and Bow Creek. The site was used as a maintenance depot, and storage for many buoys that aided navigation on the Thames, the wharf was used for docking and repairing lightships. The original lighthouse was built in 1852 and the second one in 1864 (this one still remains). The pair of lighthouses were used to help train keepers. Michael Faraday also carried out experiments here. The wharf now has container cities full of studios and office spaces, the University of East London has it’s fine art studios here, recording and dance studios are also on site. Quite an arty quarter.

When we found the right container Kathy was busy debriefing her students. Listening to the installations was interesting. They had been given a brief to respond to the wharf and create a piece of work from this. One was an audible journey of a fishing ship heading out to sea and encountering a storm, another sounded just like the north end of Crick tunnel (the wet end) and had a bass speaker resonating through a tank of water, another was sounds of water and industry at the wharf with a map and buttons to press. The last one was possibly the best, you walked along printed adverts laid on the floor spanning from the early industrial revolution to today this was accompanied by a sound track from different stages of history.

A cuppa and a couple of hours catching up with Kathy followed. During the week Kathy lives on an old barge Dora May moored just east of Tower Bridge on the Thames. This year Dora needs to have a hull survey done, but her engine isn’t currently up to moving her and may need to be replaced. It all sounds a bit pricy. They were hoping to be able to move from out on the Thames to somewhere like Limehouse, but the waiting lists are really quite long. Shame as it would be nice to be able to get our two boats to meet, maybe one day.

Our time was up at 1pm and Kathy had to help the students with the get out. So we hugged goodbye, hoping that we might see each other again this year maybe in Liverpool.

We then made our way towards the degree show in an old warehouse south of the Thames. We decided to walk across Tower Bridge which I’ve never done before, I’ve driven but not walked. Since the attack on London Bridge there are now barriers along the sides of the pavements and large heavy blocks at the ends to stop anyone from driving along the pavements. These didn’t however stop an ice cream van from trading to pedestrians on the inside lane of the bridge! From here we could see Dora May and my brothers old office in the building nearest the bridge on the south side of the river. The tide was speeding in with the Thames clippers smoothly handling all manoeuvres.

The degree show had a few stand out students. It reminded me of my Diploma Show although we seemed to have had more work on display. The scenic artists and prop makers work was pretty good, outside on a roof terrace were giant chess pieces and some extremely large angle poise lamps which were from a production. The piece I enjoyed the most was a dark room with hanging plastic bottles that has you touched them lit up and changed colour. At one point I did something that meant they all went out only to come on again as I touched them individually. Clever and more interactive than the other Lighting Students work was. With Tilly back at the boat in the heat we decided to head back to give her some freedom and fresh air rather than stay for a glass of wine at the private view, Kathy would be hob nobbing anyway.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 buses, 5 tubes, 2 DLR trains, 1 no show tube, 1 tree taxi, 1 dock in need of dredging, 3 huge buoys, 1 lighthouse, 1 lighthouse ship, 12 tide pipes, 4 installations, 1 best friend met on the third attempt, 1/2 a ship, 0 chilled medication, 2 towered bridge, 1 old office, 1 great building, 5m high angle poise, 1 hot cat, 1 boat not for sale! 2 boaters seeking forgiveness for returning to London Town.

A trip down memory lane for the two of us today. A day out which involved a bus ride from Ealing Hospital to Greenford Underground Station, where we got a tube to South Ruislip, where we got a train to Beaconsfield. Here we walked down a couple of streets until we found the place we were looking for. Our approach was down a path with high hedges to both sides, a grin of recognition crossed both our faces. I was here in 1971 (sure I came more than once) and Mick was likely to have visited around that time also as Kath his youngest sister is a similar age to me. The hedges seemed high back then and luckily I suspect they have grown as have we!

Bekonscot Model Village was first built in 1929 by Roland Callingham in his garden and it was the first model village to be built in the world. Mrs Callingham made a short but to the point speech in 1928 which suggested that the indoor model railway should go, or she would. It moved outside and the buildings grew with it. Since then it has grown and evolved into what it is today with 1.5acres of village with a huge model railway. At first it was kept up to date with the times, the latest cars, trains and planes, but in 1992 it went back in time to the thirties.

By the time we got there we had to follow the short cut to the toilets so that once relieved we could walk round the site in comfort. This took us past the Engineering building and most importantly the Model Makers Workshop! I wanted to knock on the door and demand that they employed me straight away. But I held back and we started to walk round the bendy paths, between houses, gardens, farms, zoos. You name it and it will be there in some shape or form.

