Category Archives: History

The Pie Diet Advantage. 11th September

Black Boy Bridge 69 to Kixley Lane Bridge 72

Topics of conversation this morning on the Geraghty zoom, breakfast parties, the B&B at Wigrams Turn and living with someone who isn’t there. We have a sound engineer in the family who is currently busy at the New York Open working for Eurosport.

We decided to nudge on uphill a bit today. At bridge 70 we passed the Kings Arms a slightly more expensive pub for food than that of The Black Boy. Here bridge 70 has been half painted cream. With the effort to reach the centre line I’m surprised they didn’t finish the job.

After about a mile we could see Knowle Locks rising up the hill ahead of us. We’ve been down them before once but never gone up and it would be a first time for Oleanna on the flight.

The locks are positioned so that if there is any wind anywhere in the UK it will also be here, ready to push your boat off course. Jackie from NB Mad Hatter had suggested the other day that it was safer to open both gates making it safer to move from lock to lock. The walk round the wide pounds between locks makes it just that bit far to walk back and forth to open and close gates or set ahead if there are only two of you, so I was relieved to see blue t-shirts about the flight.

Two volunteers walked up to the bottom lock, one lady left to wind a paddle, the other walked uphill. I opened the bottom gate, Mick entered and sat by the off side wall. The lady was about to lift the opposite paddle. Mick suggested it would be better to lift the same side paddle, to which she replied ‘Oh you only need to do one paddle on these’. Did she know that Knowle Locks are counter intuitive? Or did she not know that opening the paddle on the same side as your boat normally makes for a smoother passage up a lock? It was the latter! I managed to open my paddle quicker bringing Oleanna back to the side she’d started off at.

The next lock was being set for us and a gate opened ready for Mick to transit across the pound. After closing the gate I walked up to the top paddles for the lock and started to wind the same side paddle. It was a little bit stiff, but no more than any at Hatton or Stockton. The volunteer asked if I wanted him to do it, well, thank you, but no thank you. I love doing locks, especially if they are a bit of a challenge at times, with it being Oleanna’s first time through Knowle I wanted to work the locks even more and would have felt deprived if the volunteers had just taken over. He understood and left me to it, having a chat instead.

Above the lady waited and waited before emptying the third lock. In fact she waited for the lock gate to be open on our lock. I walked round the wide pound and could see she was really struggling with the paddle. I offered to wind the paddle, my long reach windlass and diet giving me more of a pie advantage to lift the stiff paddle. It rose, the lock emptied and the volunteers moved on up to the next in the flight.

I opened the bottom gate then very quickly realised that the wind was now a factor and rushed round to the other side to open the other gate as Oleanna was being blown right across and might even miss the entrance to the lock all together. We managed to rectify the situation.

Fourth lock and both gates were waiting open for us, phew! The number of volunteers on the flight was at least six and we were only their third boat of the day. Another volunteer headed to the top lock and started to empty it as Mick crossed the pound between the third and fourth locks. Water started to pour over the by washes, so much for saving water!

At the top lock we now had three volunteers, two at the bottom gates and one at a top paddle. Mick pointed in my direction requesting that the same side paddle be wound first, the chap on the other side stopped and waited before Mick gave him a nod when the lock was about half full, Oleanna sat comfortably to one side of the lock and rose.

By the top lock was a blue gazebo, the Knowle Society had joined with C&RT to have a stand at the locks today as it is the first day of Heritage Open Days. This runs for ten days each year in September. It’s well worth checking the website for possible places to visit. Three years ago we visited numerous places in Leamington Spa and Warwick that you don’t normally get chance to see and the year before in Preston we got to walk round the Egyptian balcony in the Harris Museum.

We pootled on a short distance to near Kixley Lane Bridge, this would do us for the day. Once Tilly had had her initial explore and we’d had lunch we walked into Knowle for a touch of shopping.

The first building you come across is a very jolly house. Yellow walls, red front door, green window frames and the garage door is bright blue around the corner. It could nearly be a house painted by @lucyknit, but then again it’s a little bit tame for her.

A village cricket match was on going, the nearest thing Mick would be getting to test cricket this weekend! We called in at Tescos for a few things and then found our way to Knowle Parish Church. Here today you could climb the tower (part of Heritage Open Days), but only until 3pm and it was 3pm. We had a look around inside.

The original church was consecrated 1403 and was saved during the reformation by the villagers pleading that crossing the River Blyth to reach the church in Hampton was often impossible due to flooding. Through the centuries extensions were built, an organ loft, south aisle and the tower increased in height.

The first bells (three) were hung in 1687, these were recast for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubliee and by 1931 the church had eight bells.

In the soldiers chapel there is a fine stained glass window but the walls caught my eye more. Here stencilled artwork covers the walls in an almost William Morris style. Stained glass windows from various eras cast coloured light throughout the building. My favourite by Heaton, Butler and Bayne, a Pre Raphaelite window depicting George and the Dragon.

5 locks, 1.56 miles only, 7 vlockies, 1 paddle, 0 pies, 0 life jacket, 2 gates, 139 for 8, 3pm, 1 Saturday newspaper, 1 sound engineer in NY, 2031 leaves finished, 1557 to go.

https://goo.gl/maps/UQwCsqzexpdW2gV47

Seven Meters. 10th August

Above Days Lock to above Sandford Lock

A lie in, waking to the sun streaming in through our bedroom porthole. Wonderful.

Sadly the clear blue sky didn’t last long, but at least today we wouldn’t get soaked.

We took our time in setting off, eating up some bacon was on the cards so this came accompanied by a few mushrooms and poached eggs, not a full breakfast so no photo today.

The two miles to Clifton Lock has long back gardens coming down to the waters edge on one bank and meadow land on the other.

Along quite a stretch there were diggers with a constant procession of dumper trucks. There were too many for it to be a farmer improving drainage and every now and then we came across a culvert from the river. Is this land going to be built on? I’ve had a quick hunt around on line and it seems that there may be a development near to Little Wittenham, but without trawling through pages of stuff I’m unsure. I just hope the views from our mooring are not affected.

Clifton Hamden Bridge is made of sturdy brick, when built it used to join Oxfordshire on the north bank to Berkshire on the southern, but in 1976 boundaries changed and Oxfordshire engulfed the south bank. The bridge replaced a ferry on the shallow reach of the river where it had been fordable to cattle and horses. But in 1826 on a ceremonial trip from Oxford to London, the Lord Mayor of London’s barge grounded in the shallows here. Weirs upstream had to be lifted to free the barge which was stuck for several hours. This led to the building of Clifton Lock in 1835 along with weirs which improved the depth, but this meant animals could no longer cross so the bridge was built in 1867 designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott.

The lock keeper saw us up Clifton Lock informing us about Whitchurch Lock and it’s broken collar, this was why there were so many Le Boats about, they’d all headed towards Oxford yesterday due to the closure. Looking at the lock gates you can see where recent flood levels have left their mark.

Now we were on the reach where Oleanna had engine troubles two years ago. The river was on yellow boards, stream decreasing. Oleanna was having to force her way upstream and her engine overheated, necessitating the need to lower the anchor shortly after the Appleford Railway Bridge. Link to the post. Today the flow is far less. Mick can now check the engine temperature without having to slide the rear hatch as he’s added a heat sensor to the engine. All seemed as it should be, I still opened the hatch to check the gauge, all good.

