Boat Blog: Charity Cruise 2

Saturday 24th October

We got back to the boat on Saturday evening though we felt as if we’d hardly left – Richard and I took a gang from his office down to City Road Basin on Thursday, then on Friday, Richard cruised back to Paddington with some clients. Indigo Dream really does know the way now!

We didn’t manage to get back to our pontoon mooring in Paddington Basin on Friday evening, but we did get a spot on the ‘towpath’ on the train station side. There are lots of boats moored here so it’s obviously a secure spot, but I felt more vulnerable as there are more footsteps passing by in the night. We had no trouble though – they were just innocent passersby.

The highlight of the evening was spending some time with Kath and Neil from Herbie; we’ve been reading their blog for a while and it was great to meet them in person. We popped over to say hello and once they’d finished their supper they came over to us for a glass of wine. We whiled away a pleasant hour nattering about narrowboats – we could have spent much longer! They might be recoiling in horror at the thought, but we’d love to spend an evening with them sometime – we’d barely touched on their passion for music and many other important things (we only talked boat paint, we never even broached the boater’s favourite subject of toilets :-)…….

Sunday 25th October

Well, we’ve not long since come home after our second charity cruise for Greyhoundhomer. What a day – we’ve been so lucky with the weather – it was glorious. The only real touch of autumn was the brisk wind which dented the promised balmy 17 degree temperature forecast. But we had sun aplenty – in the sky and in our hearts as we enjoyed the company of another crew of greyhound lovers.

We had a busy morning before our guests arrived, we needed to finish the food shopping, fill up with water and wage war on the ever-present fluff on the floor. The water point at the Little Venice services is a bit hopeless and the fill took ages. However it did give me time to go to the small Sainsbury’s in Sheldon Square and get that job done. The walk to the boat took me past the life-size, and very realistic, sculptures of the walking men. I couldn’t see a plaque nearby – does anyone know who the sculptor was and why they were erected here? The water took so long to fill that we were afraid we’d miss our guests, but we got back into Paddington Basin just in time to pick up Greygal.

We were delighted that Greygal decided to join us for another cruise – she’s a great crewman, or should that be skipper – she was soon issuing decisive orders from the helm 🙂

Shortly afterwards we got a phonecall from Pip and Nick – owners of two rescue greyhounds who sadly, from our point of view, stayed at home. Apparently Bella, their girl greyhound, is very nervous and wouldn’t have enjoyed the new experience, and Archie, their boy, is bonkers and might have run amok – fair enough! We picked Pip and Nick up from Little Venice Basin, invoking the wrath of the waterbus crew who objected to us stopping at their empty mooring for 20 seconds to pick up our guests. C’est la vie!

It was too nice a morning to be bothered by a bit of rudeness and we set off on this most familiar route. But we’re not bored yet – even though the canal’s the same, the people we meet on the way are not, neither is the weather, neither is how we feel, and there are always new details to be spotted – like a couple of information plaques which I’ve never noticed before (next time I’ll read them properly and try to remember what they said as well!). We also take a great deal of pleasure from seeing our guests enjoying the cruise.

We were expecting another couple, Ian and Ann, this time from the boating fraternity, but sadly Ann has come down with the flu. Get well soon Ann, there’s a trip on Indigo Dream ‘in the bank’ for when you get better.

You know the route by now – Maida Vale tunnel, Regent’s Park, London Zoo (no hunting dogs today but we did see the warthogs), Camden locks, Battlebridge Basin, Islington Tunnel, City Road Basin……

This time we went right into City Road Basin and our guests generously bought us a drink in “The Narrowboat” pub. The pub’s had a make-over since we last ate here (several years ago). The food coming up from the kitchens looked very good indeed though we decided to lunch on the boat. The pub food errs on the pricey side and it was too nice a day to spend inside. The pub wasn’t dog-friendly either, though Blue and Lou benefited from the rest – these cruises are very stimulating for them, even if they don’t get to run around so much.

We got back on board and headed back towards Paddington – this is a really neat 1-day there-and-back trip. We stopped for lunch above St Pancras lock and watched the Eurostar trains come and go – they’re big beasts – all the more so when they’re passing just a few feet above the boat!

Our guests had decided to give the boat museum a miss in favour of spending a little more time in Camden Market. We were very conscious that with the clocks having changed, we had 1 hour less of daylight for cruising today. We needn’t have worried – we had a very smooth day’s cruise and there was plenty of time for everything.

I dropped Pip and Nick off at the second lock so that they’d have a little more time to explore the market while Richard, Greygal and I (or should that be me, Richard and Greygal?!) took her up the last lock and moored at the excellent ‘stop and shop’ moorings just beyond. The three of us then took the dogs for another wander around the market. It was amazing – more packed with people than I could have imagined and far far bigger than I realised. Today we wandered towards the back of the market to the covered hall which is characterised by vast and intricately carved wooden panels around the entrances. They are astounding. There are also many just more than life-size hollow bronze statues of the horses that used to put the barges along the canal. Add to this the colour, smells and sounds of a market in full swing and you have an almost overwhelming sensory experience. Blue and Lou behaved magnificently today, all day, but particularly in the market. They had lots of fuss and drew lots of attention as always.  Greygal, who, at one time, was walking behind us, commented on the ripple of talk that the greyhounds generated as they passed through the crowds. She was impressed that the market’s denizen’s seemed aware that Blue and Lou were greyhounds and were also aware of the plight of many retired hounds. So, our cruise has not only generated a little cash, it’s also raised the profile of retired greyhounds – you can’t ask for more.

We got back together at the mooring – Pip and Nick had very modestly managed not to spend any money; we’d been tempted by hot chocolate and crepes, while the dogs had two Polish sausages in a bun (bought not stolen!). We had our umpteenth latte of the day and almost reluctantly set off for the final leg of the trip. There’s a lot to be said for sitting on the back deck in good company, soaking in Camden’s unique ambience and talking about many things, mainly greyhounds!

We’d all come by car today, and were parked in the vicinity of Warwick Avenue so we dropped our guests off in Little Venice (not on the trip boat moorings this time!!). We weren’t returning to Paddington Basin – we’ve exhausted our 7-day allowance there and needed to find a 14-day mooring. We headed west and were pleased to find a mooring not far from the park in Little Venice. We were pleasantly surprised – we hadn’t expected it would be so easy to find a space and it is 14-day. This takes the pressure off next weekend – we could do with a few days at home to catch up with some decorating and whatnot.

However, it’s all ‘negotiable’ – by next week we should be in a position to make a decision on how/where we want to spend the rest of the winter – 3 to 6 month mooring spot or continuous cruising? Of course, if the weather stays this fair we may well have another little trip – with the days so short now I feel a bit desperate to get out and enjoy every last drop of sunshine available. We certainly made the best of it today……

Boat Blog: Charity Cruise

Saturday 17th October

Paddington Basin to City Road (and back again)

Paddington Basin by night.....

We were excited to be having visitors today – 7 of the 8 charity places had been taken. It’s a modest contribution to Greyhoundhomer’s coffer’s but every little helps when you’re a small charity.

Note: apologies for the grainy photos, we forgot to adjust the camera setting from nighttime to daytime – d’oh!

The first to arrive was Greygal, and her husband Andy.  Greygal has been on board before so Indigo Dream’s like her narrowboat in the South; her own boat is moored up north at the moment. It was particularly great to meet Andy, known only as A on her blog. As her readers will know, Greygal and Andy have FIVE rescue greyhounds, though they left the pack at home today.

The next to arrive were Cheryl, Jan and Clive, three of Greyhoundhomer’s volunteer dog-walkers along with a horde of greyhound goodies just in case someone asked us for a calendar along the way.

Duke has made himself at home already...

Finally we were joined by Peter, Sue and their rescue greyhound Duke – a Spanish Galgo. We deliberately met a little way from the boat, Lou did her usual 1-minute bark then we migrated together back to the boat where Duke was allowed into the pack with no drama.

Now, our charity cruises are open to all comers, but by chance, we were all greyhounds lovers, and four of our party were experienced narrowboaters!

With our party complete, we set off from Paddington Basin with Greygal’s experienced hand on the helm while we made tea and coffee and hot danish pastries – lush.

With plenty of crew I had a very relaxing day. It couldn’t have been more of a contrast to yesterday, when I’d been on the helm by myself all day. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, it’s much much better to have company, especially such good company…..

So instead of helming, I was able to relax indoors, chatting and making a fuss of Duke, who is absolutely adorable. He did eye up Lou’s sofa but wisely decided against it – he and Blue swapped between their three beds all day (two of Blue’s and Duke’s bed on deck).

Apart from a random run from Blue, then Lou, in the morning, the dogs were exceptionally well-behaved today. They rummaged around the locks, allowed themselves to be mascots for greyhound rehoming and still found time for a bit of loafing around. A narrowboat’s a confined space but the three of them got on really well – greyhounds are fantastic!

Our happy crew, well, almost, Clive and Richard are at the front taking the photos...

We had a good trip out to City Road lock passing the delights of Little Venice, Maida Vale Tunnel, Regent’s Park, Camden Locks, and the Islington Tunnel to name but a few. We noticed in passing that Camden Market has expanded since we were last here and now forms a lively and colourful backdrop to the top AND middle locks. We’d planned to go turn round in City Road Basin but the vote was to turn above the lock and spend the time loitering in the market on our way back.