When I was five I loved the houses and the people, perfect for girls who liked dolls houses, although there were only a few that you could look inside. When Mick was ten he loved the trains, perfect for all boys young or old. One building we both remembered was the church with it’s choristers and stained glass. Today we were aware of the shop and company names around the place, something to keep the parents amused.

About halfway round we were getting hungry, so headed for the café which was very reasonably priced and our jacket potatoes were generous. Then we got back to being absorbed in the detail and humour of the village.

The ponds, or should I say lakes have koi carp in them, or should I say orange whales! One was racing a yacht and others were reducing the amount of weed on the foundations to the castle walls.

The canal section has a pointless lock, worse than Dutton Stop Lock on the T & M, there is no height difference what-so-ever! C&RT need to do some dredging, the boats all need to come out for blacking and even here duck weed seems to be trying to take hold.

Everywhere there are figures going about their daily chores, jobs, lives, but each and everyone of them looks like they have had a tot too much sherry! They lean as though eddy currents are whirling around the big cottages ready to pick them up into the air to deposit them in front of the Punch and Judy show.

Mick could get a job driving the trains or working in the signal box, occasionally doing a bit of gardening, whilst I could sit and make sober but happy figures to populate the village and sort out the Spanish half built resort. We decided that maybe it wouldn’t be such a good idea as I wouldn’t be able to live with the odd scales of things and I’d want the lady cleaning the window to have some success someday.

0 locks, 0 miles, 3 buses (1 died when we got on it), 2 tubes, 2 trains, 46 years ago, 2 grown up kids, 79324 pissed people, 37 giant whales, 1 big spill, 1 job with my name on it, 1:12 maybe! 2 corny, 2 potatoes, 9 trains, 1 sit on train, 88 years old, 27 degrees, 2 much to see, 335 photos, 1 brilliant day out.

Primrose Hill to Horsenden Hill

Time to make a move and get back to boating. We pushed off just before 11am just as the trip boats were starting to go back and forth and the punt was making it’s way to Camden. It was a nice mooring, handy for people to find us, no breasting up allowed, just very busy on a weekend!

We pootled our way back through the zoo to Little Venice where we pulled in to fill with water and do all the necessaries. On our first visit to London on Lillian we’d managed to pull in behind the cafe boat without blocking the canal, but today even though we are a foot shorter we stuck out too much, so had to pull through the bridge and breasted up alongside NB Wandering Swan whilst he finished filling. He hoped that the space we’d just left would still be available, not much traffic had come from this side so he might have been in luck. If he succeeded it would be his third time of mooring there in seven years, I think we were very lucky.

We’d already done a dishwasher load before we’d pulled out this morning and then the washing machine went on. Filling up took sometime. All the rubbish was disposed, one yellow water tanks worth was emptied and then a second one, two buckets emptied too and Tilly’s pooh box had a clean. With everything done we pulled out just as a really short boat pulled up, perfectly timed.

Boats seem quite familiar to us now as we spotted several that had been moored near to us over the last three weeks. Coots and swans were parading their growing offspring , but only the pigeons seemed keen on the Baguette island that had been left by someone. How ridiculous, it will only encourage rats!

At Ladbroke Grove we pulled into the shopping mooring to pick up a few things at Sainsburys, our wine cellar had been looking decidedly empty so a stock up was needed. Mick stayed on board whilst I did the shopping not wanting to leave Oleanna on her own. After a bite to eat we carried on getting further and further away from central London. An elderly couple asked us where we’d been moored, they seemed to have quite a good spot, admittedly on pins but they hadn’t had to breast up. There did seem to be quite a few places where we could have pulled in, but we wanted to get further out today.

Encountering the Electric Barge just by moored boats meant we had to pull in as far as we could on the off side. It took the chap an age to come past with his boat full of red uniformed school kids. Close behind was a boat following at tick over, he was really looking forward to his slow slow journey! Little did we realise but a similar thing was about to happen to us.

Ahead we could see two flashing orange lights, one was on a tug that was at 90 deg to the cut pushing a skip boat to the side. There was enough space for us to get by only to catch up with another tug pushing another skip  with a crane and four passengers. Their progress was extreeeeemely slow. It was handy that Mick kept wanting to clear the prop as this slowed us down so as not to get too close. Slowly they carried on for what felt like miles and miles. They didn’t pull over to let us pass as they were most probably too deep to leave the central channel, so all we could do was slloooowwlly follow.

As the North Circular aqueduct got closer they beckoned for us to pass them, they were taking the starboard channel so we took the port and opened up the throttle. Both boats entered the channels at the same time, but we zoomed compared to them and easily won the race to the other side. We were just clearing the central island as they had just got their stern alongside it on the other side. They were almost certainly heading for the towpath works at Alperton, possibly with a boat full of tarmac to start surfacing it.