At Culham Lock we waited behind a hire boat to go up. The lock is 7′ 11” deep so takes a bit of filling, so we had a wait. Flapping of wings from across the canal from a pigeon who flapped it’s way not very well across the river dipping into the water and eventually landing on our gunnel. It wasn’t happy, maybe it’s wings had got a touch too wet. It made it’s way onto the lock landing and spent an age flapping it’s wings whilst crouching, maybe it was in pain. I considered trying to catch it but Oleanna wouldn’t be the best place for it under the beady eye of Tilly. It managed to fly back across the river into a tree. This is when we noticed what had caused the problem, a mink!

The pigeon managed to fly away, but it’s friend on another branch was very quickly grabbed by the mink, dragged down the trunk of the tree and taken out of sight, possibly into it’s burrow. It took no time at all. After about a minute or two the mink was back out looking for its next victim!

The Lock Keeper squeezed us in behind the hire boat then brought in another narrowboat alongside. Ropes were adjusted on the hire boat in front, their ropes on the stern not really long enough for the job or depth of the lock. Extra turns round bollards and t-studs for the boat we were alongside, I think we had the best position for an easy ride up.

The queue above the lock was several deep, not enough lock layby for them all to tie to. Was this an early indicator of how busy Abingdon would be?

Once round the bend above the weir the other narrowboat overtook us, forging ahead to grab a space.

Abingdon came into view, all picture postcard in the sunshine. We spotted only a couple of spaces we’d have tried to fit in, I suspect they wouldn’t be empty for long.

We’d already been told at the previous lock that Richard the Abingdon Lock Keeper wouldn’t be there, he has been suffering from Long Covid for the last year. So I was all prepared to go and press buttons. However a voluntary volunteer (unofficial) was stood at the panel ready to help people through. He was very chatty and warned us of a sunken boat upstream and told tales of a widebeam taking 4 hours to fill their water tank from the tap above the lock.

Down to a quarter of a tank we wanted a bit of water, a lady was just waiting for her tank to make the ‘boom I’m full’ noise so we waited, hose out claiming our position in the queue.

We were soon attached to the tap, not too much water going everywhere. Looking at the directions our hose would be too long (as would most hoses on narrowboats), but thankfully we still got water. The pressure here was similar to that at the bottom of Hillmorton. We decided we’d do half an hour and then let someone else have use of the tap, which meant we got to about half full.

A pause for lunch and then onwards to Sandford Lock. After a visit to Abingdon from RCR in 2019 Mick had realised that the overheating hadn’t been solved. He kept to the edges of the river where the flow was less, meaning he could keep Oleanna’s revs as low as possible. Today the bollards below the lock were in view, last time I’d been here they were just peeking above flood water. Today I had to use a ladder to assist getting off Oleanna. Up at the lock I’d been beaten to the buttons by a young chap who was only just tall enough to reach the buttons, his Mum and Dad were waiting for the lock below too.

All went well until he hadn’t seen that we’d been joined by another small cruiser, so he started to close the gates as it was coming through. Plenty of shouting meant he removed his finger from the button stopping the gate, phew!

An Oleanna sized hole was waiting for us above the lock, just where we wanted to be for the day. What NO trees! The friendly cover’s a bit sparse too. I remember last time when there were six cats who ganged up against me. I’ve been patient all day for you to finally tie up a good outside and this is what you catch! Can we go back to yesterdays outside? Pleeease!!

With the sun still being out and a grassy mooring we got the barbecue out. Tilly was allowed to stay out with us for a while even though it was after dingding. I’m sure she just stayed out because it’s normally against the rules, not because she wanted to as she didn’t venture far!

4 locks, 12.09 miles, 1 lie in, 2 poached eggs, 1 squeeze, 1 volunteer volunteer, 30 minutes of water, 18m not 7m, 1 sunken boat, 1 meeting arranged, 2 out of 5 options for another, 2ft 6” lower, 1 button presser, 1 unimpressed cat, 4 veg kebabs, 2 salmon steaks, 1 pleasant evening.

PS The Selby Swing Bridge from the basin onto the canal was lifted out yesterday. It is being sent away to be mended, due back in 12 weeks time. So no stopping to press buttons for a while. Not sure where the temporary footbridge is though. Link to photo

So Many Favourites. 9th August

Sonning Lock to above Days Lock

More rain, oh well back on with the waterproofs!

We pushed off at the new normal time of 8am, oh for a lie in! Coming in towards Reading there was a lady carrying a large bag, it looked like she was about to feed the swans, big bag of grain and most probably her Ikea blue bag was full of white sliced bread. But zooming in with the camera I could see her bag contained something else that was white, a swan. She undid velcro fastenings which held the swan safe and then set it free into the river. Then the bag of seed was scattered out for everyone to enjoy.

An interesting extension to an old barge

Near the junction with the K&A we passed the lovely 1905 Dutch barge. The lady on board had been wanting to head up the K&A, but is stuck for the time being. We waved across to her and her Dad, who’d come along to crew for her.

Good job we didn’t want to go shopping at Tescos this morning as all spaces were taken. Onwards through Caversham, the lock on self service. Below the lock the diesel price was 4p cheaper than above, we’ll be needing some before too long but not quite yet.

The house with the round tower balcony and galleon weather vain is one of our favourites along this stretch, it straddles a slot where you could moor a boat.

By the time we reached Mapledurham Lock the Keepers were on duty and the sun was out. The lady wished she’d brought suncream with her, I wished I hadn’t put my winter waterproofs on! A sign warned you to stay to the right at the next bridge, Whitchurch Bridge in Pangbourne, someone apparently has stolen the sign pointing towards the lock!

There were plenty of spaces below along the bank should we have wanted to pull in, maybe ‘next time’. The Lock Keeper was busy chatting in his hut so a walk up and wave to him was needed, we passed through with another boat just before 11. Apparently an hour later the lock was closed. *Another broken collar, hope it doesn’t take as long to mend as at Boveney.

Mick decided it was time for elevenses, I postponed them until we’d passed the Seven Deadly Sins houses. Seven gothic mansions. Were they built by DH Evans to house his seven mistresses or to house seven lady friends of the Prince of Wales (King Edward VII)? No matter who they were built for they are lovely. One has just sold, well half of one, and another is having some TLC, the last one in the line is now more visible than I remembered.

Two years ago you could moor along Beale Park for 48hrs, a short while later sign posts were put up saying ‘No Mooring’, nothing to do with us, we hope! Cruising alongside the park at first we noticed the posts where the old signs had been. Then a blue banner near the island. From her on there are twelve marked 48 hr moorings, payable at £10 a night, refundable if you pay to go in the park. There were a few boats on them, but it was far too early in the day for us, we needed to cover more miles.

Wild swimmers were heading upstream, another downstream, this one wisely wearing an orange cap and dragging a very obvious float behind.

During the day my meeting in Chipping Norton was cancelled, well it had only been a maybe. So we were in flux as to how far to get today as we didn’t need to be in Oxford quite so soon. Then another email came in asking if I would still be going to measure things, this would be useful, but I’d be on my own and with no technicians about! In the end I decided to defer my visit to next week, we could slow down a touch, maybe.

Goring Lock is where Mick and Paul got to on their first day of moving Oleanna from the Kennet and Avon two years ago. The Thames had been in flood and I’d had to abandon ship to go off to work on panto. Mick joined Carol and George for a couple of days whilst waiting for the river to settle down a touch before he and Paul continued on upstream. Today things were far far calmer. The boat we’d shared Whitchurch with joined us and tried for a second time to buy a licence, they also failed for a second time.