But first we visited the London Canal Museum, where our guests had an extended rummage – it’s a fascinating place.  The three dogs stayed on board while our guests explored the museum – Duke was so good, once he’d worked out that his mummy was out for a while he just settled onto Blue’s bed, though he did keep one ear up. Our two were flat out on the sofa as usual. We had lunch on the fine museum moorings, just enjoying the ambience of Battlebridge Basin.

Amazingly, our crew outnumbered the gongoozlers at Camden top lock; that definitely wasn't the case on the way back!

We said a reluctant goodbye to Greygal and Andy here – we were close to Kings Cross train station, the most convenient for them, and they had five hungry hounds waiting for them at home……

The rest of us set off towards Camden. The market was even busier on our way back – gongoozler’s everywhere. This gave the Greyhoundhomer team a great opportunity to talk to people about greyhounds and to raise awareness. They got some donations and sold a few Christmas Cards and a calendar. Blue and Lou were made even more famous as they were introduced as Mr and Mrs November!

Our guests had a wander around Camden Market with the three dogs while we found a mooring. We were pleasantly surprised. What used to be the lock moorings are now 4-hour ‘stop and shop’ moorings – brilliant! We moored up and went to join the others at the market. It’s an amazing place – foods from every corner of the globe, colour, sound and hundreds of shoppers. I was so proud of the dogs – they drew loads of attention, further raising the profile of retired greyhounds and they didn’t bat an eyelid at the crowds around them. They didn’t even steal any food, though some of the stalls were very tempting!

A true narrowboater's grin - of course, we all exist in this state of bliss....

We did a round of the market then went back to the boat. We passed through London Zoo and as we were cruising past I spotted that the african hunting dogs were out. I hastily stopped the boat and reversed back so that everyone could have a view and take photos. Then we set off, but had another stop to look at the Warthogs!

By the time we’d stopped to photograph the animals, the light was starting to drain out of the day so we headed back to Paddington without further loitering. Luckily, we were able to moor at the same pontoon that we’d left just a scant 8 hours earlier. It was hard to say goodbye to our guests – we’d started out as strangers but by the end of the day they felt like old friends. The Greyhoundhomer crew had a long train trip through the weekend engineering works so they headed for home. We chatted to Sue and Peter for ages, they’re greyhound and boating enthusiasts; poor people – they must have wondered whether they’d ever escape 🙂

A well-deserved smile of achievement (or should that be relief?) after a neat single-gate lock entry

We were exhausted and elated by the end of the day – we’d been so anxious to make the cruise a success and the relief at having such a great day with our lovely guests was overwhelming.

We still had enough energy to explore Paddington Basin by night – it’s quite a place. It’s strangely empty during the evening, its pristine paving unsullied by the trampling of the hundreds of workers that inhabit it during the week. It gave us a chance to admire the sheer cleanliness of the place, the grand scale and the sculptures.  We found a superb lebanese restaurant – Massis in Sheldon Square (www.massis.co.uk) and had a truly scrumptious meal; more pricey than our usual but very special.

We’d left the dogs on board – they were exhausted after a thoroughly stimulating day. We had to force them off the boat for a final wee and they slept all night, almost all day on Sunday and most of the day on Monday. We managed to stay awake long enough to watch the end of Strictly then we were off to our (own) beds too – it’s been an exceptional day.

Photoblog:

With 9 experienced greyhound handlers on board it wasn't long before Lou found someone to rub her tummy....

Contentment.....

Camdon Lock had really filled up by late afternoon; a perfect opportunity to talk to people about the merits of owning a greyhound.

The boys getting ready to visit Camden Market

The greyhounds coping very well with the crowds and the attention at Camden Market; they're very adaptable.

Duke trying out Blue's bed - "it'll do" he said....

One last photo of Duke - he really is adorable....

Boat Blog: Cowley to Paddington

Thursday 15^th and Friday 16^th October

Boat Blog: Cowley to Paddington Basin

Aha, the odyssey might be over but our cruising isn’t! We’re expecting to be on the move winter really but we’ll be mooching around London (from whatever winter base we eventually go for) rather than travelling with the great sense of purpose that we associate with the odyssey.

Thursday

As some of you will have noticed, we’re planning a charity cruise on Saturday and we’ve had 7 takers.

So, Indigo Dream was definitely due another deep clean. I’d already washed all of the dog beds but there was the usual accumulation of fluff on the floor so I resolved to have some time alone on the boat without the dogs underfoot.

I had a good journey up on the Thursday night – the roads were deserted and I found the perfect parking space by bridge 189. It wasn’t far to onload the heaps of dogs beds – we were being joined by a third greyhound and their comfort was obviously paramount!

It was so mild in Uxbridge compared to where we live in Surrey – I sat on deck for a while, just enjoying the peace of the mooring. But then the fluff beckoned – I got half the boat clean before giving up for the night, but I felt better for it. Although I was alone I had a peaceful night’s sleep – it’s a great mooring spot.

Friday

The plan was for me to set out early in order to get to Paddington by early afternoon. Ah well, you know me and early, it all started so well but Richard had been very thorough with the mooring and it took me half an hour to hammer the pins out of the ground and hack the chain out of the piling. Never mind, it was a mild dry morning and the canal was mine to enjoy, for a while anyway.

It was no effort to do this cruise single-handed – there are no locks and Indigo Dream knows the way, it’s her home turf. I meandered along, enjoying the morning and the familiarity of the waters. I was interested to pass by the aggregate wharf where a working narrowboat had just had her cargo of sand unloaded. She’d passed me earlier, fully laden and impossibly low in the water, now her prow was sticking up in the air! I wondered how she managed to move, and her owner told me that they’d dredged the centre of the canal hereabouts which made a big difference. I can well imagine.

Later on I caught up with a wide beam hire craft; it was being well driven and going at a nice speed so it wasn’t a bother to follow her. She turned onto the Paddington Arm at Bulls Bridge and I wondered whether to stop at Tesco’s and let her have a head start. But the moorings were pretty full so I pressed on; there were two canalside Sainsbury’s on my way so shopping wouldn’t be a problem.

I carried on down, musing about how sensational this canal is – sound, sight, smell and touch – all stimulated by the canalside bustle. At one point there was the clatter of a train going over a bridge, the shushing of car tyres over the nearby road bridge and the squealing roar of a plane coming in to land at Heathrow. In the meantime, the tiller felt silky smooth as Indigo Dream followed her familiar route into town. There are many canalside food factories, bathing the water with the sharp smell of curry and, later on, the unctuous perfume of sugary waffles. There’s plenty to see, the gleaming arch at Wembley, the grey traffic jam that is the North Circular and the soft green of the overgrown vegetation, slashed in places with the shocking scarlet of Virginia Creepers, hanging from derelict factory walls.

As I cruised along, Dylan Thomas’ famous words kept insinuating themselves into my thoughts – “the force that through the green fuse drives the flower”. Yes, that’s this canal, once full of the force that drove these industries, now dormant, dormant not dead – will it ever wake and be a driving force again?

Anyway, as I was drifting along the Paddington Arm I became aware of another more immediate impulse and bought Indigo Dream into a quick 1-pin mooring for a quick pit stop. A boat behind me asked if I was ok – that was kind of him; if I’d needed to get to the prop I’d have needed a longer arm to help me. As it happened I was fine!

Sadly, soon after my impromptu stop I caught up with a narrowboat taking a slow and erratic course along the canal. I caught up with her in neutral, actually, I caught up with her in reverse! But opportunities to overtake were few because of the lengths of online moorings. I was so pleased when they decided to turn around at Black Horse. If they’d gone into Paddington I’d still be cruising!

As always I enjoyed the scenery around Perivale – it’s one of my favourite spots along here.

I stopped off at Sainsbury’s in Alperton. There are plenty of mooring spaces here and I topped up with supplies for our cruise. They were selling off hot chickens cheap – now I knew that the greyhounds would be happy to come on board later. By the time I’d done the shopping I was well behind schedule, but I stayed here for lunch anyway – that hot chicken smelled too good to ignore!

I set off for the last leg of the trip and had the canal to myself. I didn’t write down the location, but I noticed that they’re putting in a new footbridge to serve a new housing development. It looked like a big project – they’ve put in a section of floating towpath to bypass the works. I was surprised by how fast the cyclists passed over the floating pontoons – I slowed down so as not to rock them off!

I found the section through Kensal Green to be a bit bleak – the graffiti vandals have been out in force and there wasn’t a flat surface that wasn’t covered in their scribblings. I found it to be particularly unappealing, especially when three youths decide to spit on the boat off a footbridge coming through Kensal Town. I could see they were planning something – I suppose I should be glad it was just spit, one of them looked like he was getting into position to wee on the boat! And all this was in broad daylight, off a busy footbridge with lots of other passersby. Only one bit of slobber hit the roof, I’m afraid I yelled at them, I was so angry and upset. Ok, it’s not the harm done, it’s the attitude behind it. We’ve never had any trouble here before.

Anyway, I was soon approaching Little Venice and I was looking forward to mooring. I had a heavy heart after the gobbing incident and regular readers will know that I find it very hard to let go of these things.