There was a boat moored up where we’d topped up with water on our way into London. Large signs declared that the moorings were for Permit Holders only. Signs in the boat informed us that the water point was not a public one. Here there are going to be what looks like four moorings, each with electric and water and at the end is an elsan point. There is nowhere to tie up to to be able to use the elsan, so mooring on the towpath side and then carrying your offerings over the bridge must be the way that it will be used, unless of course it is only for permit holders too!

The golf course at the foot of Horsenden Hill came into view and as we cruised round the bend a space showed itself so we pulled in. The time we’d spent following the tug had meant that we wouldn’t make Bulls Bridge today and anyway here was a much better place for Tilly to make some friends. She made no hesitation in crossing the towpath and disappearing into the sideways trees.

0 locks, 8.82 miles, 1 tunnel, 0 mysterons, 1 full water tank, 1 handy tree, 2 empty pooh buckets, 40L+ yellow water, 1 clean pooh box, 0 rubbish on the boat, 4 boxes wine no 25% deal, 1 piled high boat with extra limbs, 1 fat barge, 25 waving school kids, 27 baguettes, 4 men doing nothing, 1 tug, 1 mph if we were lucky, 1 happy cat, 1 boat with all it’s curtains open again.

Primrose Hill

Oleanna seemed to be hitting the side this morning for no apparent reason, no passing boats, no strong winds. She also had developed a bit of a list as we were also sitting on a bit of a ledge. Normally we would think that maybe the pound was down a bit, but this pound stretches all the way to the top of the Hanwell flight, Cowley Peachy and Paddington, so a few lock fills wouldn’t make that much of a difference here. Mick pushed us off the ledge only for the trip boats to wash us back onto it. Another factor might be that we are lighter, less water and less diesel so it’s easier to push us up onto the ledge.

A big shop was needed for supplies for Sunday dinner so we walked up to Morrisons and filled several bags that then needed the whole of the fridge rearranging. There were a couple of things that they didn’t have so I ventured back out to Sainsburys which is near the bottom of the three locks.

My god I knew it would be busy, but not this busy!! Trip boats, punts and the seafood widebeam were all jammed by the next bridge. The chap at the back of the punt didn’t seem quite so cool as the chap who’s been at it all week and he was having difficulty avoiding the canal side and other boats, yet the fella singing and playing at the front just carried on as if sat in a chair on terra ferma. People lined the edge of the towpath to eat their street food from Camden Market and the bars by the lock were almost over spilling into the canal. Both lock chambers were in operation today and there were four volunteers waiting  for boats. I maybe made a mistake by walking towards the tube station, here it was just as busy. I’m used to walking at a slow pace, rarely do I race along a towpath, but the pace of these meandering tourists was deathly! Once on the other side of the tube station I could walk quicker at my leisure. I decided to return to Oleanna via the canal hoping it would be less crowded. This worked until I got nearer the locks, luckily there was another line of people dangling their feet over the edge to stop me from falling in as I passed crowds.

Two girls sat down just above one of the locks as I walked by, they dangled their feet as a narrowboat was trying to manoeuvre right next to them. The sound of the engine and the chaps quiet voice meant they didn’t hear his warning, so I leaned over and suggested they should move their legs pretty sharpish, which they did. I’m so glad we weren’t going through the locks today. At the top lock I can imagine gongoozlers congregating on two levels on all sides, no wonder there are railings all the way round.

With us both back at the boat Tilly was allowed out to explore. With a wave of braveness she ventured onto land to inspect the trees and wall. This wall is rubbish, how are you meant to be able to climb it! It is far too smooth. She showed her distain by shouting at it time and time again. Rubbish!!! The rest of the afternoon she has spent her time trying to be photographed as much as possible, except there was competition from next doors cat. He or she is far more gregarious and quite happily walks up to tourists and curls itself around their legs, whereas Tilly stays on the boat well out of arms reach. Once the competition had gone back inside Tilly lost all her inhibitions and was on the towpath making sure that she claimed it all for herself. I’ve never seen such acrobatic scent marking and no-one was going to stop her!

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 supermarkets, 1 bag tarragon, 1 bag thyme, 2 chickens, 2 tubs naughty chilled medication, 73457920754638 people in Camden, 256883 gongoozlers, 2 ladies still with feet, 2 passings of NB Grace, 10 shouts of distain, 2 punts, 2 floozies, 5 near crashes, 1 bakewell made, 1 speeding cruiser, 0 fenders left to deploy, 1 towpath well and truly mine!