Half a mile on is Cleeve Lock, here the lock was on self service so I went up to do the honours, boat hook in hand to pick up our bow rope. The boat we were shared with tried for a third time to buy a licence, maybe I should have said I only accepted cash!

Above the lock is a water point. Here the water sprayed everywhere, possibly a third of what came through the tap actually making it’s way through to the hosepipe. A couple were trying to do something at the water point, huddled under a small umbrella so as not to get soaked!

We pulled in at an available spot for lunch, risking that the weather would change as we ate, this of course is exactly what happened as the heavens opened just as we wanted to move off, this was then the theme for the remainder of the day. Bright sunshine followed by torrential downpours.

Moulsford Prep School is obviously very very popular with the geese of the area. The grassy bank to the river was covered in geese, this was not a gaggle but a gargantugaggle of geese. Just imagine how much goose pooh there must be there!

Onwards to Wallingford. The pretty church spire peeking out from behind the trees. There were a couple of spaces here, but we left them for others. NB Legend ended up mooring here the same year Mick and Paul were fighting their way up the Thames, they were just a few days behind us and ended up having a much longer stay in Wallingford than planned as the river boke it’s banks five times during the winter, followed by the pandemic and the first lockdown.

Above Benson Lock the next batch of Le Boat hire boats were making ready to set off, I think we counted five with crews unpacking. By the time we reached Days Lock we’d caught up with one of them, the Lock Keeper told us to hold our breath as he squeezed us in alongside them, only a couple of inches to spare.

As we left we asked the Keeper if it was still possible to moor on the fields above the lock, we’d heard that a new land owner had put No Mooring signs up. The Lockie said that he thought we might have to pay, maybe on line, but people certainly moored there. This was welcome news, but would our favourite mooring be free?

The first space had new fencing nearby. A stake looked like it had once had a sign on it, the sign possibly now on the ground. We knew we were too deep to pull in there so carried on a short distance. There were no signs along this stretch two years ago and today there were no signs again. The gap was empty and the wind assisted us tucking us into the bank between the two sets of trees, our mooring.

Tilly was straight out, claiming trees and broken branches. Across the field came a buggy, was this the landowner coming for their money? No they went diagonally across the field and out of view, never to return. Obviously our presence wasn’t a problem, we think they were tending their sheep. Tilly stayed out being very busy until I had to call her in at 7, past cat curfew!

Sadly it was a touch too windy and occasionally wet to have a barbeque. Once all the hire boats had gone past the world was calm. The amount of sky though more than made up for it. We’ve spent so much time in London, or in amongst trees, this evening we had a view back. The sunset did not disappoint.

7 locks, 24.36 miles, 4 soakings, 2 very hot boaters, 9 favourite houses, 1 favourite boathouse, 12 moorings back, 6 swimmers, 1 tight squeeze, 11ses, 2nd broken collar, 1 river behaving this time, 3 kingfishers, 1 favourite mooring, 1 stunning sunset, 2 week gap found, 1 happy cat, 3rd day in a row Mrs Tilly stamp of approval.

https://goo.gl/maps/utNPSG11ckRQFPmXA

Flying In. 24th July

Bishop Stortford to Sawbridgeworth Lock 5

We were up early again, a shopping list for provisions to get us back to London was made and Mick headed out after breakfast to Waitrose for a free newspaper. Rain had been forecast for today, Mick managed to avoid the worst of it, but still came back wet.

It’s been a few weeks since we have sat down and been a full part of the Geraghty zoom on a Saturday morning, so today we made sure we wouldn’t be moving. Todays topics, chicken pox, ankle biting sisters, it was lovely to see everyone again.

The winding hole that used to stretch to Sainsburys

Time to make our move, we pushed off backwards at around 11am, reversing to the winding hole and then pulled in at the services. With the water tank filling we emptied the yellow water tank, Tilly got a clean pooh box and we disposed of rubbish.

There was one other gap in the moorings this morning, NB Small World had pulled away, we’d be following them back down the locks. Back past all the warehousey apartments. I think one boat really could do with a new chimney before winter, at least his bathroom door was in place today! No gongoozlers to keep us company at the locks as we made our way out of Bishop Stortford.

Bridge 47 is exceptionally narrow, made from what should be called a ‘T’ beam, the top being a touch wider than the bottom.

Approaching Spellbrook Lock a Dad was paddle boarding with his son clinging on for dear life, we made sure we drifted past them the little lads knuckles already white!

A group were fishing from the lock landing, so we slowly came in, nowhere else to drop me off, they moved to let us pull up and chatted away. Someone has added cable ties to the pawls, quite a good solution to be able to lift them without getting very greasy fingers.

Saturday is obviously a busy day at Stanstead Airport at the moment. Those heading back with Ryan Air from a week in the sun kept the sky full of planes coming in to land. Then once we were meandering our way towards Tednambury Lock they started to take off in our direction.

All the boats were still on the meadows. The one moored quite a long way out is tied to the bank but also has a couple of mud weights out to stop them moving too much.

At Tednambury Lock we caught up with NB Small World again, apparently the river had been quite busy this morning, most probably boats coming out from Hallingbury Marina close by. My friend Mike had been on a friends boat earlier in the year and sent me a photo of NB Dorcas pulled in on the lock landing above. Today I recreated the photo, except mine had grey skies not blue.

Mick pulled electric cables and weed off the prop as the lock filled and just managed to pull away off the landing before a wide beam arrived. However the prop soon got fouled again, our progress downstream slower than upstream, but we hoped there would be space for us above Sawbridgeworth Lock.

Thankfully there was plenty of room, a hand from a chap on the bank helped to pull Oleanna into the side as by now there was almost no steering due to weed on the prop, something to clear before we move onwards tomorrow.

Wonder how many litres of white paint that takes

A very late lunch whilst Tilly explored the area and some quinoa cooked for a salad later.

I headed out for a walk crossing the lock and walking down Mill Lane, aptly named as it starts on the lock island, the weir behind it used for power at what look to be couple of old mills. The buildings are now pristine white with white flowering hanging baskets, a stopped clock and a mechanism that must have powered machinery in one of the mills. Ransomes and Rapier were known for their railway and crane equipment, but in early days they made saw-milling machinery.

I walked past thatched cottages and through 1920’s estates many of the houses displaying sunbeams on their walls. At Sheering Mill bridge I thought I’d walk through the apartments to reach the Maltings, but big signs suggested I’d not be welcome and that I’d need a key fob to exit at the far end. So I turned round and walked along the river bank instead, I could look at the gated community from the other bank where NB Small World was nestled for the remainder of the day.

I had a quick walk around the Maltings, numerous antique shops to look at tomorrow and what smelt like a very good Indian Take Away. I was tempted but we ate out yesterday and the quinoa would be cool enough to make into a salad back at the boat, it didn’t stop me looking at their menu though!

Meanwhile in Scarborough and along the North Yorkshire Coast, Animated Objects Theatre Company are touring their ‘A Thousand Ships’ exhibition. This weekend they are in the Brunswick Centre in Scarborough, tables filled with the origami boats all made by people from the Yorkshire Coast. This is part of a much bigger project The Odyssey which is running over the next few years.