Fortunately I was forced to let go of it, I was on a mission to find a mooring spot in Paddington Basin and I was arriving at 5.40pm, much later than I’d intended. I managed to drop the garbage off  then started looking for moorings in earnest. I went right down into the basin and was excited to see two potential moorings. I turned Indigo Dream around at the end of the basin and uhm’d and ah’d over which mooring to go for. I plumped for the one that I could drive into, only to get it completely wrong before realising that the space was three feet too short – what an idiot. I redeemed myself by reversing into the other, more tricky mooring spot, earning Richard’s praise when he turned up a little later with the dogs.

We stayed in for the evening, finishing our chores and making sure that the boat was ready for tomorrow’s visitors – we had a busy day ahead…..

The Odyssey 2009: Day 60

Monday 12th October

Croxley Green to Cowley

Common Moor lock in Croxley - all very civilised.

What a magnificent autumn morning – we’ve cruised in sunshine all day, enjoying surprisingly rural stretches of canal considering where we are. One small bridge over the canal had a ‘Transport for London’ low emission zone sign on it – are you kidding, transport for London, out here?

I’m hoping that the low emissions doesn’t apply to our boat diesel engines and the various entrails and feathers that seem to go into the onboard stoves around here. I won’t be giving Boris ideas – I can’t see him slogging though this blog 🙂

The only cloud on our otherwise azure horizon was the sheer number of online moorings around Batchworth, which made for a slow cruise. The fact that many were unlicensed and moored in random places made us ‘tut’ a bit, but I hate ‘tutting’ so I tutted at myself and put a stop to it 🙂

Tesco's at Frogmoor Wharf - now that's a supermarket mooring - empty too...

We met a few boaters today, all very jovial and all linked by a common theme – alcohol. I was a bit shocked by the amount of beer that had already consumed by 10.30am. Of course, maybe it was the influence of the media. One boater was a little disgruntled because they’d been asked to move off their towpath mooring by a film crew. We were intrigued, and at the next lock there they were – an unbelievable number of people clustered around an eccentric cruiser. We asked a member of the crew what they were filming – it was an episode of the detective series ‘Lewis’. I had to ask whether they’d be putting dummy bodies into the water and they assured me that the gruesome bits had been done elsewhere – this was the investigation! Our contribution to the episode was lending their safety man our sea-searcher magnet – one of the ‘children’, as the hard-bitten crewman called them, had dropped something into the canal. It was returned remarkably quickly after a successful search – there, we’d saved them from a tantrum! I did look out for the star, Kevin Whately, I might have seen the back of his head – that’s my day made then!

On the set of 'Lewis'...

Interestingly they were filming at Stockers Lock, according to our Nicholson’s but the sign at the canalside sign read ‘Fiddler’s Lock’. Now is this a genuine name change or something done by the film crew to create a new location? Look out for Fiddlers Lock on an episode of Lewis coming your way soon …

Online moorings notwithstanding, there the stretch below Batchworth has a special magic – the Colne Valley to the right has been extensively quarried in the past. The lakes extend all the way down to Denham, and between the rich towpath hedgerows you catch glimpses of the sparkling deep blue waters reflecting the brilliant sky above. There was a sense of something precious in the air – I tried to soak it all in, trying to store something of the day against the gloomy winter to come.

Nicholson’s warns of a lively flow from the left below Copper Mill lock. The hazard of the flow has had an extra frisson added since we were last here; there’s now a canoeing club there obviously enjoying the thrill of the bywash. As we emerged from the lock, one of the canoeists had capsized, couldn’t get back in his canoe and was swept over to the

Black Jack's Lock - attractive, eh?

towpath where, thankfully, he was able to get out of the water safely. So, keep a lookout at Bridge 177 – it’s distinctive because it has a canalside pub – the Coy Carp (which, from memory, does good food).

The next lock along, Black Jack’s lock is particularly attractive, not least because of the buildings clustered around it. It’s obviously been a mill at one time, it looks residential now, and a very nice home it would be too.

We had the next stretch to ourselves – no other traffic and no moored boats. I was bit surprised, it’s stunningly attractive here and usually where moorers can they will! But the clear water soon explained all – it’s only about 6 inches deep at the edge of the towpath with a large gravel strand coming out into the canal. Is that a deliberate ploy to deter mooring or is it just a lack of dredging?

The aggregate barges seem to fill the locks, and the canal, from end to end 🙂

Maybe to compensate for the lack of towpath moorings, there’s a long line of mooring bollards above Denham deep lock. We’d assumed they were lock moorings, but they’re actually 14-day spaces. We’ll have to remember that for the future – 14-day moorings with proper rings and/or bollards are a rare thing.

We picked up a pencil fender from the deep lock, figuring that someone else has probably benefited from picking up one of the many that we’ve lost in locks over the last year!

I handed the helm over to Richard at the deep lock – I’d volunteered to go and get the car so I’d be jumping ship in Uxbridge for the tedious train journey back to Bletchley. But the day’s interest wasn’t over – we met a huge wide-beam aggregate barge at coming out of Uxbridge Lock. Richard passed another one later on – it’s good to see freight on the move though it is a bit of a squash in places.

A fine day on a grand canal (oh, and anotehr aggregate barge on the move!)

Richard dropped me off at Bridge 185 which is a short walk from the town centre. In the meantime, he single-handed through Cowley lock and stopped for lunch at the tearooms (Blue and Lou had their usual sausage sandwich). He bumped into Derwent 6, but he wasn’t sure where he’d knew them from so a blogging meeting went unregarded. After lunch, Richard took Indigo Dream along to our old home in Packet Boat Marina to pump-out and fill with water.

Big Note to Richard: To make the pump out machine work put the card in upside down!

He then took her back up the canal a little way to the 14-day moorings by Bridge 189. It’s a very convenient place to stop with very good road access and convenient street parking.

I had a slow old trip and didn’t get back to the boat ’til around 5.30pm.

As we packed up to leave, I suddenly realised that our Odyssey was over, we have come full circle to where we started.  Obviously we will keep cruising but not at the same intensity. The Odyssey 2009 was 10 days longer than last year’s and we’ve been privileged to cruise some extraordinary waterways. Richard has to do the count up properly but he estimates that on the Odyssey, we’ve travelled 800 miles and done around 500 locks, mostly on weekends.

So I guess it was worth investing in Indigo Dream then – imagine what that trip would have cost in hire charges :-).

It is hard to pick out the highlights of this trip, it has again been a wonderful journey but perhaps two we should mention are the SPCC Cruise to the Royal Docks (and that was before the odyssey!) and the BCN Challenge. If they run either next year and you have the opportunity then so take part folks – both are great adventures.

Photoblog:

It's only the first lock of the day and Lou's already looking for her bed....

Blue had an extended rummage at the first lock of the day so now he's looking for his bed as well!

What a poser....

Random moorings.....

The Odyssey 2009: Day 59

Sunday 11th October

Bourne End to Croxley Green

Holding up the traffic at Winkwell swingbridge; the sign warns that boaters who don't close the bridge properly will be fined 10 shillings!

We slept late this morning, enjoying the quiet mooring after a busy day’s locking yesterday. We eventually got going mid-morning. The first obstacle was the Winkwell swingbridge – it’s electrically operated so you’ll need a BW key. I took the helm while Richard sorted the bridge. I always get very embarrassed at stopping the traffic – part of me thinks that drivers will be charmed by the sight of a narrowboat going past at eye-level; the other part of me thinks that drivers can’t believe that this ancient form of transport can be allowed to block the road!

Despite the proximity of the Hemel Hempstead and the railway line, our cruise felt very rural at first. The dogs had many rummages and runs between locks. We passed by nb Aquila by lock 62 – there was some unusual activity going on here – they were getting ready to replant their duck-shaped flowerpot – it looked like quite an enterprise – Richard thought they were setting out the towpath equivalent of a boot sale!

At Two Waters (between Lock 64 and 65) - good dog-walking around here...

There’s good dog-walking below lock 63, where there’s access to a shallow river for sploshing. It’s obviously a popular area though there are horses in the first field adjacent to the lock and there are a few busy roads, but the fields looked well-fenced. There’s road-free access to the footpaths around Bridge 149, where the Boxmoor Trust has kindly provided an access gate from the towpath.

Hemel Hempstead has a useful Sainsbury’s close to the canal by Bridge 153A; the moorings aren’t quite as convenient as for some waterside supermarkets but they’ll do. Look out for the ‘shopping’ moorings on the right below the lock. On this, as on other occasions that we’ve passed through, the towpath moorings opposite were full.

The back end of Hemel Hempstead feels a bit bleak compared with the welcoming canalscapes of Milton Keynes or Berkhamstead; but the locals here were very friendly and it feels perfectly secure. Even the fishermen taking part in a competition were genial! We also met another greyhound here, Bess, a dainty girl who’d sadly lost one eye to an infection when she was only a year old. She was very cute though –

Bess the greyhound....

her missing eye made it look as if she was winking. We met at a town lock so our two were inside and they refused to move from the comforts of the sofa to say hello.

We admired Apsley Basin yet again – this part of town has definitely turned its face to the canal.

We met a pair of working boats at Nash Mills Locks, carrying coal and tied abreast to take advantage of the broad canal. They were low in the water and I imagine that they must have quite a job to get through the shallower sections and to thread their way through moored boats. We met between the locks, the working boat’s crew having asked Richard to just let some water run straight through the top lock into the pound – that was the only way they’d get through. I tucked Indigo Dream into the towpath out of the way but I was amazed by the draw created by a heavy working pair. Indigo Dream was sucked forward at a rapid pace and I had to leap on board to engage reverse before we were swept into a BW butty moored in front. So that’s another lesson learnt. I discussed it with Richard afterwards – was it the weight of the boats or the force of the engine? We concluded it was the weight – they must have been drawing, what, 30 tons or more each, that’s a LOT of water to be displaced.