4 locks, 4.53 miles, 1 wind, 1st Saturday paper in a while, 1st full zoom for a while, 1 empty wee tank, 1 full water tank, 1 clean pooh box, 2 boaters staying dry, 25 planes, 1000 ships, 2 mills, 2 moustaches, 1 tall aerial, 1 maine coon, 1 Tilly stood down and brought inside, 1 fisty paws avoided.

https://goo.gl/maps/Fe4hQR3fFz7hEBoe6

I Went To Bishop Stortford And I Bought A …… 23rd July

Footbridge 28 to Bishop Stortford, the end of navigation

A little face kept watch on us approaching his boat this morning. He then popped back inside as we passed, maybe Tilly was giving him the what for out of a window.

Sheering Mill Lock was our first and it took me by surprise as I needed a key to work both the bottom gates and the bottom paddles. I signalled back to Mick and then went to close the top gates. As we worked our way up a C&RT van arrived alongside the lock with a big bag of aggregate or sand in the back, a work boat was moored on the weir cut, they would bring it round to off load the bag once we were out of the way.

Now in Sawbridgeworth we looked for a mooring for a few hours. The chap on a red boat had told us we should visit the mills here, good antique shops, well worth a nosy. We spotted the mills and the moorings alongside modern apartments where signs say not to moor. Then ambiguous signs about Private Mooring, 2 days? We were puzzled, could we stop or not? The one visitor mooring was taken, so we carried on to Sawbridgeworth Lock, a neat and tidy lock with cottages over looking it.

At the end of a line of boats there was a space that would have suited us, but we decided to save a visit to the mills for our way back down stream. Instead today we’d get to Bishop Stortford.

Clare on NB Billy had warned us of more low bridges and sure enough they were low with lovely sticky outy bits.

Tednambury Lock is overlooked at a distance by a house on a hill, the field between filled with yellow ragwort. A gate on the bridge over the bottom of the lock deters loads of more than 3 tonnes and an old garden gate has been reused on the path up through the field.

The river meanders round, several boats were moored on the meadows here and had carved themselves seating areas in the long grass. A leap of faith required to reach dry land, some leaps were bigger than others!

By Spellbrook Lock we’d picked up a prop full of weed again. So once Oleanna had settled at the top Mick lifted the weed hatch to free it up. A long straight above the lock showed an oncoming boat, a blue one, could it be NB Misty Blue and Graeme? It was, he slowly made his way towards the lock as I wound paddles down and waited for Mick to finish. This would be the last time up here that our paths would cross, Graeme covering the water quicker than us, so it was farewells for now. We’ll meet somewhere else, sometime. Enjoy the rest of the summer Graeme.

Organised Gongoozlers sat waiting at the next lock, a flask and mugs for a morning coffee break in the sunshine watching the boats. We seemed to be hot on the heals of another boat who were also on their first trip up the river. A couple with their two kids also stood and watched, their daughter in a push chair seemed uninterested until she spotted Oleanna at the bottom of the lock when she gave out a loud happy screech!

At Southmill Lock the last on the river we caught up with the boat ahead. NB Small World, we hadn’t seen them since Broxbourne and had assumed they’d headed up the Lee, but no they must have just been setting off at a similar time to us a short distance ahead.

The route into Bishop Stortford is mostly surrounded by new warehousy type flats, maybe developers are encouraged to try to replicate the past. A zigzaggy bridge from the millennium crosses the river alongside original mills and leads it’s way towards the station.

The structure of Millennium Bridge and the Mills

A boat pulled out in front of us having just finished at the services, he then winded with hindrance from the wind and headed back towards us. One spot left right at the end of the moorings facing the end of the navigation. Rings are provided, but nestled in amongst nettles, someone could really do with strimming the moorings!

Those nettles would keep a hot compost bin happy

Sadly for Tilly the Health and Safety committee deemed the moorings to be unsuitable so they then had to put up with feline protests for an hour or two.

I think it was thirty years ago I had my first professional design job for Snap Theatre Company who were based in Bishop Stortford. My interview necessitated me removing my portfolio from the final exhibition at college whist marking was happening. When I showed my folio to the Artistic Director of Snap there were certain things I couldn’t show him. A prop design of a barbers chair for my final project at college wouldn’t have been good as it was a theoretical design for the Olivier at the National Theatre, if I was actually designing for the National, why was I at an interview for a youth theatre summer school production of The Tempest!

I spent two/ three weeks in digs here, I can’t remember where abouts now. Much of the town centre has changed, I can’t even remember where the office was where I had to leave the van each night, Sainsburys has certainly moved. The Artistic Director, Andy Graham has also moved, a Google search shows him now to be working near to Chipping Norton of all places!

We had a wonder around the town, a few places sparking memories. The old mills now house a dance school and Chinese restaurant among other things. We crossed the zigzagging bridge and across the vast car park. Huge areas are set out for season ticket holders. Many of the spaces were empty as people now work from home, or maybe they were used by airline staff, not so many flights from Stanstead.

Beyond the A1250 road bridge that cuts the navigation off is Castle Gardens. We walked alongside the river, now far too shallow for any but model boats. This however looks like a new course for the river. There had been a channel that went under the road, but on the 1892-1914 OS 25 inch map it shows the river coming into town a bit further west. Sainsburys now sits on top of the Terminus Basin and the winding hole is where you turned off to it.

Getting out of puff might have been worth it for the views

Sadly the castle had closed for the day, so no views from the top of the mound for us.

We decided to eat out tonight, a proper pizza for Mick and a gluten free one for me at Pizza Express. This used to be an old favourite, it feels like we’ve not been to one in years, possibly true. The photo is deceptive due to perspective. I had an ample amount of food, Mick had a bit too much!

Oh what did I buy?

……….. a spatula! What else!

6 locks, 5.74 miles, 2 boats coming down, 2 days or maybe not, 5C less, 0 shore leave, 2 tideway boats, 30 years ago, 1 spatula, 1 castle, 1 river rerouted, 2 pizzas, 1 bored cat.

https://goo.gl/maps/xBf4Ex7zzeL9MYGv8

Electric Webs. 21st July

Broxbourne Bridge to above Hunsdon Mill Lock 12, River Stort

A haze rose from the canal this morning. Luckily for us the rain hadn’t continued through the night so we managed to get some sleep. Each night seems to be getting that little bit cooler from the last thankfully.

First lock of the day Carthagena Lock. Heavy flexing gates that didn’t want to come out of their recesses. Mick ended up having to climb a ladder to come and help, one gate simply wasn’t going to shift without two of us. The RSJ has an infill where you normally push them open, but with two of us there wasn’t enough, so I got lean on a section not filled in, quite painful really. At least we got the bloomin thing moving in the end.

Still wearing my boaters PPE a year later

Above Dobbs Weir Lock webs of electricity had been spun above our heads. So many lines in different directions, below Rye House Substation was the reason.

Not far now to Feilde’s Lock where we topped up the water tank and disposed of our rubbish whilst the lock emptied. Here we had a choice, leftish on the Lea towards Ware and Hertford or right towards Bishop Stortford. Right was the decision.

The River Stort was used to transport malt to London. In 1766 an Act of Parliament was passed which enabled the River Stort to be made navigable to Bishop Stortford. 15 wooden locks were built, parts of the river rerouted and dredged. Three basins were built at Bishop Stortford, the work finally completed in 1769 at the cost of £100,000.

In 1811 and 12 attempts were made to extend the navigation to Cambridge and beyond via the River Cam, but the finances of over £0.5 million were never raised so the project was dropped.

The locks were built for barges of 70 to 86ft long and 13.25 ft wide which carried around 60 tons of cargo. The width of the locks now means that they are not wide enough for two narrowboats to share, but are wide enough to require you to open both gates, top and bottom.

Brick Lock until a few days ago required assistance from C&RT to pass through. Today one of the top paddles is out of action, covered up in a C&RT aware yellow bag. As we set the lock, emptying water out we could see that the top cill either has lots of detritus on it or will fail at some point soon, plenty of water billowing up from under the gate. This made opening the bottom gates hard, exacerbated by a large amount of weed covering the off side sluice opening.

When Mick brought Oleanna into the lock he did his best to clear the weed, hopefully the next boat through won’t have as much difficulty as we did.

On the sign post for the lock is an explanation of the Navigation Warning System. It is a standard Green amber red system, but it is used the opposite way round to most river level boards. This is positioned under the next bridge and shows you if you have enough air drought to get under the Railway Bridge a short distance on. Back in 2015 we passed under the railway bridge as it was raining, the river rising overnight and Brick lock closing the following Monday for maintenance. When we woke in the morning we decided to return and limbo back under the bridge for fear we might get stuck for weeks if not. Lillian cleared the bridge with not much to spare.

Fortunately for us last night thunderstorms hadn’t brought the river up too much, so we passed under with quite a bit of space above our black buckets.

Up Roydon Lock and on past meadows to Hunsdon Lock where lads were playing in the stream alongside, they came over and offered to lend a hand with the gates.

This is where we’d been aiming for, hoping the tree coverage would be good and that there would be space for us. Fortunately there was and we remained in the shade for all but an hour all afternoon.

There were a few boats, all who seemed to know each other, everyone knew Dave and Ted his dog. Dave is an old hand at canal life, very friendly and has been helping others to paint their boat. Ted was kept on a lead or indoors all afternoon, but we were warned that he would be allowed free reign in the evening. This was fine as Tilly would hopefully be home for her dingding at around 6, when the doors would close behind her, so Ted could run as free as he liked.

With food supplies running a touch low, I cobbled together some chicken marinated in not quite Jerk seasoning, due to the lack of chillies. As the drum sticks cooked away in a pan on the stove we had a frequent visitor. Ted could smell the cooking through the open window, the only thing stopping him from coming to sample our dinner was the blind. It was quite funny as whenever I heard Ted being called by the others on the towpath, there he was watching my every move through the blind

I’m very pleased to report to Ted that my not quite Jerk Chicken with rice and peas was very tasty, if I can remember what went into it I’ll make it again sometime.

8 locks, 4.88 miles, 1 right, 2 1 narrowboat only, 1 low bridge, 1 interesting table, 1 lodger negative, 1 shady mooring, 1 Christmas card location, 1 Ted, 1 Mrs Tilly Stamp.

https://goo.gl/maps/o6kcMGutCYQBis4p9

Can He Fix It? 15th July

St Pancras Cruising Club

From Saturday Hammersmith Bridge will be reopening to pedestrians, cyclists and river traffic. Engineers have deemed the bridge safe to reopen “safety risk is kept acceptably low” due to a temperature control system on the anchor chains and the use of acoustic sensors which have been installed to issue alerts on further crack movements. These are only temporary measures and a more permanent repair is needed. The Department of Transport is willing to foot a third of the repair bill of £161million, but TFL and the local Council are struggling to foot the remainder.

Whilst we waited for an engineer to visit I had a long chat regarding panto props with Jo the props maker. Last year Jo, as so many others, had to find work elsewhere to help ends meet. From being a receptionist at a holiday park to delivering prescriptions she has survived. Still working part time she is now starting to take on bits of theatre work, which I am relieved about as I really enjoy working with Jo. We talked hobby horses, tea cosies, silver cross prams along with stretchable rhubarb and inflatable radishes.

I had planned to be out whilst the engineer was here, but I was busy talking giant strawberries when he arrived. Mick had pulled the washing machine out of it’s cupboard, moved all our bedding and mattresses out of the way to make more space. The front door was open and he removed the glass from our bedroom window, so there was plenty of fresh air.

Tilly and I sat on the other side of the bathroom door listening to the beeps from the engineers tester. All the cables and connections were checked, he was testing everything for over an hour. In the end he suspects it’s a circuit board that has gone, nothing he could mend today unfortunately. Someone will call us tomorrow with a quote for a new board and fitting it.

Hmm, what to do? It’s handy being here where it’s easy to arrange an engineer to visit, but we really would like to move on. Some more than others!

Mick spent some of the afternoon trying to source the circuit board himself, fairly sure he’d be able to install it, which would save a call out fee. He only found one which was a reconditioned board, we’ll wait to see what the quote is tomorrow.

Time for a walk. I’d spotted Camden Garden Centre on a map, hopefully they’d be able to sell me another trough so that I could plant on the other half of the strawberry plants I bought weeks ago at Barton Turns. The others I’d replanted are now double the size, sending out babies and new shoots are coming up too.

My route took me across St Pancras Gardens. Here large buildings back onto the grassy area, these were the dormitory blocks for St Pancras Workhouse, they were built around 1890 and added an extension to the already existing workhouse. The original workhouse in 1777 housed 120 inmates, over the next ten years this increased, they were sleeping five to six in a bed! Buildings came and went. Oliver Twist may have been based on the story of Robert Blincoe, a child inmate from here.

Today it is now St Pancras Hospital which occupies many of the Victorian buildings.

Over the canal I soon came across the Garden Centre filled with plants, cactus, pots and troughs, the later perfect for my strawberry plants.

I then had a wander around the area. A hand car wash place had a rather lovely Jaguar outside. Several pubs looked quite inviting. Oh and NB Small World had found another mooring.

I then spied the blue houses that sit behind the modern apartments, so I walked round the back of them onto Lyme St. Sadly the access to the houses is gated off so not much to see. But between the buildings on Lyme St I could see the back of the houses, here there appears to be a modern building at their rear.

It’s really quite large the building behind the cottages

A look at Google maps later shows it as a big building and checking on Street view it looks like it is The Workshop at 183 Royal College Street. Things were now starting to look familiar. It turns out that The Workshop was featured on Grand Designs, formerly a furniture workshop, it was rebuilt as a family home and architectural studio designed by architect Henning Stummel. Nothing what so ever to do with the blue cottages that face the canal. If you are interested here is a link for more information.

0 locks, 0 miles, 90 minutes talking props, 70 minutes diagnostic engineer, 1 circuit board, or could it be the other 1? 6 to a bed, 2 churches, 1 trough, 3 plants replanted, 1 bag of compost now required, 2 blue houses, 1 grand design hidden away, 1956 Jaguar XK140 Coupe, £35 to 40k back in 2008.

We Don’t Do Boats. 14th July

St Pancras Cruising Club

Mick rang back a company he’d tried yesterday to see when an engineer might be able to come out to look at our dead washer/dryer. We’d been given several options yesterday regarding payment and we’d decided that £125 to fix it wasn’t too bad, a new one being at least £300, if they couldn’t fix it then £55 would be the call out charge. However when he tried calling the department to see when they would be able to visit the phone just rang and rang and rang. He gave up.