The marina at Apsley

There’s a relatively long pound between Red Lion Lock and King’s Langley lock so we stopped here for lunch. It’s a pleasant spot – sports fields to one side and a large lake just below the towpath. We looked for a path through for the dogs to have a swim but it’s well fenced – shame. We did well to stop here, the only heavy shower of the day passed over while we were snug inside eating bacon baguettes! As we were contentedly eating, the peace was disturbed by a boat coming in close to Indigo Dream’s back, too close, in fact. We went out to investigate and it was the curious sight of a narrowboat being towed along by its centre rope by a wiry man on the towpath. There was a young man on board, fending off and making sure that the towing rope didn’t get fouled on anything on our roof.

Needless to say, we caught up with them a bit later on and found out that the boat’s engine had blown and the owner, Dave, was spending every weekend towing the boat, by hand, from Tring to a winter mooring site in Cassiobury Park. It seemed like a desperate physical effort so we offered them a tow.

Working pair at the Nash Mills locks

Lashed abreast with Indigo Dream, the boats handled surprisingly well though I left Richard on the helm – I wasn’t quite tall enough to see over our companion boat’s roof and I didn’t feel confident to manouevre them safely. As Richard wryly pointed out later, he couldn’t see over the roof either! The reason we couldn’t see was a solar calorifier which took up quite a bit of roof space and challenged the headroom under some of the bridges. Richard did a good job of getting below the lowest arches with an inch to spare and the calorifier survived the journey intact.

The boat we were towing was “Island in the Stream”, owned by Dave and his wife, originally from South Africa. Today he was being helped by Neil, another friend who hails from South Africa. Now how’s this for serendipity, Neil works for a firm who manufactures cranes, they are Richard’s crane company of choice and they both had common acquaintances – really, what’s the chances of that happening!

The M25 marching across the landscape

As our target for the day was Croxley Green, we ended up towing nb Island in the Stream the whole way to her winter mooring. It was no effort for us and we had a very convivial afternoon. Dave was immensely fit and ran forward to set each lock, even the ones that were a mile or more apart. Neil helped us to work the locks – I did some of the grunt work for a change. I even walked between some of the locks with Blue (who was looking for another opportunity to sneak onto the A41 as he did last year!).

The afternoon flew by – we had good company and the canal’s particularly nice here, even where it passed underneath the monumental M25. So, we were back in London, theoretically; you’d never guess. Almost immediately after the M25, the canal passes through Grove Park, with it’s immaculately manicured golf course and elaborate bridges. It’s another world.

Careful manouevers....

The sheer swankiness of the Grove is soon supplanted by the wilderness of Cassiobury Park, one of my favourite places on the waterways. I love the deep cuttings flanked by rich woodland. Blue loves it too – he and Lou had a good rummage. By Iron Bridge lock, Lou soon came back to the boat – the next lock’s a good half mile away and that’s a bit too far for her to run at the end of a busy day. Blue, however, went rummaging in the adjacent woods, lost sight of the boat and got lost. Now, he was only lost for about 10 minutes but that an eternity in my paranoid little world. I tracked back and forward calling for him, imagining him stolen by gypsies (though there were none around!), drowned in the stream or just gone forever. I needn’t have panicked – while I was wandering through the woods, he’d spotted the boat further down the canal and came flying onto the towpath to be picked up.  It’s a toss up as to which of us was more relieved – Blue will try to push the boundaries but he really doesn’t like being lost and out of sight of the pack.

Almost artistic arrangement of canalside trees approaching the Grove 'estate'

There’s a lively boating community by lock 78, our last lock of the day. We said goodbye to nb Island in the Stream here. They weren’t sure of the exact location of the winter mooring so they tied up above the lock until they got more precise directions. Dave was very grateful – he reckoned we’d saved him a month of manual towing. Our towing may have saved him time but I don’t know if it saved him any effort – he’d run the whole way anyway in order to set the locks!

We weren’t sure how much further to go – by the time we got through Lock 78 it was just gone 6pm and the light was fading fast. In the end we moored just beyond Bridge 169 and the disused railway bridge just after. It was a quiet spot and a convenient walk to the nearby Harvester pub which did us a reliable supper. Of course, the Harvester wasn’t dog-friendly but the hounds were fine on board – they’ve done a LOT of rummaging today. We got back to the boat quiet early and watched a DVD – ‘Armageddon’ – good stuff, though it’s hard to be stirred by the action on screen when we’re actually sitting either side of an upside-down greyhound lying with her tongue hanging out in ecstasy as we tickled her tummy!

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Photoblog:

Sofa Wars (2) - Lou having to balance one paw on the floor so that Blue doesn't push her off 🙂

Fishing rods across the water....

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The rare sight of me actually doing some work....

Ornate Bridge 164 - I think this is the one that was built to placate the Earl of Essex who wasn't keen on having a canal on his land.....

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Late afternoon reflections...

Rummaging at the Cassiobury Park Locks. See what I mean about the height of that solar calorifier?!

The Odyssey 2009: Day 58

Saturday 10th October

Pitstone Wharf to Bourne End

The view from our overnight mooring - beautifully ploughed hills...

For some reason I didn’t take any notes today – maybe because we’ve been too busy locking! Mind you, we’ve passed through another of my favourite flights today – Marsworth.

I had a good deed to do before we left the moorings though. We had a relaxed start to the day and I took the dogs for their morning walk. I walked back with them towards Seabrook lock, in time to catch up with the crew of a day boat that had just left the based at Pitstone Wharf. They seemed a little uncertain on how to operate the lock so I talked them through it while the dogs had an extended rummage. I’m glad I did – questions along the lines of “and should we close the paddles afterwards?” made me speculate on how long the water would stay in the pounds! I’m sure they were fine but I am a little dismayed by apparently how little instruction hirers are given.

With dogs well walked and in good spirits, we set off from our scenic mooring spot. It was chilly at first, but the sun soon came out and it was a perfect day for messing around on the water, as we and a horde of towpath walkers agreed on.

Rummaging at Marsworth

The dogs had yet another big rummage up the Marsworth flight – we kept them on board for the first lock as there’s a road nearby, but thereafter it’s safe. They had a great time though we almost left Lou behind – she just wanted to loaf around in the lush grass, toasting her belly in the sun – she had to sprint up the towpath to catch up at the next lock. It was a magnificent sight – she’s still pretty speedy, even at 7 years old with a gammy knee.

We enjoyed the flight as well – there were lots of walkers and fishermen around (mainly fishing in the nearby reservoirs, so no conflict between canal users today). It’s a very sociable place to cruise. When we first came here three years ago I was much bothered by the gongoozlers, but I’m an old hand now. If you’ve done Camden Locks then you’ll never complain about too large an audience again! But the audience in Marsworth very ill-informed – they seemed to think that Richard deserved all the praise for his muscle-building work at the lock gates and failed to notice my immaculate 1-gate lock entries 🙂

That's enough of that - tired dogs coming on board for a rest

I had a quick look down the entrances of the Aylesbury and Wendover Arms, recalling their loveliness from our 2008 odyssey and turning away a little regretfully. We did achieve something we’ve been intending to do for the last three years – stop at the blacksmith’s studio at Bulbourne Wharf when it’s actually open and find out how much their barbecue stands cost. The blacksmith, Paul Elliott, calls himself an ‘artist blacksmith’ and there are certainly some beautiful items here. Richard took a fancy to a magnificent bell on a wall mounting – unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, it wasn’t for sale (long story) – Mr Elliott thought we wouldn’t get much change from a £1000 – apparently bell metal is rare and precious stuff and yes when we looked on the web that is about the price. We were after something a little more modest – a stand for the half-barrel that we use as a barbecue – we’ve spotted them in the yard before but we’ve never passed during opening hours. The artist himself was like every artist we’ve ever met, with only one foot in the mundane world; we almost got a price and almost got a build time and we definitely got the email/website address (www.blacksmithonline.co.uk) – apparently if we order via his secretary then she sorts everything out and makes sure he does the job! That’s another task for the winter – something tells me we won’t be having many more barbecues this year, well, not unless we fire up the wood burning stoves as well!

The Marsworth flight is very beautiful

The trees that we passed yesterday were as flamboyant as dancers in their multi-coloured leaves, and as keen to shed their summer clothing as a kissogram with three stag nights to cover. The trees in the darkly wooded Tring cutting are much more matronly – still clothed in sombre green and not willing to shed a single garment until all the boaters have turned their backs. It’s very beautiful here but a little too chilly in the shade to tempt us to stop awhile.

There’s a station at Tring and we briefly considered going back for the car as we cruised along the long summit; but it was too nice a day for the car shuffle. Better to stay on board and enjoy the water – these fine days are such a gift at this time of year.

It’s worth keeping a lookout at the entrance to Cowroast Marina (a little way above the lock). A narrowboat came whizzing out of the entrance in front of us – they had a lookout but she wasn’t looking our way! Once she did see us, she didn’t let the helm know! No drama – we passed them on the wrong side – they had no hope of getting to the correct side of the canal in any useful timescale…..