Google suggested several other firms. ‘Sorry we don’t cover that area’ was quite a common response. Others suggested they’d be able to get someone out to us this afternoon. ‘What’s your postcode?’ This was given, handy to be at the Cruising Club and have an address. Then Mick would say we were on a boat. ‘Oh, we don’t do boats. Houses yes, boats no!’

A notice was put on the London Boaters group, but the only suggestion was to buy a new one as they are so cheap now. We’d rather see if it can be mended, but we might just be giving someone some money to look at a totally dead machine.

Eventually a company was found who didn’t have a problem coming out to us on a boat. An appointment made for tomorrow afternoon. Mick called the Harbour Master, Tony to see if we could stay a bit longer in the basin. This was fine and a key holder for the gate into the car park would be found to let the engineer in.

Mick headed off to find a new connecting hose for the washing machine, a longer one would help when pulling it out from it’s cupboard. 2.5m would do and be handy even if we end up having to buy a new machine.

Back onboard I, at last, had a chat with Gemma (Production Manager for Panto). We talked painting the set, a quote for more than my design fee had come in from a scenic artist. I know you can earn more money painting than designing, but when I’d already said I’d paint the show for a top up on my fee! Logistics in our pandemic world make things a little more complicated than before, but hopefully with a bit of thought things will work out.

I decided that as we wouldn’t be moving today that I’d do some work. The drawing board came out and my assistant sat by and watched as I drew up some basic plans for the set of #unit 21. This didn’t take too long, I just need to get them scanned now and sent off for a friend in Leeds to give me a quote.

Mick had another trip to make to Christine’s. A new propmate had arrived for us to replace the one now sat on the bottom of Limehouse Basin. The design has changed a bit since we bought our original one. Now made from pipe with a bent handle and it comes with a wrist strap already attached! Hopefully this one will be with us for longer than the old one.

Being cooped up in the boat all day I had a walk around the Kings Cross development. A meander of a walk took me through the new buildings, many empty. Landscaping and seating is everywhere making for a green environment.

I walked past York Road Station, one of the original stations on the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway. Opened in 1906 it was designed by Leslie Green and connected to the platforms by two lifts. It closed in 1932, discussions have been made about reopening it, but as it’s quite close to Kings Cross the £21million (2005 estimate) needed to bring it up to modern day standards it is unlikely to happen.

A cinema screen plays to an audience on the steps across the canal. A couple of films are shown a day along with the Tour De France at lunchtimes. All the restaurants and bars were packed, as much as they can be and the whole area had a hubhub about it.

Art covers walls and expensive shops fill an area which used to be full of railway lines delivering coal.

It being Wednesday night it was club night at the Waterpoint the old water tower that overlooks the basin. A glass of wine and being sociable was on the cards, hopefully with a visit to the roof of the tower.

Our luck was in and we got shown up onto the roof. From here views down to St Pancras Station, BT tower, a bit of the London Eye and the numerous cranes which are on the site of the new Google building.

Northwards is mostly railways and tower blocks, but all the same with the sun gradually going down it was still quite a sight.

The roof is what used to be the water tank which used to hold 17,000 gallons of water which was used to fill the tanks of the steam locomotives. In one corner is the ballcock, pretty much like a toilet ballcock only far bigger!

The tower used to be situated along the lines at St Pancras, however it was in the way of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link HS1 so it had to be moved. The tower was split into three, the top two layers moved to behind the lock cottage. A new bottom third was built and the top two thirds were craned in on top. The Cruising Club are custodians of the water tower, it is currently their club house. You’ll find it open to the public several times a year.

The whole area around Kings Cross was a huge coal depot. Where the basin is now used to have railtracks running over the top of it. The gas holders have been moved from their original site and new buildings built within them to suggest the old tanks. Using this link you can see how much the area has changed since 1892 by sliding the button on the bottom left.

Today a new C&RT notice came in

Aire & Calder Navigation Main Line
Location: Lock 11, Ferrybridge Flood Lock, Aire & Calder Navigation

Navigation Closure

Monday 19 July 2021 08:00 until Friday 13 August 2021 16:00

A stoppage is required to replace the downstream gates and cills. Check and repair downstream sluices.

Here’s hoping the end of this stoppage coincides with the breach site reopening.

0 locks, 0 miles, 0 washing machine, 1 engineer booked, 2 new quotes, 1 conversation, 1 set drawn up, 16 more panto photos, 1 dormant station, 2 glasses up on the roof.

When Is a Bunny Park Not A Bunny Park? 11th July

Ontario Bridge 205A

With the majority of St Pancras boats moving off this morning, Mick had offered to lock wheel as we’d be staying put. He was up and off at 8am to help NB Coracle and NB Albert Victor up the Hanwell flight.

I stayed put as it was a Dreamie day for Tilly. She’d been cooped up inside for too many days and deserved to have a day of shore leave, which also means she gets to have a lot of ‘Thank you for coming home’ Dreamies. When Tilly is out it means one of us is in, just in case a rescue is required!

Several local cats were spotted during the morning, but thankfully no spats occurred.

Whilst I busied myself with writing up yesterdays cruise Mick worked boats up the locks. At around 9am NB Misty Blue who’d moored behind us pushed off to join NB Mobius to climb the flight, they were then followed by NB Chance. Mick worked boats up the flight of 6, leaving them to ascend Hanwell Lock and Norwood Top Lock so that he could help the following boats.

Mid afternoon Tilly had returned for a snooze so we took the opportunity to head off for a walk around Hanwell. First port of call was Mick’s old flat, just up the road from The Fox. Then where?

A few days ago I’d spotted mention of Hanwell Zoo on Google maps, so we headed in that direction, ducking down under the Uxbridge Road alongside the River Brent and into Brent Meadow where a Dad was trying to amuse his kids by launching a kite, he was unsuccessful.

Under Wharncliffe Viaduct which was built in 1836 by Isambard Kingdom Brunel to carry the new Great Western Railway from Paddington. 40 years later the viaduct had to be widened to accommodate growing rail traffic, you can see the join. It is said that Queen Victoria would ask for her train to be stopped on the viaduct so that she could admire the view. Today it looks like it needs a good weed and the trees would need cutting back a touch to admire the vista.

Into Brent Lodge Park. Areas mown, others left to grow. We walked up to St Mary’s Church. Originally a Georgian Church it was deemed too small for it’s congregation and in 1842 was replaced with a design by George Gilbert Scott with flint walls and white brick quoins. A rather pretty church, although the doors look like they’ve been painted with ultramarine poster paint!

Next it was time to check out the Zoo. Now I say zoo, but Mick insists on calling it the Bunny Park. Apparently everyone calls it the Bunny Park! All of Mick’s sisters will know it as the Bunny Park, but I bet none of the kids there did as a big mosaic sign boasts it’s name as Hanwell Zoo, not one bunny in view!

Well actually nothing much was in view but a couple of red billed birds as the ZOO is only open to pre-booked visitors. The Six Banded Armadillo (not a bunny) would have to wait for another time.

Instead we got ourselves some chilled medication, triple chocolate in a stale cone for Mick and pistachio in a tub for me.

We then retraced our steps up to St Mary’s and then wiggled our way back through the streets of Hanwell, passing many pretty terraced houses with original front doors, back to the river then the canal and Oleanna.

A roast chicken was popped in the oven, coming out at 8pm. It feels like an absolute age since I’ve cooked a proper meal. Plenty of chicken to last us through the coming days. Later Mick settled down to watch the later part of the football whilst I continued writing up our cruise yesterday.

Roast Chicken, squash, carrots, new potatoes, garlic and cabbage, YUM!

0 locks, 12 helped with, 9 hours shore leave, 5 taken, 1 long post, 2 many photos to choose from, 0 bunnies, 2 scoops, still 0 bunnies, 2 blue doors, 1 large roast chicken, 22 Dreamies, 1 quiet day.

Tideway Tilly. 10th July

A photo heavy post! If you click on a photo it should enlarge.

Limehouse Basin to Ontario Bridge 205A Grand Union Canal

Tilly seemed keen to be out this morning despite the not so inviting view from our bedroom window. Today we’d be heading out onto the Tidal Thames so no shore leave for cats, no matter how much they shout!

One of the last jobs to do today was put Tilly’s escape pod back together ready should there be any necessity to abandon ship. She also quite likes to sit in there anyway.

At 10:30 all crews congregated in the car park for our final briefing. An extra sheet of paper was passed round which detailed the distances between bridges on our cruise upstream. We were reminded to keep looking behind us as that is where the danger can lie, make sure our anchors were actually attached to our boats and just to hold our course and not to turn into waves as they can come from any and every direction. VHF radios were handed to crew who didn’t have their own, ship to ship being on channel 8.

St Pancras Leader, Simon, would radio VTS (Vessel Traffic Service) when they left the lock and the third lock leader would do the same when the last and final boat entered the tide way, Tail end Charlie would be Oleanna today. There wouldn’t be much commercial traffic on the river, but plenty of Clippers and speed boats. The weather forecast wasn’t so good, everyone prepared for rain which was just trying to start.

The first locking of four boats was at 11:15. Limehouse Lock can hold three narrowboats abreast and as two boats were short they could sit one behind the other. We watched as the boats pulled into the lock, each passing ropes round the risers on the lock walls, these are positioned directly under the bollards above.

Waiting for NB Chance to take her position in the lock

The pull as the lock starts to empty, radial gates not paddles, is strong necessitating ropes needing to be passed round a T stud to help you keep hold.

We watched as the lock emptied and then the boats departed. NB Thermopylae led the way followed by NB Chance, NB Misty Blue and NB Mobius brought up the rear. Each boat motoring out of the lock and turning right onto the Thames keeping a distance between each other.

The next boats were ready and waiting for the lock to be refilled, we headed back to Oleanna for a final briefing with our second mate, move the towline to the bow and untie ourselves from the mooring.

Oleanna looking forward to her trip up the Thames

Tilly was warned that that the outside we’d be moving today was likely to be quite lumpy bumpy for a while, she retired to her escape pod and waited to see what happened.

NB Coracle was lead boat, followed by NB Small World then us at the very back. As the lock gates fully opened Andrew on NB Coracle said ‘Let’s go boating!’ It was 11:48 we were 15 minutes ahead of schedule.

Leaving Limehouse Lock, the river was big but not as big as leaving Goole

I closed the cratch cover up and moved through Oleanna to the stern. I was soon pleased that I’d thought to move bottles from the galley shelves and counter tops as the river was most certainly lumpy. We turned into the flow of the tide heading upstream.

Speed boats zipped past their wakes moving across the river. They were towards the south bank, we were towards the north bank, the waves kept coming and coming, first this way then that. You said it was going to be lumpy! You didn’t say that we would be looping the loop!!!!

Tilly wasn’t happy, she was shouting at the back doors! I have to admit that I wasn’t too happy either as Oleanna rose and fell with the waves. Please excuse the out of focusness of this footage as my camera had no idea what it should focus on! This is by far the lumpiest water we’ve encountered. As a child I used to be seasick every time I even stood near to a boat, so today I did my best to keep calm and looked round at everything to keep my mind off the swell.

We fell in line behind the lead boat and NB Small World, one yellow buoy coming a touch close to us. The river was moving us along, at one point I couldn’t hear the engine, Mick had put Oleanna into tickover as we had been gaining on the boat ahead.

Behind us Canary Wharf, ahead old warehouses, the River Police jetty.

The Shard came into view, then as we rounded the bend at Wapping the view opened out.

The Walkie Talkie, St Pauls, BT Tower, City Hall and of course Tower Bridge. Wow!

Dora May just off centre with a blue and cream wheelhouse

At Tower Moorings we tried to spot Dora May that used to belong to my friend Kathy. She is still moored there, wheelhouse positioned with a great view over to Tower Bridge.

Just look at that! Tower Bridge built between 1886 and 1894

We managed to line ourselves up briefly for a photo we’ve been dreaming of for years, under the central span of Tower Bridge.

Then we got back in line with the two boats ahead and headed for span 1 to the north side. It is quite an impressive bridge to walk over, but more so to pass under.

We waved to the south bank of the river where Mick’s sister Christine had positioned herself.

No chance of spotting her, but thankfully she spotted us.

I especially like the one in front of the Tower of London.

The bridges now come thick and fast as did the swell.

Trying to take photos clinging on, trying to stay upright at times was quite hard.

London Bridge Hospital looks like a new coat of white paint has been added, keeping it crisply clean, soon followed by Hays Wharf. This wonderful deco building once a wharf now contains consulting rooms and the cardiology department for the hospital.

Follow my leader under the correct spans of the bridges as waves buffeted themselves against Oleanna.

Tate Modern (opened 2000) and the wibbly wobbly Millennium Bridge (opened 2000, reopened 2002).

The Samuel Pepys pub is where Mick used to drink when he worked almost next door for BT in the red brick building.

More bridges, more sights, more big trip boats.

Pillars where old railway bridges used to be. The Oxo tower (originally a power station supplying the Post Office, built at the end of the 19th Century) more shiny tower blocks.

Waterloo Bridge (opened 1942, fully opened 1945), The National Theatre (opened 1976). Have to say I was a touch disappointed that the National hadn’t brought the horses out from War Horse onto the terrace to see us pass as they did for the Queen!

Frequent glances behind brought different views as well as checking if we were being followed.

Hungerford Bridge (opened 1864) and the Golden Jubilee Bridges (completed 2002)

Then Hungerford Bridge and the Golden Jubilee Bridges. Were we early? We looked up as we came under the bridge.

A pair of shoes, legs, a radio 2 news presenter stood phone in hand ready to capture us as we passed below.

Thank you Adam, hope you got to work on time.

The London Eye (opened 2000), County Hall (1922), Tattershall Castle (a steamer built in 1934 and was used as a Humber Ferry) and onwards to the Houses of Parliament (finished in 1860) and Westminster Bridge (opened 1862).

Such a shame Big Ben is still swathed in scaffolding, maybe we’ll just have to come and do the trip again in the latter part of 2022!

As we passed the exclusion zone in front of the Houses of Parliament I shouted out a few comments to those who run our country. I so hope they heard and will take heed of my words!

Under Lambeth Bridge ( 1932) with the MI5 offices (1929) with it’s gold roof.

A boat sat out of the water a structure held it upright. I wonder if those eating and drinking at Tamesis Dock knew they weren’t afloat.

Mick tried pointing out another building he used to work in. ‘That one with all the windows’! It turns out Mick used to work next door to the MI6 building on the south bank, well before it was built.

By now the river traffic was easing, the swell gone. Under Vauxhall Bridge, the four towers of Battersea Power Station (completed in 1955) rose from the redevelopment below.