Tring cutting - cool and dark under the still leafy trees

Of course, at Cowroast we started the long drop down to the sea, well, the Thames, to be precise, though we plan to give the tideway a miss and take a trip along the Paddington branch/Regent’s canal instead.

As we got towards Berkhamstead, Richard had to deploy his BW key as many of the locks have anti-vandal devices. I was surprised, as I’ve always thought of Berkhamstead as a real boater’s town with an excellent canalscape, good facilities and secure moorings. Note that Lock 53 is locked from 9pm to 8am. The towpath was busy, as were the canalside pub gardens so we had another sociable trip through here, though the dogs were more confined at the town locks. They didn’t mind, after all the activity at Marsworth they were already quite tired!

We couldn’t recall what the canal’s like through Hemel Hempstead and it was a little too far for us to get to an overnight mooring at the excellent Apsley Wharf. So, we decided on a relatively early stop at Bourne End. There were moorings below lock 60 but we decided to hang back and moor just above the lock opposite some residential moorings and a little further away from the main road that we could hear in the distance. It was a good spot – Richard polished a bit more of the boat and got chatting to the lady boater moored opposite who’d been admiring his finish. See, 50-year old’s can still attract the ladies – they just need to use different tools 🙂

Part of the waterfront approaching Berkhampstead - there are good visitor moorings here

We headed off to the pub with some trepidation – locals had told us that the Three Horseshoes pub, across the swingbridge (the map in Nicholson’s is wrong) does good food but that the landlord was a bit dour. However it is dog friendly so off we went, with our two dogs and their two sheepskins. There was a bit of a commotion by Winkwell swingbridge – there was an ambulance parked nearby and the rumour on the wind was that an unfortunate boater nearby had died. The ambulance was joined by two others later on so we can only hope that the boater/s were still clinging to life and capable of being saved.

There was nothing we could do to help and there are some events that don’t need gongoozlers, so we headed for the pub. We found a table with plenty of floor space around it, settled the dogs down and spent most of the evening chatting to two guys who’d noticed Richard polishing the boat earlier – they proceeded to compliment Indigo Dream extravagantly. They then went on to admire the dogs and lavish Lou with fuss – what magnificent people! One even rang home for his wife to bring his daughter down to meet the dogs (she loves dogs). The little girl turned up and took a fancy to Blue, who endured her constant fussing for the next hour or so – he was very good considering that he’s a

The Three Horseshoes by night - attractive outside and inside; the food's good too.....

shy boy. Lou would have loved a fuss but the little girl was scared because Lou kept waving her paw around in the air in the hope of attracting some attention. Once the little girl had left, some other punters took over on the fuss and admiration front so the dogs had a good evening.

The whole night was enhanced by a magnificent meal – the first decent pub meal that we’ve had in a while – highly recommended. The sausages that we ordered for Blue and Lou were superior – they almost didn’t make it as far as the dogs but I was stuffed – as well as being delicious, the food came in large portions. I have to admit that the landlord was very dour indeed but his staff were efficient and friendly. It amused me that people kept asking whether the pub had provided the dog sheepskins – it seemed an unlikely question – we’re grateful when pubs just allow the dogs some floor space!

Photoblog:

How does your garden grow? Could leylandii become a nuisance on boats as well 🙂

Marsworth Junction - looking towards the Aylesbury Arm

One of the softly scenic Marsworth locks

Fine views emerge as you climb the Marsworth flight - it's quite magical here

A horse in the pub car park - very traditional, when you think about it 🙂

After all that activity at Marsworth, being locked inside through the town locks wasn't such a burden....

More rummaging on the Marsworth - Blue and Lou had a busy day...

What a day! The view down from Top Side lock

Bottom Side lock - that rail needs a bit of maintenance....

Sofa Wars 1: Blue hasn't left poor Lou enough room to lie down....

The Odyssey 2009: Day 57

Thursday 8th and Friday 9th October

Fenny Stratford to Pitstone Wharf

Thursday….

We made a supreme effort to travel up to the boat on Thursday night after work – I don’t think we left home until 8pm but at least we then had the benefit of empty motorways. As expected, Indigo Dream had been fine on her moorings – there’s a nice sense of community among the boaters in Fenny Stratford so we guessed she’d be safe. We managed to park on a bit of tarmac off the road just by Bridge 94 – it leads to the lane behind the towpath, but the lane is all blocked off for cars – shame! We loaded the dogs and our stuff onto the boat then, uncharacteristically, Richard suggested that we go to Tesco so that we’d be set up for the weekend.

There’s a convenient Tesco in nearby Bletchley – 5 minutes by car. It anyone’s still wondering why Tesco should open 24-hours, well, it’s for people like us! It must have been pushing 11pm and there we were wandering round the shelves, being kept awake by the false daylight of the store’s bright lights. There was a good amount of stock on the shelves, and, of course, no queues at the checkouts!

We got back to the boat, but our personal batteries were finally flat – we loaded the fridge stuff onto the boat and left the rest in the car for the morning. We had a very quiet night on the moorings though I think we’d have slept through just about anything after our busy evening.

Friday….

Pleasant canalside developments on the outskirts of Fenny Stratford

We woke up feeling full of virtue after having tackled the tedium of the shopping last night. The dogs were in good spirits and Indigo Dream was gleaming in the sunshine – we were set for a good weekend’s cruising. Richard also met another greyhound (Jet Ranger, only raced once but was looking very well) when he took the dogs for their morning walk. The towpath and lane are popular dog walking routes – plenty of opportunities for Lou to bark. One man passing by with a labrador asked whether our dogs were male, as his dog doesn’t like other male dogs and can be a bit ‘in yer face’. When they came past, Lou went to prove that she can take any dog on in the ‘in yer face’ stakes, making the labrador’s owner think that she was the boy – he complemented her on ‘protecting his girl’ i.e. Blue. Poor old Blue!

Richard had a sociable time on the towpath – one boating woman offered him a radiator (she’s doing up her boat); he politely declined. It set me to wondering what a predatory woman on the towpath could use to lure a middle-aged boater at this time of year – maybe pile of cherrywood logs to sweeten your stove……the mind boggles (well, mine does!). With my brain idling away, I was surprised to see a duck stretching up from the water to pick blackberries; I’ve also spotted them eating the abundant crab apples along the towpath – I didn’t realise that ducks ate fruit in that way.

Bridge 98A - bit big for a footbridge

We set off mid-morning but we didn’t get very far before we came to Fenny Lock and swingbridge. With only a 1 foot rise, I could have single-handed here,but Richard gallantly came along to do all the hard work.

Note: You’ll need your BW key to operate the swingbridge

The dogs had a rummage, it was a beautiful morning and we had the canal to ourselves – sweet. Blue got tempted by the path leading off towards the railway and disappeared into the undergrowth for 10 minutes. Luckily for him we decided to stop on the right just after the lock to fill with water or he’d have come back to find the boat gone! There’s a useful service point here – as well as a water point with decent water pressure, there’s an elsan disposal and rubbish bins.

With the 2 dogs safely on board and me supervising the hose pipe, Richard went off on his bike to find a parking place near to Bletchley train station; as we found out last week, there are more likely to be weekend trains to Bletchley than to Fenny Stratford. He took his bike and would cycle back to meet me before the next lock.

Autumn laves - the boat in the far background is trying to paint his roof - no chance (unless he wants a natural leaf pattern!)

Our strategy for moving the boat and doing the car shuffle relies on there being a goodly distance between locks, but there’d be very little chance of that this weekend. The stretch from here to Cowley Peachey is heavily locked but the gap between Fenny lock and Stoke Hammond lock was just enough for Richard to sort the car out – we’d pick it up at the end of the weekend.

With the water tank full, I headed off along the canal, enjoying the wonderful atmosphere of this crisp autumn morning. There is some very sympathetic modern housing on the way out of Fenny Stratford, with blocks of flats enclosing a neat mooring basin, bordered by a lift-bridge which carries the towpath over the ‘junction’. The moorings are conveniently close to a winding hole – it seemed like a very desirable spot.

Richard caught up with me by bridge 98A, which I was surprised to find was only a footbridge; this is one bridge that won’t be wobbling – it’s massively constructed from blue and red brick!

Stoke Hammond Lock - beautifully maintained

Willowbridge Marina was a hive of activity with boaters taking advantage of the fine weather to catch up with their painting; conditions were perfect, except for one thing, the local trees were throwing down a confetti of leaves which kept sticking to the wet paint. There was an edge of desperation here which made us glad that we’d touched up our paintwork in the spring (though then the wet paint attracted insects – there’s always something……).

I’ve said before that the weather can have a profound effect on how I feel about a given waterway. I confess that we’re both falling in love with the Grand Union again; I’d forgotten how wonderful it is – there’s a sense of space, of having room to breathe – this is astounding considering that we were passing through London commuter territory.

Note: Our Nicholson’s does not show Bridge 102 which caused us some confusion but it’s hard to get lost on a straight canal!

Lovely view from Stoke Hammond lock - there's a very grand castellated house in the distance....

The River Ouzel runs alongside the canal here, reminiscent of the close relationship between the river Cherwell and the South Oxford canal. It’s a particularly pretty stretch of water, topped off by the very attractive Stock Hammond lock with it’s double-arched stone bridge and immaculate canalside flowerbeds. The flowerbeds are sponsored by Wyvern Shipping Co. but are looked after by local residents – thanks, it’s much appreciated. The dogs had a fine rummage here – it’s a peaceful spot, the only noise was the chattering of sparrows flocking at the generous bird-feeders in the lock cottage garden.

Our admiration for Wyvern Shipping Co.’s altruism in sponsoring the flowerbeds was slightly blunted when we saw how they’d moored their hireboats at their base near Leighton Buzzard. They were moored 3 then 4 abreast, eventually narrowing the canal to a single lane. We didn’t have any hassle getting through, but this is a broad canal. We met a 14’ wide hotel boat a little further on – when we asked the skipper how he got past the hire base he replied “I just shove them out of the way”  – fair game I reckon!

Pleasant views....

It was slow going through Leighton Buzzard – it’s a popular mooring spot. But at least it gave us time to admire the canalside Tesco and its fine moorings for shoppers; they don’t allow overnight mooring but with 24-hour trading I wondered whether a silver-tongued boater could get away with it…..

Though it’s slow through the town, the canal soon got back to its rural isolation. Just past Bridge 115A the rural scene was completed by a moored boat with a cage full of hens scratching away on the towpath. They looked very happy chickens – so they should be – as well as their nice day cage they had their own deluxe overnight accommodation on the boat’s back deck.

We were unimpressed when our new Nicholson’s also failed to show the large footbridge between 115A and 115B. It’s a stately structure which soars over the canal and quite a distance over the fields around – it looked like a typical floodplain bridge though I can’t imagine the canal bursting its banks. We didn’t stop but I reckon there’s top dog-rummaging around here, with lush meadows around the canal.

The restored pub at Soulbury - I wonder what it's like now, and do they allow dogs? We quite liked it back when it was an old 'spit 'n sawdust' establishment!

A little further on we were pleased to see what looked like a new boatyard and chandlery being set up. It looks a bit higgledy-piggledy at the moment but the buildings have eye-catching murals and painted signage. We’ll stop there when they’ve established their visitor moorings.

It’s locks all the way on the Grand Union – most are rural so that the dogs could have a good rummage. There were very few boats on the move so we had the locks to ourselves. Horton Lock was characterised by large flocks of birds. There were crows and seagulls, but mainly there were starlings – hundreds of them, perching so thickly that the powerlines looked like feather boas draping the naked wooden poles. The birds took flight as they heard the boat’s engine and we were treated to a spectacular display of a wheeling ball of birds, supple as smoke.

As we cruised along, my eye was constantly drawn to the hills nearby, except they’re not that close, but in the clear air with the canal turning round them gently they look close enough to touch. The carved chalk lion is a distinctive feature – know as the ‘Whipsnade Lion’ (presumably linked with the zoo) and carved in the 1930’s.

The water levels were a bit odd today – some of the pounds on the Ivinghoe flight were low, maybe almost 2’ below normal; yet others were fine. The advantage of the Grand Union is that even with 2′ of water missing there was still plenty left for us to pass between locks without grounding. There’s a very curious cottage by lock 35 – it’s very narrow (front to back) – for a house, that is, with

The hire fleet's home....

one-third of the width taken up by a chimney breast – I wondered what it was like inside. The modern residents have sensibly added a ground floor extension, otherwise only thin people could live there!

The canal becomes increasingly beautiful as it falls through the Ivinghoe Locks. The locks up to Pitstone Wharf are particularly scenic – surrounded by wide green swards and dense hedgerows, giving each lock the feel of a secret garden; add the westering sun and the whole place seemed quite magical. Amazingly, Blue and Lou were still up for a bit of rummaging – they’ve had a busy day.

We passed by Pitstone Wharf, noting that a new boat painting business (Carnzu) has moved in. They have an attractively painted narrowboat moored by the entrance – a perfect advertisment for their business.

Fine footbridge - not mentioned in our Nicholson's but it leads to some good dog-walking fields!

By now it was getting late and the clouds were just starting to crowd in. I know it happens every year, but the nights are really drawing in quickly now. We moored up just past Bridge 126 – I was quite proud of my mooring as I managed to pop Indigo Dream (60′) into a 65′ space without disturbing the fishermen at either end. Blue came off for a last rummage – he’d spotted a gap in the fence so he could have a run around the ploughed field adjacent to the canal. He wasn’t out for long – he often runs just for the sake of it, even though he’s really too tired to move! The fishermen made a big fuss of him – they couldn’t believe how big Blue was – greyhounds look so small on the track. As we were chatting to the fishermen, another boater walked down the towpath with a cat in a basket – horrors! But I needn’t have worried; a cat in a basket is not in any danger and our dogs were too tired to bother anyway. The cat was on the boat moored next to ours so we worked out a rough schedule for dog-walking and peace reigned supreme.

The local recommended the Olde Swan pub in Cheddington village, at least half a mile’s walk away, but we were too tired and went to the Duke of Wellington pub just over the bridge. This proved to be a bit of a mistake – the sign on the pub door “No dogs or muddy boots” suggested that they’d really missed the point of a canalside pub. My meal was quite revolting – overcooked and watery apart from the pastry on the so-called pie which was pale and raw. Richard’s meal was ok so maybe it’s a case of ordering the right thing. It’s a shame really, the pub is warm and atmospheric and Richard says the beer was good; we might have stayed there all evening but without the dogs and with no prospect of a decent dessert we went back on board as soon as we’d finished eating.

The dogs declined a last walk – they bounded onto the deck to greet us then hastily got back to their beds. We weren’t long behind them…..

Photoblog:

Flock of sparrows - they're not so scare around here.....

The Globe Inn by bridge 111 - a fine place to stop for an evening....

Blue having a quick kip between locks....

Lou doesn't need any excuses for a snooze....

This is the boat that keeps chickens - smart, eh? Oh, the chickens are on the back deck of the longer boat, they don't have the smaller boat to themselves, well, I don't think they do 🙂

You won't miss this boat shop for lack of signage.....

The accuracy of this pub sign tickled me - that's exactly how the bottom gate leaks!

Another new marina under construction aboce Grove Lock; we've passed a fair few 'coming soon' marinas on this year's odyssey.

Fragrant herbs at Slapton Lock - there's a sign here inviting boaters to help themselves (but also to leave some for others!) - isn't that a nice touch...

Smithy - literally! This boat has a forge and an anvil onboard along with some pretty amazing ironwork...

Chalk lion on the distant hills - I wonder who carved it and why...

These double arched bridges are so evocative

Many of the lock cottages are dated - interesting....

The locks are dated as well; the lock is 1862 and the associated cottage is 1914 - a later addition or a rebuild? Who knows?

Feathered power lines!

The green green grass of home...

Dog Blog: Cruises and Calendars for good causes…

Anyone who reads this blog will know that our two great obsessions are Indigo Dream and our rescue greyhounds, Blue and Lou.

There’s now a great opportunity for you to indulge our obsessions AND raise money for Greyhoundhomer, the shelter where we adopted Lou.

Cruise for Greyhounds

On Saturday 17th October, then again on Sunday 25th October we’re offering a return cruise from Paddington Basin to City Road Basin, taking in the sights of Little Venice basin, London Zoo, Camden Locks and much more. It’s a good 6-hour cruise so we’ll need to set out at 10am in order to make the best of the daylight. We’ll provide a simple lunch on board. There’s no ‘cost’ as such but we’re asking everyone to make a charitable contribution of £20 per head direct to Greyhoundhomer.

Places are limited to 8 people (and their dogs – Blue and Lou will be on board) and we still have a few places left.

If you’d like to join us then reply here or email us on richard at nosek.co.uk

Once your place is confirmed we can send you details of where to send your donation, as well as details of where we’ll be meeting.

Greyhound Calendars

Greyhoundhomer have produced a fantastic calendar for 2010 – it’s full of cute greyhound photos and at £6 it’s a bargain. Blue and Lou are on the front cover AND are Miss and Mr November. Why not buy a calendar and bring it with you for the London cruise where Blue and Lou will sign it with a muddy pawprint 🙂

Calendars can be ordered from the Greyhound Homer website: http://www.greyhoundhomer.org.uk/shop.htm

I know that you’ll be being pestered by a multitude of charities in the period running up to Christmas; if you can support one of our favourites then that would be great…..

The Odyssey 2009: Day 56

Saturday 3^rd & Sunday 4^th October

Saturday….

Blue stretched out on the train - he was disgruntled when he had to make way for the crowds a few stops down the line....

Oh dear, here’s the final proof that I have indeed turned into a soft cissie southerner. I vetoed a cruise on Saturday on the basis of the rain and gales promised in the weather forecast. Richard didn’t protest too much – it meant that he could relieve a bit of work pressure by doing a few hours in the office and I did some much needed domestics around the house.

By 4pm, though, we realised that we’d have to go up to the boat on Saturday night in order to have any chance of having a full day’s cruise on Sunday. We were a bit weary and this may have led us to choose to travel up to Wolverton by train. Now, this didn’t prove to be a disastrous decision, but our trip wasn’t quite as we’d envisioned when we discussed it in the comfort of our armchairs.

There are direct trains to Milton Keynes from East Croydon; thinking that would be the least stressful option for the dogs (they have travelled on the London Underground but it’s probably their least favourite mode of transport and we could not remember if there were stairs, rather than escalators, up from the Northern Line to Euston). What we hadn’t realised that the train from Croydon would become jam-packed, mainly with football supporters who, fortunately were just a bit loud rather than troublesome. We were in the ‘disabled’ area of the train, which has enough floor space for the

Lou likes to hide her head under the seat - if she can't see it then it can't upset her.....

dogs to lie down on their little travelling sheepskins. Lou lay down and buried her head under my seat; this left Blue nearer to the aisle where he was disturbed by people shuffling on and off the train. The train was slow and we discovered more train stations than we believed possible – the train stopped at each and every one and also between a few of them. It took two hours to get to Milton Keynes, where we found that we had a 45 minute wait for a connecting train to Wolverton. We were hot and bothered – the dogs had been very well-behaved on the train but they were at the stage of needing to settle down. We wandered out of the station to look for some food and found, instead, a long queue of taxis, the first of which was a huge modern cab with enough floor space for the dogs and a driver willing to carry them – fantastic. The cab to the Canons Industrial Estate, just by our mooring, cost £10 – worth every penny.

The dogs were so pleased to be on the boat – Lou leapt onto the sofa and snuggled down with the clear intention of not moving until the following morning. Blue was restless until he’d eaten a big supper then he, too, retired for the night.

Fine moorings by Bridge 69 - secure and quiet

Unlike the dogs, we didn’t have a supply of tinned human food on board. We’d rung round the local pubs with little success (one number unavailable and no answer at the next). Fortunately it had stopped raining so we headed off to search for food in Old Wolverton, glad of the fresh air after the stuffy trains. We first walked to Bridge 68 to check out the only pub in Old Wolverton – the Galleon; the phone number’s unavailable because the pub is shut and boarded up though there’s a sign saying that it will be reopened – date unspecified.

Out next destination was the Crauford Arms on Stafford Road. We followed the road rather than the towpath and it’s quite a walk. We were really weary by this point but things started to look up when we found a garage shop which sold milk, so our morning lattes were guaranteed. The Crauford Arms looked like a music pub (there was a decent band on when we walked past later) and didn’t seem to be doing food (we may be wrong there) but we’d spotted a takeaway a little further on. We had a choice of an uninspiring chippie or a proper Chinese restaurant/takeaway. We decided on a sit-down meal at the Silver Sea (01908 313976 MK12 5LW) – it was lovely – it’s amazing how a good meal and a few beers can wash away the tension of a tedious journey.

We got back to the boat by 9.30pm and offered the dogs a walk – they weren’t the least bit interested; we were relieved as it meant that we could fall straight into bed. The mooring was very quiet and peaceful – just what we needed.

Sunday……

The new developments by Bridge 71 in Wolverton - there are good moorings here if you want a trip to Tesco...

Richard was up and about early and I thought that he’d be chivvying us down the canal. But he decided to polish the boat as the side that we haven’t done all year was on the towpath side. I vacated the bed (so that Richard could fold it away) and joined Lou on the sofa for a nice pack lie-in. Blue briefly rummaged around with Richard – there was absolutely no chance of him fitting onto the sofa with us girls…..

I snoozed while Richard polished, though a couple of things kept tickling my senses (nothing to do with Richard’s polishing machine!) – the one was the rumble of a big engine; the other was the delicious smell of baking bread, presumably from the nearby industrial estate. I’d assumed that the engine noise was a boater charging the batteries, but it proved to be coming from the huge rail/train workshop opposite.

Much to Lou’s relief I eventually got up and left her the whole of the sofa. I’d been spurred into action by the tales being told by a man who’d stopped to chat to Richard on the towpath. The man (we didn’t get his name) admitted to being ‘over 80’ and had rich memories of the canal as it was when he was a child. Fascinating hearing stories of where all the boats made their deliveries; then there were the tales of the big freeze of 1947 – of the lads taking a car down the iced up canal; of the 47 boats frozen in at Bolbeck and, best of all, of the ice breaker boat coming through towed by 8 horses.

I love this mural in Wolverton - the detail is tremendous

We set off with Indigo Dream gleaming in the weak sun that was pressing against the clouds. We winded just beyond Bridge 68 then headed back towards Milton Keynes. This is a great stretch of canal – even better than we remembered. There are miles of very good towpath and the ‘gentrification’ of the previously derelict warehouses in Wolverton (around Bridge 71) has enlivened the whole area. There are good mooring rings here – very handy for the train station and for the nearby Tesco; we’re not sure whether we’d moor there overnight – we certainly didn’t fancy leaving the boat unattended there for a few days.

A few things caught our eye when we moved on. The long mural celebrating transport in all it forms is still very eye-catching, though I was disappointed that some graffiti vandals have painted over part of the mural with their meaningless mess. The aqueduct gives a view over the ‘new’ town – the canal feels like such an integral part of the development here.

I hope that this awful graffiti isn't allowed to obscure any more of the mural though...

At Bridge 74, the town quite abruptly gives way to peaceful countryside and neat moorings, surrounded by wild meadows on the offside and patches of woodland flanking the towpath. This is where the canal loops away from the town to run past Stantonbury Park Farm and the Linford Lakes. The open countryside continues until Bridge 76, when the canal skirts around Great Linford. Nicholson’s uncharacteristically waxes lyrical about this village, and surprisingly I agree! The canal’s flanked by handsome public parkland with ancient standing stones and good access to the medieval village beyond. There are plenty of towpath moorings here, but there are also hidden gems of 48-hour moorings on the offside, giving good direct access to the village.

The stretch from Bridge 74 to 77 is a tremendous bit of canal, all the better for being so unexpected. Anywhere here would be a great place to moor for a few days to recharge our batteries and let the dogs take advantage of the ample rummaging opportunities.

Aqueduct overlooking the outskirts of Wolverton/Milton Keynes. Is that a roundabout in the distance?

It was such an impressive stretch that we wondered whether we could continuously cruise back up here if we failed to get our winter mooring. I can feel an intensive investigation of the stoppages list coming on……

We met up with fuel boat Ascot 104 at Great Linford and filled up with diesel (129l for £115 on a 60/40 split).  The man who served us was friendly and chatty – a real credit to the boating business community. I felt a bit better about wimping out of yesterday’s cruise after talking to the Ascot 104’s crew – apparently he’d had an awful day in the gale force winds.

There were a lot of Wyvern hire boats our and about today. But then again, it was perfect boating weather – by noon the sun had chased away the heavy overcast and it was as pleasant an October Sunday as we could have hoped for. In fact, it was more pleasant than most of the days during our so-called summer.

We were hoping to offload some rubbish at Gifford Park services (Bridge 78). But the rubbish disposal facility has been suspended because of illegal fly-tipping. I wonder what the story is – a pile of bin bags had been left there but I suspect that’s as a result of the suspension rather than the cause of it.

Unusual decoration in this length of long-term towpath moorings....

Past Great Linford, the canal continues to skirt the suburbs of Milton Keynes – it’s a surprisingly pleasant stretch of canal with good towpaths. The Pennyland Boat Basin looked like a very tidy long-term mooring spot.

There are ample towpath moorings along here, despite what seems to be an influx of winter moorers. However it’s worth keeping an eye out for the short stretches of 48-hour moorings on the offside. The offside moorings by Bridge 81A gave good access to some perfect rummaging parkland plus a pond for sploshing.

At bridge 82 it was good to see the signs advertising the Bedford – Milton Keynes link, that will be a smart link when built. It’s one thing to restore and old canal, but it’s excitingly ambitious to be thinking of building a brand new one.

We stopped for lunch a little further along where there is yet another stretch of parkland by the towpath. Blue and Lou had a good rummage here, while I did some rummaging of my own (in the food cupboard) and unearthed two jars of

Attractive canalscape...

Bigos, a polish cabbage stew. It sounds unlikely but it’s delicious (especially home-made), though the stuff in the jars wasn’t half bad. We lost Blue here for a little while – sometimes he just over-reaches himself and goes a little bit further away than he, and we,  intended. Richard and Lou formed a search party to look for him; in the meantime Blue had  found his way back to the boat and stood at the side-hatch whimpering with relief.

As we left Milton Keynes, the towpath gradually deteriorated. The edges are sheet-piled but the path behind it seems to have sunk, though I didn’t have this down as an area of mining subsidence.

As I mentioned, there are lots of moored boats in this area – possibly winter moorers. We were tickled by nb Fisher, which had a 2-seater leather sofa on the stern in just the right place for its steerers – now that is cruising in style. Further along, I really liked the artwork on nb Rameses II – simple but elegant.

There are plenty of dog-rummaging spots along this stretch of canal....

Derwent 6 recently commented that there are a few shopping trolleys in the water hereabouts, and so there are. For the most part, though, the water is remarkably clean for a suburban waterway. The only exception was Bridge 90B, which had a fair collection of garbage – maybe this would be a less desirable spot to moor.

There’s a picturesque group of houses by bride 92 – whoever developed them really understood the historical ambience of the canals.

We were having a fine days’ cruise but we decided to moor up early as we had to get the train home. We moored by Bridge 94, a short walk from Fenny Stratford Lock. There’s a convenient train station at Fenny Stratford but sadly there weren’t any trains today (there were on Monday). Never mind, we estimated that Bletchley train station was only a mile away. We settled down to some more polishing – giving the boat another coat of industrial polish plus a top coat. Indigo Dream is now so shiny that when Richard was standing looking at her I wondered whether he was admiring the boat or his own almost perfect reflection in the paintwork 🙂

Another cracked bridge on the Grand Union - just a bit of TLC now might save a lot of costly remedial (or demolition) work later

This is a good mooring spot – there’s a little lane adjacent, which suited the dogs for a short rummage. We had no trouble with Blue going further away than we wanted – he’d spotted a cut-out model of a cat in one of the gardens opposite and was absolutely transfixed. Lou caught on to his excitement but she’s far too sensible to be dragged away from her sofa for just an immobile statue of a cat!

I must mention that there’s a factory near Bridge 94; there was a most amazing sherbet-sweet smell wafting across the canal, which I assume came from the factory. I wonder what they manufacture there.

We set off for Bletchley Station with 35 minutes to spare – the walk across Fenny Stratford lock with its swing bridge was charming. The rest of the village (which merges into Bletchley) wasn’t half bad either, with neat streets of terraced houses. We did have one surreal moment when we thought we might have skipped to the Louvre in Paris as a giant glass pyramid hove into view. But it’s Bletchley’s futuristic leisure centre – totally incongruous.

Bridge 83 - site of the ambitious new Bedford and Milton Keynes Canal - wouldn't that be a great achievement...

Unfortunately for us, I walk slowly and the station was a bit further away than we thought so we missed our train by a few minutes (it pulled out as we pulled in!). We had half an hour to wait for the next one but amused ourselves by eating chocolate fingers and giving the dogs a big drink. The walk from the boat to Bletchley station was around the same length as their day’s walk at home – they were knackered!

The journey home was a bit wearing, though thankfully the trains were empty so there was plenty of room for the dogs. It’s always a bit of a dilemma – is it better to have a quick continuous journey or have a longer journey with occasional breaks? There are pros and cons each way – today we broke the journey at Watford Junction and Clapham Junction. We didn’t get home until 9pm (via a handy takeaway).

When we got home, the dogs were desperate to get through the front door and onto their duvets. They didn’t get up until gone midday and have been fast asleep on their duvets for most of the day – I doubt if Lou has spent more than 15 minutes outside all day! It’s not just the exercise – it’s the stimulation of their different experiences. Don’t worry though, they’re not traumatised – just tired. They’ll be ready to go again by Friday, though we’ll travel by car this time……

Horrible blocky modern road bridge....

But a boatlength later we came to this picturesque old bridge...

The Odyssey 2009: Day 55

Monday 28^th December

Bridge 28 (Nether Heyford) to Wolverton

We’ve had quite a varied cruise, which has made it seem like quite a big day. We knew we had to collect the car and drive home at the end of the day, but it was hard to believe that we’d actually have to stop cruising and leave the boat.

The Cheese Boat cruised past us this morning while we were still enjoying our lattes. We found out that they were aiming for Bridge 33, so we caught up with them there. We stopped off at their hatch, tasted some cheese, had a long chat and bought some cheese. They have many varieties and I like the fact that you buy a whole wax-wrapped round of cheese so they’ll stay wonderfully fresh. The Cheese Boat was wandering down to Stoke Bruerne for an event next weekend.

Well stocked with cheese, we moved on down the canal past the very smart Heyford Marina. Further on, we passed nb Moore2life – possibly a fellow blogger. I say possibly because we do read Moore2life’s blog but I think their boat is blue and I’m sure this one was green so I’m not sure if I’ve got the right boat. Sadly the crew weren’t around for us to check.

We do like the Grand Union canal. When we passed through the narrow corridor between motorway and railway yesterday I couldn’t help but think that “this is it” and that the canal would be swept into a bleak commuter corridor all the way to London. But I was wrong – the stretch today has been very pleasant surrounded by swathes of rural landscapes.

Bugbrooke Marina is not as grand as the one in Heyford, but it does have a very pleasant canalside house with a fine balcony. The whole area’s very attractive; we even met some exceptionally friendly fishermen here. We saw another sign of autumn today – twittering flocks of starlings gathering on power lines and in the trees, ready for their spectacular aerial displays. Of course, the drifts of fallen leaves on the boat roofs gave us another seasonal clue.

There are very good permanent moorings by Bridge 45 – once again with nicely fenced parcels of land, though they were a bit close to the railway. One of the boaters here has decorated his (or her) mooring with marvellously realistic wooden toadstools, up to five feet high and looking perfectly organic.

We also saw a friendly farmer today. I was curious as he was driving the farming equivalent of a golf buggy across a wide field by the canal. He overtook us then turned his buggy to face the boat to reveal his toddler grandson. I waved at his grandson and the child’s face split into a pumpkin smile and his granddad gave me a thumbs up.

The approach to the Blisworth tunnel is a fine stretch of canal. The wooded corridor leading to the tunnel is so silent that it has a real ‘end of the cut’ feeling; maybe enhanced by the prophetically named nb Ahab moored near the tunnel entrance.

Blisworth is a wet tunnel, though it wasn’t as bad as we remembered; it was particularly fumy in there today – not sure why. This is another 2-way tunnel and we met a few oncoming boats. We’ve always fancied a big antique tunnel light but today we realised that tunnel lamps really need to be angled. One boat passing us had a very bright light fixed centrally to the front cratch – it was dazzling and Richard really couldn’t see a thing. There are so few 2-way tunnels I guess that it isn’t usually a problem.

The approach to Stoke Bruerne was lined by historic boats, together with their crews walking the towpath in traditional costume. We guessed they were here for the event that’s happening here next weekend – we never did find out what the event might be.

We were amazed to find a mooring spot just outside the museum in Stoke Bruerne – we couldn’t quite believe our luck – we’ve always wanted to look at the museum. Because we felt almost guilty at having such a good mooring spot we raced around the museum. But it was fascinating and we must have a longer visit some day. We did find out that the newer sections of concrete lining in the Blisworth tunnel (the only really dry part of the tunnel) were installed in 1984. There was also an interesting exhibition about bomb damage to the local canals – I’m amazed that Braunston is still standing.

We’d though of having lunch at the museum café, but the food was limited to a few pre-packed sandwiches which didn’t look very appetising. As Richard’s a very good barista, we didn’t stop for a coffee either.

Stoke Bruerne had lots of visitors, even though it was a cool, overcast Monday in September. We had a fair number of gongoozlers at the first two locks; there are wonderful moorings below the second lock and the dogs were able to have a good rummage, though Lou was a bit reluctant – she’s knackered after 3 days of rummaging.

Having said that, both dogs were very good – there’s a busy road by lock 5 and I was afraid that Blue, in particular, would be drawn to it, but they were fine and stayed close to Richard. Lock 5 also has interesting signboards explaining the wildlife in the side pounds – given that the water was bright green there’s no doubt that there plenty of life there.

The bridge below Lock 5 has very attractive mosaic murals. There’s good parking between lock 5 and 6 – that might be useful for future car shuffles.

There are very good services below lock 6 – we stopped here to get rid of our rubbish and to fill up with water.

Moving away from the bottom lock, we noticed that water was being pumped INTO the canal. We were fascinated, because Richard had commented that there was too much water in the pounds above.

As you may have gathered, there’s lots to see and do at Stoke Bruerne – it’s one of my favourite places on the water. I’d have enjoyed an extended stay here but our target for the day was Wolverton. Despite the fact that the railway’s never far away from the canal, there are very few train stations.

Still, there were fine views to be enjoyed by Bridge 58 – so typically ‘English’ with rolling fields dotted with small villages and their imposing church towers and spires.

We’ve passed a few marinas that are due to open in 2009/2010 and we haven’t thought that any of them would be ready in time. Thrupp Wharf marina was no different, though the pontoons and services are in place, there was still a huge amount of landscaping work to be done – a few weeks’ work we estimated, but they’re due to open in 3 days’ time – good luck! There were lots of boats moored on the towpath nearby – we wondered whether they were waiting to take their places in the new marina.

A little further on we noticed the Taverner’s boat club – a length of online moorings protected by security gates and CCTV cameras. You’d certainly feel safe here but it has the limitations of access of any online mooring – it’s a long walk if you’re the furthest boat from the gate.

There’s a thriving boating community around Cosgrove Lock – it’s very pleasant here and there are fine 14-day moorings below Cosgrove Lock.

We were aiming for the moorings between bridge 68 and 69 at Old Wolverton, but it was a spookily deserted tunnel of trees. However, the moorings beyond Bridge 69 were much more attractive, and popular, there were few spaces left. We passed by and cruised on as far as the next winding hole, just after the aqueduct. But although the towpath is very well maintained and attractive, there weren’t any other boats moored here and we weren’t sure whether Indigo Dream would be safe if left unattended. We winded and headed back to Bridge 69. Richard dropped me off at Wolverton Station on the way back (by Bridge 71).

I took the train back to Nuneaton. Unfortunately the train was delayed by over 35 minutes; add the delays on the M1 on the way home and we had yet another late night – arriving home at 11.30pm.

However, we’ve left Indigo Dream in a good spot. We’re in the company of other boats, so it feels secure. There is very good parking in the adjacent Deans Road Industrial Estate with good access to the towpath – perfect for off- and on-loading. Delays made for a tedious journey home but the reality is that we’re very close to home now – 69 locks left over 2 weekends so that we get back in time for this event: http://www.greyhoundhomer.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=1984 Do come along!