Next week will see the return of the open-air cinema and theatre at The Coal Jetty. Apartments are being sold and retail and restaurants are already open. We do wonder what the residents will think of living next door to the Super Sewer though! I’m sure it will all be below ground.

Victoria Railway Bridge rebuilt and widened in the 1960’s

Chelsea, originally Victoria Bridge, rebuilt in 1937

Albert Bridge, built 1873, suspension bridge incorporated in 1884-7 and final alterations made in 1973

Victoria, Chelsea and Albert Bridges. The question is who was Chelsea? Did she have a bit of a fling with Albert getting between them!

Albert Bridge painted in pastel shades has a touch of a Wedgewood feel to it.

Battersea Road Bridge was followed by numerous house boats.

I wonder what it’s like living on one of those with the tides coming and going.

Lots Road Power Station which used to produce electricity for the underground is having a makeover. The internal structures have been removed and 800 tonnes of steel have been used to retain the exterior façade. Along with four new buildings the development will provide 420 residential units.

Hanging under Wandsworth Bridge ( built in 1940) is a dishevelled bail of straw. It’s an ancient bylaw of uncertain heritage that if a bridge arch is open to river traffic, but with restricted headroom, then a bundle of straw should be hung from the bridge as a warning. At night time it is replaced by a white light.

Fulham Railway Bridge (1889) and Putney Bridge (1886)

Down stream of Putney Bridge (1886) is where the Oxford Cambridge boat race starts, the course passes under Hammersmith Bridge, Barnes Bridge and finishes just before Chiswick Bridge a distance of four miles.

Fulham Football Club is having major works. The riverside stand at Craven Cottage was demolished and is being redeveloped into more than just a football stand. Floating pontoons are being used in the building work and an exclusion zone around these is in force on the river marked with yellow buoys.

Now we started to encounter rowers as we approached Hammersmith Bridge (1887). An area along the southern bank has been marked out for the rowers to use, keeping normal river traffic away from the area.

Hammersmith Bridge has been closed to motor traffic since August 2019 after cracks were discovered in the bridges pedestals. The closure was extended to pedestrians, cyclists and normal boat traffic last year. It is however open for pre-booked transits which are subject to a lot of conditions. One of which is that you have an abort plan should the bridge be closed in front of you. This would entail winding and stemming the tide in a predetermined section of the river, contact with VTS would be made and then we would wait for slack water before returning all the way to Limehouse Lock with the outgoing tide.

All three groups had to pass under the bridge in an hours window. Thankfully no abort signal was given and we as Tail end Charlie passed under the bridge at 13:38, well within the hour. Phew!

Under Barnes Railway Bridge ( built in the 1890’s), more rowers and paddleboarders.

We received a phone call from Simon checking our location at 14:00, we could confirm we were under Chiswick Bridge and all was fine at the back of the flotilla.

A zoom in on the camera to Kew Railway Bridge confirmed we were catching up the second group. NB Combs Lass and NB Galatea were just passing under the bridge, it was the first time we’d seen them since Limehouse.

Kew Bridge a wide span bridge was to be the last we’d pass under, the Tower of Kew Bridge Pumping Station watching our approach towards Brentford Junction.

Passing islands to our starboard side we could see the sculpture Liquidity by Simon Packard. This to boaters helps mark the entrance of Brentford Junction on the Thames, to locals it caused a big hoo-ha when it was first erected as it blocked the view from new flats and a local restaurant to the river.

This was where the flotilla would split. Three boats could be seen continuing on up stream towards Teddington. NB Thermopylae now at the back. The third locks worth of boats veered off at the Junction and headed for Thames Lock. Here NB Albert Victor was joined by NB Coracle our lead boat and we joined NB Small World in the second lock to rise up to the semi tidal stretch at the bottom of the Grand Union Canal.

I had chance to check on everything below, half expecting Tilly to still be in a tizz and maybe for her to have suffered from seasickness. I was greeted by a cat who was trying to be quite cool about everything, even if she was a little bit shouty! There was also a bit of a puddle in the main cabin. Oh dear.

However it didn’t take me long to realise that this was just water and it must have come in through our hatch despite the outer doors being closed. There was water on the surround. In absolute torrential rain with howling gales we’ve had water come in having been forced up under the doors. This must have happened when we were in the really lumpy water.

Thames Lock which takes us onto semi-tidal water

Heading to the bow to open up the cratch I also noticed a very small amount of water had made it’s way up under the front doors. These are raised off the floor of the well deck and have a frame that sits quite a bit higher than the doors. Water will have come in through the well deck drains on the choppy sections of the river and some of that made it’s way inside!

Maybe if we plan to do more rough cruises we should look at adding extra protection to these areas, the amount of water wasn’t alarming, but it would have been better to have come in to a dry boat.

A lock keeper was also on duty at Brentford Gauging Locks bring us up off the tidal water and onto the canal proper. We were now bunched up and a queue had formed at Clitheroe’s Lock. I headed up to help , other crew walking on ahead to set Osterley Lock.

When we reached the final lock of the day NB Albert Victor was waiting for a partner, so NB Small World joined them, leaving us to lock up on our own. The off side bottom gate refused, despite a bit of a waggle back and forth, to open fully, so it was one boat in at a time. On leaving half a tree trunk floated above the lock gates. NB Small World pushed it out of the way, but by the time I’d refilled the lock it had drifted back down to be in the way again!

The first sign of a gap in the moorings we pulled in, close to the community gardens. Tilly’s paw was already clinging onto the bathroom porthole her nose sniffing the fresh air, the trees here already having been given feline approval. As soon as our location had been noted with co-ordinates and what3words the rules were recited to Tilly and she was given 2 hours shore leave.

Time for a well deserved cup of tea!

Graeme and David with everyone else behind them

This evening we joined everyone else who’d come off the river at Brentford along with Simon who’d made it over from Teddington for a meal at The Fox. This is a pub Mick knows well as he used to live about 200 yards away. I was famished, but had also forgotten about the portion sizes. A portion of chicken wings arrived as a starter, I’d been expecting 4 or 6, but 12! Mick and I should have shared them. Sadly they had run out of rainbow trout so I chose pork belly with mash, Mick had sausage and mash. All the food was very tasty as expected.

A very good evening wrapping up an incredible day. The rain had held off, the planning had been spot on, the waves added extra adrenalin, advice was shared, lead boats knew the river, tail boats were VHF qualified. Thank you very much Simon for offering us the final space on the cruise. Thank you also to St Pancras Cruising Club, from start to finish we felt we were in safe hands.

Waterway Routes under new improved rain shield which wasn’t required today

5 locks, 18.75 miles, 2 rights, 34 bridges, 3rd locking, 10th in line, 1st St Pancras cruising cat, 1 lumpy river, 1 shouty cat, 2 puddles, 1 sister-out-law, 1 fellow blogger, 1 boat in tickover much of the time, 4 rice crispie cakes, 0 flying pigs, 4 power stations, 3 lock keepers, 2 hours shore leave, 1 fox, 807 photos, 1 very nice meal, 1 fantastic day.

https://goo.gl/maps/kU1p4HBtsysYSh7c7

For more photos of the trip from the front of the flotilla follow this link to Scholar Gypsy

Adam has also published a post with his photos this morning, showing the second group of boats as they headed for Westminster Bridge. A link to his blog Briar Rose

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna