Boat Blog: Mooching (back) along the Grand Union (13)

Catching up…

The cottage below Black Jack’s lock – it has the best garden 🙂

At the end of the last boat blog, Indigo Dream was moored up in Apsley Marina awaiting the arrival of Denise and  Wyn. I met them at the boat on Friday 10th May and gave them a quick refresher course in boat handling down past Red Lion lock then left them to it while I went off to sunny Rome.

Sadly, they only had a short weekend – they were called back for a family crisis (now happily resolved) and left the boat nicely moored a short way below Coppermill Lock. I hadn’t realised what a drama they’d had – because they’d been called back to Wales so abruptly, they’d moored where they were – which was a nice spot but a long way from a train station to get back to their car in Apsley. They were helped out by a kind passerby who found them slogging along the towpath with all their bags – he gave them a lift back to their car. I know this, because the chap hailed us at Black Jack’s lock on Saturday and told us the story! Thank you kind stranger 🙂

We knew they’d had to leave the boat in a hurry, so we decided to check the boat immediately after our return from Rome. She was immaculately moored, but sadly, in their rush to get away, they’d forgotten to turn the fuses off, so the fridge was on and open. Our brand new batteries were down to 25% – ah well, that’s the first episode of battery abuse – we’ll try and leave it a bit longer before the next 🙂 We ran the engine for a while and got the batteries back up to 50%. With the hounds still at Sarah’s, we were free to have supper at the Coy Carp – nice!

Sarah and Andy dropped the hounds off to us on Sunday – they’d had an uneventful and happy holiday – the best sort when it comes to hounds 🙂

Saturday 25th May

Coppermill Lock t0 Cowley (Benbow Way)

The Grand Union below Widemead lock – the rural face of West London 🙂

We shouldn’t have been surprised that we got caught in yet another gridlock on the M25 and didn’t arrive at the boat until mid-afternoon. This scuppered our plan to do a long day’s cruise to Paddington. Instead we decided to mooch through the remaining locks to Cowley and moor up below the lock.

We shared Denham Deep Lock with a boat which had a roof garden worthy of the Chelsea flower show (see photo below). There couldn’t have been a greater contrast between the boats and it reminded me vividly of nb Herbie’s entertaining post of a few years ago about how to judge a boat by its roof – here’s the link 🙂

The weather was benign and we had a very relaxed trip. A little too relaxed in places as a boat winded awkwardly in front of us and proceeded down the canal so slowly that I had to coast in neutral, with the odd burst of reverse, to avoid bumping into them! We shared one lock and they kindly let us go ahead, only for two long-term residents to pull out from their moorings in front of us and proceed equally slowly along the canal. We took a break and stopped at the chandlery at the Uxbridge Boat Centre for a few bits and pieces. Although it can be a bit pricey, Richard has always appreciated the good service here.

The moorings below Cowley lock were pretty full, but we found one space close to Benbow Way (Bridge 189) – perfect for the car shuffle.

After much debate, we left the dogs on board and both got a taxi back to the Coy Carp, where we’d left the car. We thought we’d do the honourable thing and eat there – I’m glad we did – we had a fine meal and drove back to the boat well-satisfied.

Photoblog:

Judging a boat by its roof – couldn’t be a greater contrast!

Herb Angelica – you don’t see this so often, but boaters of a certain age will remember iced cakes decorated with the crystallised stems…

There used to be a conveyor belt here – I’m not sure when it was dismantled but the old wharf is obviously not used for gravel transport any more. Mind you, removing rubbish from the Grand Union is a worthy use for the wharf…

Odds Blog: Notes from Rome

Sunday 19th May

The entrance to our hotel – construction started in 1643…

We’ve just come back from a week in Rome – a big treat for my big 50th birthday!

I would normally only blog about boating and greyhounds, but I thought it might be useful to make some notes so that I remember useful stuff for the next time we go there!

We’re fated to go back – we threw a coin into the Trevi fountain; one coin means that you will definitely return to the eternal city; two coins means that you will fall in love with an Italian; three coins means that you will marry him/her. We stuck to just the one!

Hotel

I wanted a hotel which would give us a bit of peace from the bustle of the city – but choosing a hotel from online descriptions adds an element of chance. However I needn’t have worried –  the Hotel Donna Camilla Savelli was perfect! It was a 4-star hotel housed in a beautiful building that was first used as a convent in the 1600’s. The hotel was set back in its own courtyard and encircled a peaceful garden; it also has at least two roof terraces with fantastic views over the city. The service was superb – attentive without being pushy; the reception staff were very helpful.

The hotel is in the Trastavere area of the city – this proved to be away from the main tourist areas, yet is THE place to find a cafe/restaurant within easy walking distance. But more on eateries next….

Orange groves on the Aventine Hill…

Eateries

We ate a serious amount in Rome; luckily we also walked many miles, leaving us with a unique combination of rotund torsos and marvellously toned legs 🙂

Our Favourite: Osteria numero 6, Via Garibaldi 60: Run by the charming Samantha, with “mama” producing home-cooked Roman cuisine in the kitchen. Just a few yards down the road from our hotel, we visited this little restaurant every day – be it for a meal or just coffee and cake. The food was lovely, but the service is what took us back there time and again. It has great reviews on Tripadviser….

The others: We ate at a few restaurants that were either recommended by our guide book or by local people; they were all ok but not distinguished enough for us to go back….

• Dar Poeta, Vicolo del Bologna 47: reputedly the best pizzeria in Rome; it was certainly popular and the pizza was ok but not outstanding
• Alle Fratte di Trastavere, Via delle Fratte di Trastavere: The review raves about the welcome and the food – neither impressed us
• Pizzeria Popi Popi, Via delle Fratte di Trastevere 45: Recommended by a local but we found that the service was inattentive and slow (even by Italian standards); the food was unremarkable
• Hi-Res restaurant, Via della Fontanella 14: rooftop terrace offering a view of, well, mainly other rooftops! A “posh nosh” restaurant, pricey, with disappointing main courses but amazing service and a delightful range of free “extras” that arrived while we were waiting for the bill – a plate of petit fours, followed by a selection of mini desserts followed by half a glass each of Prosecco – perfect…

We visited various Gelateria – Roman ice-cream is truly luscious – they were all equally good, it was just a matter of finding a gelateria which offered the flavours we liked most!

View from the top of Il Vittoriano – You can see that Rome is also a city of domes….

Shopping:

Rome is THE place for designer accessories but I just wasn’t in the mood for shopping and I really do have enough bags, coats, gloves etc to last a lifetime. However, we did visit two very different shops:

• Pitran, Via del Gambero 18: A men’s clothes shop which caters for the larger end of the market; so large, in fact, that Richard is only a medium in their shop! He bought three stylish suits which all needed some alterations – which were completed by the following day – result! We had visited this shop during our last visit about 6 years ago, but we couldn’t remember its name or location; luckily, when we described the store, the hotel receptionist knew exactly where we were talking about!
• Almost Corner Bookshop, Via del Moro 45: An old-fashioned English language bookshop with an extensive range of books ranging from the classics to modern best-sellers. I thought that the English proprietor’s sneeringly patronising approach to customer service did him out of sales, but he seemed happy that he’d established his superiority so let’s hope that keeps him in business……..I should add that R didn’t notice the man’s attitude!

Transport:

• Top Tips:

1. Take comfortable walking shoes and wear them at all times – we found that many streets are unevenly cobbled and the public transport system is incomprehensible (at first) so we did end up walking a LOT!
2. Download the most recent bus/tram/train maps onto your smartphone before you go and use these. DO NOT buy a transport map/book – they’re may not be in date, accurate or practical! There is an ap which you can download but it is not perfect.
3. On your arrival, find a station and buy a week’s “travelcard”, which covers bus/train/tram and metro – it was only £24 Euro and does not need a photocard.

• 

  Roman theatre in Ostia Antica…

  Taxis: I think you can hail them on the street but there are taxi ranks dotted around the city; avoid the ones at Termini, the main railway station, there are touts for minicabs as well as competition between the official taxis, who may try to charge an extortionate fixed fee rather than use the meter. Outside of Termini, the taxis were fine. It’s worth getting a taxi to/from the airport rather than getting the train into Termini (which is what we did) – the fixed fare from airport to/from the city is 48 Euro – bargain compared to train/onward taxi fare from the station.

• Buses/Trams/Metro/Train: There is a great transport network, but working out what goes where and when is tricky! We had cheap European roaming packages on our smartphones so we could access current information but that was dependent on the connection. Next time we’ll download the information before we go….

• Walking: It is possible to get round the city on foot! The traffic is busy and sometimes you’ll cross on a “green man” at a crossing but find that the traffic also has a green light – you have priority. We were amazed that there weren’t more accidents, but there seems to be an amiable culture of people walking in the middle of the road and of traffic not running them down!

Excursions:

A week isn’t long enough to see every sight that Rome has to offer; however, I found that a week was enough for me as the city is overwhelmingly busy, so return visits are a must! This is our third visit, having previously spent two short weekends here. Here’s our “top ten” list from this trip:

1. 

   The famous Trevi fountain – the sculpture is of Neptune with one wild horse and one tame horse, indicating the sea’s different moods..

   Ostia Antica: This is out of town – about half an hour’s train ride from “San Paolo” station. This is an ancient Roman port, though sadly land-locked now because of change to the course of the River Tiber. The ruins have been sympathetically excavated and restored with good signposting and information boards. This means that you do not need a guide (human or audio) to get around. We enjoyed wandering around – take half a day and enjoy the relative peace of the site whose ruins are matched only by the wild flower meadows, old orchards and song birds that surround the ruins. It also has decent loos and a good cafe. The only nuisance was the bus tours of noisy young children who’d much rather be having races up, down and round the ruins than actually appreciating the setting!

2. Coliseum: Well restored and interesting, but very very busy. We chose the audio tour, which was reasonably priced and was easy to navigate. However, to get access to the newly restored section of arena floor, we’d have had to take an official Coliseum guided tour (human). We are not too sure but we think that the touts that work outside the Coliseum offering group tours do not have access to the restored arena floor.
3. Riverside Walk: If you’re into waterways, as we are, then the Tiber is a source of great fascination. Why is the water a dusty green? Is it navigable? How deep is it? And then, of course, are the bridges, ancient and decorative. You can walk the river at high level, but then you get the full impact of the crows, traffic noise and street hawkers. Some 8 metres below, there is a good cycle/foot path at river level which gives a welcome break from the bustle above. We walked around 2 miles from Ponte Cavour (where there are lots of fascinating houseboats/floating restaurants to the weirs below Ponte Fabricio (which crosses to/from the Isola Tiberina).
4. 

   The Caravaggio……

   Il Vittoriano, Piazza Venezia: Wend your way toward the back of Il Vittoriano and you’ll find a lift which take you to the top of the monumental Il Vittoriano buiding. The building is visible from just about everywhere in Rome so it’s hardly surprising that everywhere in Rome is visible from its roof. The view is stupendous! There is a small fee to use the lift but it’s well worth it.

5. Aventine Hill: It’s well worth walking to the top of the Aventine Hill in order to enjoy more stunning views of Rome and to enjoy a stroll through the heavily laden orange trees that line the paths of the charming park at the top. On the way down, we found Rome’s official rose garden – now at its best with beautiful blossom and the most beguiling scent.
6. Vatican City, including St Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel: We booked a “Green Line” guided tour – this saved a LOT of time as the tours bypass the half-mile long queues of tourists, pilgrims and supplicants that want to enter the Holy City. We were guided round with monotonous disinterest by a young woman who, nonetheless, gave our visit to the vast labyrinth some structure. Sadly you can’t take photographs in the Sistine Chapel – the frescos are very beautiful. Sadly a genuine pilgrim is unlikely to enjoy a quiet epiphany here – there must have been tens of thousands of visitors in Vatican City early on this weekday!
7. Pantheon: The tardis of the ancient world – scarred and blocky on the outside but vast and airy on the inside with its light central oculus and impossible dome.
8. Piazza Navona: My favourite piazza – sadly, it’s everyone else’s favourite too, so it was thronged with people, especially around the famous fountain of the four rivers. The cafes charge an extortionate amount of money for a simple coffee (8 euro each), yet it is a lovely place to sit and watch the world go by.
9. Trevi Fountain: Impossibly busy but the fountain is beautiful and it is fun to throw your coin(s) into the water!
10. 

    The gilded ceiling….

    Fountains, Churches and Obelisks: One guide said that Rome was a city of churches, fountains and obelisks! The obelisks were ancient before being plundered after Rome’s conquest of Egypt. The many carved Egyptian lions in the city seemed disconsolate, having been ripped from their homes of 4,000 years to languish in a foreign city for yet another 2,000 years. There are churches galore – ranging from the devoutly plain to the ecstatically ornate; in many churches, priceless paintings exploring the delicate relationship between light and soul are topped by gaudily gilded ceilings decorated with the artistic sensitivity of a pious magpie. Rome is apparently awash with water; a guide told us that most of its fountains are gravity fed (rather than pumped) – there is the pleasant sound of running water in every piazza – what a shame, then, that the city has so few public toilets…..

The only thing that we didn’t enjoy was our walk around the Palatine using another audio guide. This site is poorly signposted with few meaningful information boards (so unlike Ostia Antica). The audio commentary was pretty dull. We will probably go here again, but will wander around ourselves, because it is a welcome green haven in the city and just a nice place to be, even without the history lesson!

Interesting things:

• When on our riverside walk, I saw several crow-like birds – unmistakably crow-shaped but with a pale grey back/body and darker wings. I assumed they were a local species of crow and thought no more of it. But when I came to look them up, I realised that I may have spotted an unusual “illegal” immigrant from Asia – the House Crow (Corvus splendens) – apparently it’s a rare sight in Europe, but experts suspect that the species will spread, probably to the detriment of other local bird species. I didn’t bother taking a photograph because I assumed it was a common local crow not a rarity – curses!
• Rome is a busy city and there’s a lot of ground to cover, yet I was often stopped in my tracks by the sweet scent of jasmine blossom, prowling in profusion over the ancient walls. Sometimes the soft subtlety of roses held me back as I realised that I was walking on a path strewn with petals. Being a milder climate, the flowers are well ahead of the season here – I though that Rome’s flowers were one of the city’s most alluring distractions.
• On the plane on the way home we met an interesting, impressive lady who works as a Dolly Parton impersonator (she also does Cher and other singers) – she was on her way back from a gig on a cruise ship. She gave me her card, just in case I ever wanted to book a “Dolly experience” (the name of her show). At the moment, I can’t imagine a situation when I will need a “Dolly experience” but just in case, here’s her website!
  Subtle Richard did ask her how she managed the cleveage.

Photoblog:

The view from our bedroom window – breakfast was served in that tranquil garden…

The oldest bridge in Rome – built in 62BC – and no doubt maintained since…

The interior of the Coliseum – the flat “stage” to the bottom left of the photo is the partially restored arena floor – the sub structures held the cages/cells/barracks for those taking part, as well as elaborate stage mechanisms e.g. trapdoors

Ancient wall painting at Ostia Antica…

Beautiful wall mosaic at Ostia Antica – there were several partially restored mosaics here – all wonderfully detailed…

The exterior of the Roman theatre at Ostia Antica…

May is a great time to visit Rome – the trouble is that everyone knows it! This is the crowd at the Trevi Fountain…

The Oculus that shines a mysterious light on the Pantheon..

Piazza Navona and the famous fountain of the four rivers..

Disconsolate Egyptian lion in Vatican City…

St Peter’s square…

The river boat trips are currently suspended – it seems that all of their mooring platforms have been damaged by trees carried down by the winter floods…

The debris caught on the mooring wires and on the bridge piers are a testament to how high this river rises – Richard is 6′ 4″ to the top of his head!

Tiber view…

Diana the huntress and one of her hounds – that’s the nearest that we saw to a greyhound on this visit. I had hoped that fate might put us in the path of Blue the greyhound’s sister, Amy, who came to live in Rome a few years ago 🙂

Boat Blog: Who’s up for an adventure?

15th May 2013

Regular readers will know that we’ve not attempted anything like an odyssey this year (yet!) because we’ve got an adventure planned for 1st/2nd June. We’ve just had our place confirmed so now we can put out a call for crew (experienced narrowboaters only – though not necessarily tideway talent!). Usual conditions apply, will has to be up to date, take a passport and a few euros with you in case something goes wrong and a doctor’s certificate of insanity attracts bonus points.

So, have you been under all the bridges on Thames apart from Bridge 1? Are you feeling that the photo of your narrowboat passing under Tower Bridge is a bit old hat? Got a lens big enough to accommodate the narrowboats AND the QE2 bridge towering above? Then this trip is for you!

We’re joining the St Pancras Cruising Club for a convoy cruise down to the new pontoon moorings at Gravesend:

Sat 01 Jun 13

• 08.45 Depart East London locks (5 lockings of 15 mins).
• 10.30 All boats rendezvous at Bow Creek Mouth (BCM) then depart BCM for Gravesend.
• 13.30 Arrive Gravesend. Take-up available pontoon and river moorings. We hope to take part in additional excursion to the Dartford and Crayford navigations.
• 19.00 Ferry ceases to operate from mooring pontoon so remaining boats can take-up additional pontoon moorings as required (This is likely to include Indigo Dream)
• 1915 Go to pub

Sun 02 Jun 13

• 14.00 Pre-departure brief on pontoon.
• 14.10 Prepare to depart.
• 14.30 Depart Gravesend upstream; for who knows where.
• 17.30 Arrive Bow Creek Mouth.
• 1815 Arrive Limehouse Lock.
• 1915 Go to pub.

Now, this is NOT a trip for the faint-hearted and any crew will need reserves of tolerance and good humour, particularly on the Saturday, when we will be on the water for around 10 hours with no hope of landfall (unless we have to call in the RNLI for emergencies, like running out of coffee and/or bacon sarnies). Sadly we can’t offer overnight accommodation, but we can offer good food, fine beverages and an empty toilet tank! We do have spare life-jackets on board, these are compulsory for the trip.

We have around two crew spaces left on the Saturday and four on the Sunday. I apologise for the short notice, but this has been a massively complex organisational task for the SPCC (for which we are grateful) and we are still getting details “hot off the press”.

If you’re interested then get in touch by 26th May at the latest – EXPERIENCED NARROWBOATERS ONLY!

If you don’t join us then keep an eye on the blog on the 1st & 2nd – if I have an internet signal then I’ll aim to do real time posts.

Boat Blog: Mooching (back) along the Grand Union (12)

Monday 6th May

Berkhamstead (above Top Side lock) to Apsley Marina

Seamus and Liam enjoying their lock duty..

Our impromptu visitors, Liam, Lena, son Seamus and Cassie the dog, joined us just before 9.30am – but we didn’t get off to a quick start. We got up reasonably early and while I was walking the dogs, Richard set to polishing the other side of the boat. He recruited our guests to help so we didn’t get away for another hour or so – though Indigo Dream looked very fine as we left the moorings.

It wasn’t Seamus’ first cruise, but he was very little when he last came on board. We wondered what he’d make of it. As it happened, not very much! Seamus did enjoy helping Liam at a few of the locks, but he was overheating in his bulky lifejacket. It’s a dilemma, the best life-jackets for little people are well-padded but a bit bulky for a hot summer’s day; but you daren’t not have one – locks are so dangerous with their turbulent water. In the end, he seemed quite happy to sit inside in the shade (where he didn’t have to wear the lifejacket) – though later on, we adapted one of our self-inflatable jackets for him – that seemed to help.

It was Cassie’s first boating holiday – she’s young and lively, so the trip was just the best thing ever! She ran along the towpath, played with passing dogs and learnt how to cross the lock-gates. She also jumped into one lock – luckily the men had only just started emptying it, I shouted “drop the paddles” to reduce any undertow and Liam hoicked her out of the water. She was none the worse for her adventure, in fact, she seemed to enjoy it immensely. However she got the message and didn’t jump in again after that. However, we took the precaution of fitting her with the extra-small doggie buoyancy aid that we had on board (legacy of Sybil the pekingese’s trips a few years ago).

Cassie getting the hang of crossing the lock gates – she was quite agile after a few tentative trial runs..

It was a brilliantly warm day and there were a few more boats on the move. There were no queues at the locks though and we had a smooth solo passage down to Winkwell. Now, we’d read about the stoppage earlier in the week, but the restriction was due to be lifted before the weekend. As I emerged from Winkwell middle lock, I wasn’t surprised to see the swingbridge opening – but I hadn’t realised how lucky we were. The bridge was being opened by CRT engineers – they’d just happened to be there – otherwise we’d have to wait a few hours – they were only opening the bridge at scheduled times, and only around four times a day!

We shared Winkwell bottom lock with a single hander who was rather vague and did nothing to facilitate our entry alongside him; he did nothing to facilitate our exit either. I wasn’t keen to share any more locks with him so I was very pleased to see him moor up above Boxmoor top. We could see two boats about the enter the next lock together, but there was a bit of a mix-up and one boat got left out! It’s a long story – their crew had got confused and shut the lock before the boat was in 🙂

But this was serendipitous – the boat left behind became our new fine locking partner – I’m annoyed because I didn’t write the boat’s name down because it seemed so familiar! The boat’s skipper was definitely familiar – we’d met her walking her german shepherd dogs at Cassiobury Park a few weeks ago and further up the canal last week.

Lena, Cassie and Seamus watching the CRT engineers stop the traffic at Winkwell

We were sad to lost our locking partner below Fisheries lock, but we only had a short way to go – our target for the day was Apsley. We stopped below Apsley top lock, and while the menfolk mused about whether to moor there or go down a bit further, Lean and I set out for the train station for the car shuffle. This was not before we’d left the men with strict instructions about paying attention to looking after dogs and five-year old! In fact, Lena took Cassie on the train so that Liam would have one less thing to concentrate on. They hadn’t inspired our confidence when Liam left the deck door open and Ty escaped – luckily for us, Ty ran down the towpath towards me and I caught him; if he’d headed the other way we wouldn’t even have seen him go – phew!

Lena and I caught the train to Berkhamstead – she walked back to get her car and I plodded on to Wolverton – a train guard gave me some bad advice and told me to board his train and change again at Milton Keynes; sadly the train didn’t connect so it all took a while. I was surprised that the drive home included a stretch of the M1 – wow, we really have travelled a distance since Friday.

On the way, Richard texted me a destination postcode – they’d managed to get a mooring space in Apsley marina. Our guests were still there when I got back, but sadly we couldn’t join them for a meal, there was just too much to do to pack the boat and get it ready for cousin Denise and Wyn. We got packed, cleaned the floor then moved over to the service pontoon for a pumpout. With that done, we got back into our space and hooked up to the shore power.

Apsley Marina at its best 🙂

It was gone 7pm by now, but our late finish did mean that we did miss the worse of the traffic and we got home before 9pm.

Friday 10th May

I met with Wyn and Denise at Apsley marina at lunchtime and took them down Nash Mills and Red Lion locks – giving each of them a refresher in boating and locking along the way. Then I walked back to the car and headed for home.

So, if you see Indigo Dream ont he move this weekend give her a wave – she’s not been stolen – she’s in the capable hands of my cousin and her husband 🙂

Boat Blog: Mooching (back) along the Grand Union (11)

Sunday 5th May

Globe Inn (Bridge 111) to Berkhamstead (above Top Side lock)

Hire fleet at home 😦

It was another day of two halves – a solitary cruise to Marsworth before meeting up with greyhound friends Bess and Shari, together with their staff, Roger and Margaret, for an afternoon/evening cruise down to Top Side lock at the far end of Berkhamstead. This meant another early start – we set off from the Globe at 8.25am with a target of getting to Startops End by 1.30pm – we’d have to shift!

Of course, we’re back on the heavily “locked” section of the Grand Union now, but it was a fine day which just kept getting warmer – we’ve had every weather this weekend, and worn every type of clothing in response!

I didn’t take many notes from the day, I think I was enjoying myself too much – I love this section of canal; however I seem to say that so frequently it may be more relevant to mention the bits that I don’t love!

Once again, we had the canal largely to ourselves. It’s a strange fact that it’s relatively busy at Leighton Buzzard and at Marsworth, but the stretch in-between is blissfully quiet. So, where do the boats that cause the busyness come from? 🙂 We met a couple of day boats at Ivinghoe bottom lock – they were out of Pitstone wharf. One characteristic of day boats is that they tend to have about ten more crew members than are actually needed to handle a craft of that size, so a certain amount of good natured chaos tends to happen at locks 🙂

Shari, Bess, Ollie and Ty (looking quite relaxed!) – they were very happy to greet the other three greyhounds that were being walked along the towpath..

We shared Ivinghoe top lock with nb Daisy – sadly they were mooring above the lock – they were fine locking partners and it was a shame to lose them so soon. I admired their paintwork, which had been done by Carnzu. Now, Carnzu used to be based at Pitstone Wharf, just up the canal, and we’ve admired their work before. According to Carnzu’s website, they’re now based at Farncombe boat house near Godalming on the River Wey.

.We were maybe 10 minutes off the pace for Marsworth so I hastened to make some bacon butties – we’d agreed to meet after lunch! I actually worked the two “isolated” Marsworth locks while Richard ate, then we swapped over. Pushing a few lock gates was a novelty….

After the peace of the last section, it was shocking to see a crowd of gongoozlers at what we think of as the proper Marsworth bottom lock. We were almost at towpath level when Roger, Margaret, Bess and Shari pushed through the crowds and came on board. We didn’t move very far – we had to get the jam delivery to their car so we moored up on the towpath just above the coffee shop. As we pulled in, we spotted three greyhounds being walked along the towpath – we called them over. It was a merry greeting and the hounds got on beautifully, as always. We managed to get one on board for a photo; the other two were too shy to step onto the boat. What a good start to our greyhound cruise!

Roger and Richard were enthusiastic lock crew and we seemed to fly up the Marswoth flight. The hounds stayed on board, where equally enthusiastic crew member Shari kept an eye on the towpath and barked loudly at every passing spaniel (they’re sooo annoying!). She and Beth had a great time; Ty and Ollie relaxed inside! I should explain that Margaret is very enthusiastic locking crew as well, but she has a bad back so we had to tie her to the deck to stop her from overdoing it 🙂

You can never have too many greyhounds!

We were soon in the Tring cutting, but with no locks to do, we got down to some serious chatting, and hound fussing of course!

At Cowroast, we started the long fall down to London. We were joined by a hire boat and shared locks with them right down to Berkhamstead. I wasn’t thrilled on the helm, they seemed a bit muddled and I was quite surprised that they came down without cilling their boat. Admittedly they were longer than us, but the helm refused to move more than a few inches past the cill marking and few times we felt obliged to say “uh, watch out for the cill” as they drifted backwards!

We lost our locking companions at Berkhamstead – we’d told the women of the crew that there was a Waitrose and they so excited about it that they had to stop 🙂

We also lost Roger – he took the train back to Marsworth for their car – he then drove it home and walked back up to meet us. It’s quite a trek and both he and Shari were quite tired by the end of it. But the timing worked perfectly – we were just mooring up above Top Side lock when he turned up on the towpath.

Roger and Margaret had kindly invited us to supper at their home nearby. Ty was delighted – he much prefers to be in a house! He and Ollie explored the garden with Bess and Shari, before all dogs settled down for a contented snooze. In the meantime, we chatted about hounds and canal – we could have

Ty (in the foreground) has put his cutest face on – he’s begging the towpath hounds to take him home 🙂

talked all night! We reluctantly dragged ourselves away at 10.30pm – long past our boating bedtime! Poor Ty had spent his entire evening shmoozing – Roger and Margaret would have adopted him in an instant! In fact, they did offer him a bed for the night – he would have loved it! But we were afraid that if he didn’t come with us then, he definitely wouldn’t want to leave in the morning. We dragged him out of the house!

It had been a long and splendid day, but there was one more surprise to come. We had a late text from friend Liam to say that he, Lena, son Seamus and little dog Cassie were coming cruising on the Monday – another busy day beckoned!

Today’s Trivia:

Today’s trivia concerns my search to identify the strange stub of a tower in a field adjacent to Marsworth bottom locks (the proper ones – lock 37/38). I never did find out what it was but I did come across some information about a vast cement works near Pitstone. I think it closed in 1991, but there’s no sign of the huge industrial site from the canal. While I was searching, I also found the Pitstone and Ivinghoe’s website – it looks like a really useful source of information if you want to explore the area. I also found the local council’s brochure about the Marsworth Conservation area – click here to get to the relevant part of the council’s website – it’s an interesting read. I never did find out what that stub of a tower is!

Photoblog:

Now that’s what I call a barbecue! It’s possible that they’ve finished building this before the house!

Uh, I guess this boat really DOES NOT want anyone bresting up!

Every Englishman needs a lawn – on the front fender in this case 🙂

Competition fishermen have a serious amount of gear – you’d think that just the sight of it would scare the fish away…

I’ve never been impressed by how the Grove pub has turned it’s back from the canal – the well out-of-date signboard doesn’t inspire confidence either…

Ollie inspecting our locking technique at Church lock…

Ty worrying about our locking technique at Church lock…

Lots of nothing with a boat in it – I do love the stretch between Leighton Buzzard and Marsworth

Plenty of room!

Be careful crossing the gate at Lock 32 (Ivinghoe bottom) – there’s not much holding that handrail in place…

That’s a great seat but I wonder if they had to rebalance the boat with ballast at the front to compensate for the weight?

I wonder what this structure is (see today’s trivia)? The sheep seem very attracted to it – possibly because of the thin strip of shade at its base…

Gongoozlers at Marsworth..

Shari keeping watch…

Bess (foreground) wasn’t impressed by the view and just relaxed on her sheepskins – the deck is nice and warm from the engine; she wasn’t too impressed with Shari, who was using her as pillow!

Yet more gongoozlers at the Rising Sun in Berkhamstead – it’s a popular spot

Boat Blog: Mooching (back) along the Grand Union (10)

Saturday 4th May

Thrupp Wharf (Cosgrove) to Globe Inn (Bridge 111)

The wonderfully gothic Soloman’s Bridge in Cosgrove

Now, the countryside moorings near Thrupp Wharf are wonderfully quiet and peaceful…..until 5.20am when every bird in the county woke up – it was the most discordant alarm clock, and the local cockerel, who joined in at 5.40am, was quite superfluous! I lay in bed and grumbled, though it was just as well that I was awake as Ty and Ollie had got a little chilled and needed blankets.

Once they’d thoroughly greeted the dawn, the birds settled down, and I got to sleep in until 8am – that’s more like it!

But there was no time for lounging around, we had a big day ahead and Richard was casting off by 8.30am while I did the next car shuffle. To start with, I moved the car to Cosgrove where I met up with Richard and worked him through the lock. We shared the lock with a little day boat which was on its way to the May Day festival at Campbell Park, the other side of Milton Keynes.

Now, I’m sure that male readers will appreciate this next bit of quick thinking! I asked Richard whether he was doing the next stage of the car shuffle to Wolverton. “No” he said artfully “You’re taking the car to Tesco in Wolverton and getting the shopping done, aren’t you? I’ll meet you there with the boat and help you if I’m in time”. Uh, really? I don’t actually remember volunteering to go to Tesco on Saturday morning – hmmmm…..

Enjoying the May Day festival…

Nonetheless, it was a good plan, and Richard finally got to cruise a part of the canal which he rarely gets to see. Tesco wasn’t too bad – I was there very early and managed to miss the throngs of people that were flocking into the store as I was leaving. In the meantime, Richard brought the boat to the swanky Wolverton moorings, though he had to fight the wind – the tall new buildings were effectively funnelling the breeze up the canal. I took the car round to the back of the flats adjacent to the canal for a quick offload. Ty, desperate to go home, and Ollie, who just likes the car, joined me for the 5 minute trip to the free parking outside the station. Poor Ty was so disappointed when I stopped the car! We walked back to the canal over the bridge that crosses the railway, but I was surprised to find that the old steps down to the towpath had been gated and padlocked. To get to the canal I had to walk over the bridge and take the little alley that leads to the now footbridge then cross back over the canal to get to the towpath – strange…

With the boat stocked and the car parked near a station for easy recovery by train the end of the weekend, we could settle down to some relaxed cruising along  a long lock-free pound. We were making good time – these unaccustomed early starts are a revelation, though I don’t know if I’d want them to become a habit 🙂

We meandered through Milton Keynes, enjoying the rural feel of a canal that in the “real world” is almost entirely encircled by roundabouts! When we got to Campbell Park, the May Day festival was underway. Although it was still very windy, it was also quite sunny, so we decided to stop for lunch then visit the festival. There wasn’t a huge amount of activity, but it was obvious that people were enjoying the day. The hounds enjoyed their usual share of attention; I was very impressed with how calm Ty was; Ollie of course, lapped it all up. They were exceptionally well behaved – one stall was surrounded by a pyramid of soft toys – Herbie hound would have been in his element; Ty and Ollie weren’t in the least bit interested. We stopped off at the cheese boat then wended our way back to the boat.

Ty liked this little grove – it obviously felt safe- he was soon pursued by two dog-loving children who lavished him with fuss..

Soon after casting off, the sky darkened and we had an apocalyptic shower, though of rain rather than hail, so that’s an improvement on last weekend! I thought that it was just a passing shower. Well yes, except that it took over an hour to pass so we had a dismal passage to Fenny Stratford, despite being wrapped in our waterproofs. But looking on the bright side, it was largely dry by the time we reached Soulbury Three locks and we had a fine evening.

We met several boats coming the other way today, but there seemed to be very few going our way.We shared a lock at Stoke Hammond, but otherwise we were on our own. I was relieved to find that the pain of Lou’s absence was less acute coming back down the Grand Union, though there will be many ‘first’ cruises without Lou along the network – she was a well-travelled hound 🙂

Our target for the day was the Globe, near bridge 111, one of our favourite canalside pubs. We did contemplate moving a little further to take the pressure of Sunday’s cruise but it was 6pm and time to stop. The Globe moorings were jam-packed – the first available space was 15 or so boat-lengths from the pub. This suited us though, it was quieter for Ty and gave good access to the nearby water meadows. I went for a long walk (by greyhound standards), in the hope that Ty would have a wee, but he was hyper-vigilant. To the best of my knowledge, Ty hadn’t slept at all since we left home (and greyhounds need a LOT of sleep)  – he was virtually nodding off as he walked, but then he’d jerk back into wakefulness, a familiar sight on human commuter trains. :-). Ollie, on the other hand, forgot that he was an old boy, and raced around the meadow like a two year old. He decided that an inoffensive log in the middle of the meadow was something that needed to be chased. He charged it down, it didn’t move, so he swerved past it at the last minute. Then he walked away nonchalantly, occasionally looking back over his shoulder. From time to time to time he’d decide that the log needed to be charged again – this went on for some time. I laughed and laughed to see him so happy.

Picture Postcard….

Richard was busy polishing the boat when I got back – Indigo Dream looks much better for it. Despite its thinness, the paint does gloss up nicely and because of the thick undercoat of Zinga, there is next to no rust. Hmmm, maybe we can put off a repaint for a bit longer….

Given how busy the moorings were, we should really have got to the pub earlier. It must have been past 7.30pm by the time we got in – we were lucky enough to get a corner table with just enough floor space for the dogs. But by this time there was a 45 minute wait for food – luckily the starters arrived a little sooner, but the main course eventually took over an hour. We complained, especially when some people, who had arrived at the pub some time after us, were served first! But the food, when it arrived, was good and Ty enjoyed more than his fair share of sausages as Ollie turned his nose up at them!

It’s quite gratifying that Ty enjoys the pub – sausages are obviously the key to his security. I had given him a valium earlier, with the intention of leaving him on board to sleep, but he was keen to come out with us. Nonetheless he was ready for bed by 10pm – we all were – Ollie had thoroughly overdone the charging around and we’d had a 9 hour-ish cruising day so we were all indigo dreaming by 10.30pm!

Photoblog:

View of the countryside above Cosgrove lock – the canal clings to the contours here, giving fine view of the valley below..

Detail on Soloman’s Bridge

Cosgrove has a fine canal frontage – no wonder it’s a popular stop for boaters..

Guarding the towpath..

I half expected these cherry pickers to be full of papparazzi – I don’t think that the yard below is that interesting though 🙂

Public footpath???

Members of the
Morris ‘men’ – I loved their raggy jackets (the men had fine raggy cloaks)..

Ty – he’s not a great poser!

A few of the bridges along here are a bit moth eaten…

Heron’s have big feet!

Passing through the Soulbury Three locks

Lapwing – I’ve not seen one on this canal before

Meanders

The fields here were dotted with red containers – I wondered what they were – now I know, it’s a tonic for sheep!

Another picture postcard..

Ty waiting for sausages at the Globe

Ollie at the Globe – he doesn’t particularly like sausages so he had a snooze instead!

Boat Blog: Mooching (back) along the Grand Union (9)

Friday 3rd May

Stoke Bruerne (top lock) to Thrupp Wharf (Cosgrove)

Greyhounds rule at Stoke Bruerne! Brindle Daisy and just hidden, white/brindle grumpy old girl, Crystal, and our Ollie of course – he does like the ladies!

We got onto the road by 2.30pm today in a vain attempt not to get stuck on the M25 – it was yet another tedious trip, thought the M1 was great! This meant that it was nigh on 5.30pm by the time we parked up in the museum car park at Stoke Bruerne. We got the boat loaded – she’d been fine on the moorings.

We were delighted to see nb Parisien Star moored up a few boat lengths in front of us – I’ve been hoping to meet Mick and Elly for ages, having followed their journey from living in Australia to boating here. Sadly they weren’t in, but I hope there will be other opportunities to meet them.

We moved Indigo Dream a little nearer to the car park – I’ve had a busy week of jam making and had 42 jars to donate to the Wendover Arm Trust – it was quite a weight for Richard to carry from car to boat! For the uninitiated, I have extremely prolific fruit trees in my garden, so every year I make 600 -800 pots of jam which I donate to charity – usually to Greyhoundhomer, but I will happily divert a few jars to other favourite causes 🙂

After last week’s epic cruise, the boat seemed a little quiet with just two greyhounds on board! Happily we did meet another two from the boat moored behind us – Stoke Bruerne is greyhound central!

We had promised the moorings officer that we would move through the flight today so we set out after 6pm – it was a fine evening for a cruise and we’d have the daylight until nigh on 8pm. We set off, having no trouble moving out because the brisk wind was more than happy to help! We got through top lock, then as I pulled in to wait for Richard at the second lock, he said there was a hire boat approaching the top lock – he’d asked them whether they wanted us to wait for them – they said “yes”. Sadly we waited the best part of half an hour before they came down top lock. We got off to an uncomfortable start – I got on fine with the hire boat’s helmsman, who was a cheerful sort, but Richard got off to a bad start with the shore crew. Firstly they were quite cross when he sent them back to close the bottom lock gates behind them; he then got on with working his side of the locks but a couple of locks down, he was berated for spoiling the children’s holiday. They’d wanted to do all the lock work themselves and they felt that Richard was doing too much! It was such a shame – if we’d known they’d wanted to do all the work we wouldn’t have waited for them – sigh!

Above Stoke Bruerne top lock – one of my favourite canal villages…

In the meantime, I taught the helmsman how to do tandem manoeuvres through the flight – he was very game and was experienced enough to get the hang of it quite quickly, despite the wind. I hope he picks up some of the photos – he seemed thrilled to be learning something new.

We got to the bottom of the flight just after 7pm and, in a novel swap, I walked back up the flight to get the car while Richard moved the boat towards our planned destination – Thrupp Wharf.

Predictably, I got to the Navigation Inn (overlooking Thrupp Marina) first and found a comfortable table in a quiet corned with plenty of room for the hounds (when they arrived). Looking from above, I had though that Richard would have room to moor between the single moored boat on the towpath and the winding hole. When he arrived, he stopped there to check it out before committing to go through the bridge and got shouted at by a resident across the water who made it clear that he couldn’t moor there – poor Richard he had already worked that out, he wasn’t having a good evening! He moored just beyond the bridge and joined me for a consolatory pint! We were very impressed with the Navigation Inn – the service was friendly and efficient and the food was good pub fare; we sat in the games room, which is very spacious and had plenty of room for Ty and Ollie to stretch out on their sheepskins. As usual, they got a lot of attention from fellow diners – Ollie lapped it up; Ty cowered in a corner – he was been hyper-vigilant this evening – I haven’t seen him this agitated for some years but he did feel able to wee so we were still ahead of the game!

Photoblog:

Looking back up towards top lock at Stoke Bruerne…

Ollie getting settled at the Navigation Inn…

Ty wasn’t so sure about the pub though..

Tandem moves (1) – with a hire boat – it was my idea and the chap was very game to give it a go.

Tandem moves (2)

Tandem moves (3)

Tandem moves (4)

Tandem moves (5)

Tandem moves (6) – coming together…

Tandem moves (7) – almost there….

Tandem moves (8) – and we’re in!

Boat Blog: Mooching along the Grand Union (8 – part two)

Sunday 29th April

Note: we are a week behind with the blog!

Stoke Bruerne bottom lock to Stoke Bruerne top lock

Ten go boating! This is the nearest we got to a group photo with every dog in shot 🙂

The record breaker….

We got to Stoke Bruerne bottom lock just after 2.30pm and were greeted by the first of our guests – virtual friend Whitybywoof (aka Jackie), husband Rob, adorable greyhounds Gilmour and Kryssy, Billy Whippet and honorary greyhound Jodie. We got Ty and Ollie off for a greeting – the hounds got on straight away, though Ty just wanted to get back to his bed as soon as possible. We had a bit of a wait for our second guests so we filled with water and got some refreshments underway.

We were wondering how long to wait for the rest of the party when we caught sight of some greyhounds above the bottom lock. We piled on board and set off up the flight. As we rose up bottom lock we were greeted by the rest of our guests – virtual friends Holly Bobbins and Grandma Bobbins! It was a great greyhound tweet-up! Once we got to towpath level, we piled more dogs on board and so the record was broken – we had 10 dogs on board – greyhounds Ty, Ollie, Kryssy, Gilmour, Holly, Harry and Blue together with Billy whippet; Jodie, a diminutive ‘honorary greyhound’, and Uncle Ben, the cuddliest chocolate labrador. There’s a whole album of photos here….

We simply had the best time up the Stoke Bruerne flight – I took the helm and everyone else concentrated on keeping curious dog noses inside the profile of the boat! Kryssy did a Blue and managed to hurdle over the “dog-proof” deck to run after her hu-dad on shore. She enjoyed the experience immensely!

More greyhounds – greeting Alison from Greyhound Friends, who wasn’t expecting to see such a horde on board 🙂

As we rose up through top lock, we spotted another pair of greyhounds on the towpath – it was Alison, who lives in Stoke Bruerne and is much involved with Greyhound Friends. We have met Alison before – she kindly hosts an annual garden party to raise funds for Greyhound Friends – we went to one a few years ago; however there was no expecting her to recognise the mad crowd on the back deck waving her over for a chat. It’s just as well that she’s a friend of Holly’s, otherwise she might have run away! Alison, and many others on the towpath, were gobsmacked to see all the lovely hounds on board – and that was just with the 7 that were visible – no-one believed that we had another three indoors! We tried to persuade Alison and her hounds to join us on board – that would have taken us to an unassailable 12 dogs on board, but she sensibly declined 🙂

We passed the busyness of Stoke Bruerne top and its canal museum then winded in the quiet shade of the Blisworth Tunnel approach. We then moored up near the tunnel and settled down to some tea, danish pastries and lots of chat. I was surrounded by 6 people and 10 dogs, you wouldn’t think they’d fit but there was room to spare; ok, not a lot of room, but we would have had space for Miffy and Monty if they’d stayed on 🙂 I was so happy to have so many hounds on board- it really lifted my spirits and did a lot to alleviate the big hole caused by Lou’s absence.

The hounds had various degrees of difficulty with the boat steps – the ones that we designed specially for infirm hounds! Back to the drawing board methinks – Indigo Dream II will have an extravagant Busby Berkley style staircase so that the hounds can shimmy from cabin to deck with perfect ease 🙂 I will also need to get a long rug for Gilmour, who was terrified by the wooden floor but was fine when we laid a path of duvets and blankets for him to walk on!

Watch our for this pair! That’s Wyn and….Denise! Even my own mum thought it was me 🙂

We could have chatted all night, but we had homes to go to and we said our fond farewells – we hope that this will be the first of many cruises with our virtual, now real, friends.

We then had a dilemma – we were moored in the stretch approaching the Blisworth tunnel, some distance from the canal museum. The mooring bollards near the museum are signed “48 hours” but there are no signs further back so we assumed that they were standard towpath moorings i.e. 14-day. It was a bit late for us to contemplate moving back down to bottom lock, so we left her moored up and resolved to confirm the mooring situation on Monday.

We soon packed up and, much to our relief, had a smooth drive home – we were all catatonic by the time we got back – especially Ty and Ollie, who’d had a thoroughly over-stimulating weekend. It’s Tuesday now and they’re still sleeping it off 🙂

We checked the CRT website on Monday – b”££$%, we were on a 48-hour mooring! We rang the mooring officer, who kindly gave us permission to stay there until Friday – this was a great relief to us as it would have been tricky for us to get back before then.

So our plan is now to turn back and get down the Stoke Bruerne flight on Friday – hopefully before the bank holiday rush. We need to be back in Limehouse by May 31st so we’ll need a bit more focus on our return trip – we have limited weekends as we’re going to Rome to celebrate my big birthday; but the boat will not be idle – we’ve persuaded cousin Denise and husband Wyn to move the boat one weekend – watch our for them – Denise and I have become more alike as the years have passed, but you’ll know it’s not me because she’ll be pushing the lock beams while Wyn drives!

Photoblog:

See, there’s plenty of room – especially when the dogs are clustered around for sausages 🙂

Gilmour, Holly and Kryssy – the girls liked looking back – that’s unusual…

Blue, looking at camera, used to be a total jellyboy but he really took to boating life and was very confident 🙂

Noses in girls! Keeping curious dog noses from catching on lock gates was a big job…

This was a great Olympic looking team – Rio here we come!

The lady on the towpath in the background owns two greyhounds – she was on holiday on a hireboat but she didn’t have them with her…

There was very little traffic on the flight today – funny that the hire boat we met had a greyhound owner on board 🙂

Houndie twister – it’s THE new deck sport…

Ooh wassat? Something’s caught their attention…

Ooh is it time for a walk? – moored up near the Blisworth tunnel..

Look out for little Billy Whippet – he could just see over the edge of the deck…

Formation ducklings! Mum soon rounded them up…

Boat Blog: Mooching along the Grand Union (8…..part one)

Sunday 29th April – a day of two halves….

Fenny Stratford to Stoke Bruerne (Bottom Lock)

A solitary cruise…..

The Milton Keynes area is so neat..

It’s fair to say that I hadn’t really thought through the weekend’s car shuffle! If trains ran to Fenny Stratford on Sunday, then Richard could have cycled back from Cosgrove to Wolverton then got a train back to Fenny Stratford; but the nearest he could get was Bletchley, which is a bit of a hike from the canal. So this morning I decided to move the car to Wolverton and catch a bus back to the boat – meeting up somewhere in the vicinity of Great Linford. This meant that Richard could enjoy a rare cruise by himself, along a stretch that he doesn’t usually get to see because he’s doing the car shuffle.

In the meantime, I set off for Wolverton – I know I should avoid sterotypes but really, every quarter of a mile the satnav instructed me to “enter the roundabout and take the second exit” – I though that the data disk was stuck, but no, I’m in Milton Keynes! For reference, on a Sunday you need a number 7 bus from Wolverton Agora – which is a bit of a hike from the train station (where I parked). Note: you have to pay for parking at Wolverton train station but there is free parking on the road outside the station – do check the signs as it seems to be a bit of an experiment.

There was a bit of a wait for the bus and the bus driver was a taciturn sort, which made it very difficult for me to work out where to get off the bus. I hopped off in desperation at “Pennyland Local Centre” stop, got directions from a local and got onto the canal by bridge 79D. Unfortunately Richard was ahead of me but stopped by bridge 79A, which was only a short walk away. Although I was a bit tense by this point (bus travel is not my favourite), things had actually worked out very well 🙂

The lock approach above Cosgrove – I’m dreading coming back this way because the moorings above the lock are now occupied by a trip boat and then a line of now permanent moorings crudely signed as “Cosgrove Marina”. I anticipate a lot of chaos here over the Summer…

I left Richard at the helm while I went inside and pondered on a dilemma that will be unknown to more fastidious boaters. For our guests, narrowboating for the first time, should I leave Indigo Dream at her most typical i.e. covered in towpath dust and dog hair; or should I present her at her best i.e.  sparkling clean! We plumped for the latter, so I spend the trip up to Cosgrove with broom and mop in hand. I have to say that she looked pretty spectacular when I’d finished – I must have a spring clean more often 🙂

Cosgrove is not my favourite lock – there is a waterpoint on the lock landing below the lock, if that’s occupied then you have to wait up quite a way back, because there are narrows immediately before the lock landings and the towpath moorings are generally full – getting crew off can be a performance! It can also be tricky to work out who’s who when there’s a queue, but luckily we were the only boat waiting today. There were two boats coming down and a boat moored at the water point, I hung back, poked the nose into a small gap in the towpath and brested the stern up to a moored boat. With everything nice and stable, Richard could go up and help at the lock. We were soon on the rise and chatting with the friendly locals that needed to cross the lock gates to get from the island moorings to the shore. Now that wouldn’t work for me, I’d want a bridge, even if it was only a plank. There might be greyhounds who cross lock gates like gazelles, but I panic whenever I see our clumsy pair thinking about tottering over a beam!

Richard got on his bike at Cosgrove lock to do the car shuffle while I cruised on – sadly this next stretch is one that Richard hardly ever gets to cruise!

Adrian, Adam and nb Briar Rose – great to see you , hope our paths cross soon 🙂

The Grand Union has some tremendous contrasts – after nigh on non-stop locking from Uxbridge to Fenny Stratford, the canal suddenly hugs the contours, with Cosgrove lock incongruous among the miles of winding canal perched on the hillside. The section from Cosgrove to Stoke Bruerne is perfect for lovers of solitude – it’s just miles of nothing, well, if you count a few lines of moored boats, one pub and lots of pastoral countryside as nothing 🙂

It had been windy all day, but above Cosgrove lock, the canal seemed particularly exposed on its embankment and the boat was blown around a bit, especially when slowing down past moored boats. It was a bit better when there weren’t any moorings, but there’s no going fast here – anything above 1200 revs (on our engine) generated a breaking wash, which wasn’t on. There was a boat behind me – I thought they might be cross at having to follow me (they were quite close at times) – I wondered whether to speed up in order to make life easy for them, but they might report me to CRT, so I stayed slow and assumed that they would overtake – there were plenty of spots where they could have.

Now, although the sun was warm, the wind was chilly, and I was wearing my furry hat with thick fluffy ear muffs that tie under my chin – so it was hardly surprising that I failed to hear my phone ringing! But luckily I heard my messages just in time to pick Richard up from the towpath and for him to make us some bacon sandwiches before we met up with Adam and Adrian on nb Briar Rose. When they heard I was coming they moored up (safest option!) and we pulled in behind them for a chat. We also got to inspect Briar Rose for the first time – when we last met her, she was red and was still in the hands of her previous owner! Wow, her new paintwork is fantastic – we could only look on enviously at the quality of the finish – putting on more than a molecule thickness of paint really makes a difference. We then had a tour inside – what a quality boat – and she had enough headroom for Richard!

Sadly, we only had time for a fleeting visit – but enough time for the boat that had followed me from Cosgrove to overtake our moored boats at speed – he didn’t look like the sort who knew CRT’s phone number so I needn’t have worried!

As we were happily admiring Briar Rose’s woodwork I got a text – our guests were waiting for us at Stoke Bruerne bottom lock – time to move for the second half of the day….

I wonder what engineering interest prompted this photo?

Each bridge is fit for purpose but does the modern bridge need to be so ugly??

Peace ‘n quiet…

This building burnt down years ago – so sad to see that it hasn’t been re-developed…

They’ve really made the best of their canal frontage here – there are acres of parkland hereabouts…

Why is it fun to push trolleys into the canal?

The recent closures of the Aylesbury and Slough Arms is highlighting the importance of maintaining these old structures (rather than just monitoring them until they collapse!)…

These guys were really going for it – not surprising really – I’d worry that those welded cans would fall apart any second!

That’s quite an amazing construction….

The great mural at Wolverton…

There are miles of empty countryside between Cosgrove and Stoke Bruerne – the odd footbridge is a tremendous aid to navigation 🙂

The blocky tower of Grafton Regis – the nearest village to the canal for many miles…

 

Boat Blog: Mooching along the Grand Union (7)

Monty’s face never looked stressed – he’s a lovely old boy 🙂

Friday 26th April

We had great plans for cruising today but our morning chores took a long time, then we dithered, so we didn’t actually leave Surrey until around 4pm. In theory, we’d get to the boat by 5pm and have a dusk cruise – our favourite. But the M25 scuppered our plans. We got stuck in an interminable queue and didn’t get to the boat until 6.30pm.

It meant a change in plan (again!) – rather than moving the boat tonight and stopping to shop tomorrow, I’d do the shopping tonight. There’s a handy Tesco a couple of miles away, and we had the car, so it was an easy job. In the meantime, Richard got the dogs settled and started on the big job of touching up Indigo Dream’s paintwork. She is looking a bit travel weary at the moment – a good polish would liven her up considerably, but we are wondering whether it’s time to replace her molecule-thick, 7 year old paintwork…

Note: this is a great mooring, and the car parking is a reasonable £3 for 24 hours (and can be paid/renewed by phone), which makes it ideal for our style of cruising.

Sad to see the White Lion boarded up – I never rated it under its old management but it would be good to see it reopened….

Saturday 27th April

Marsworth (Startops End) to Fenny Stratford

We needed to get to Stoke Bruerne by Sunday afternoon – this would have been easy if we’d cruised yesterday, as planned, but now we needed to shift! We got away at 8am – that’s dawn by Indigo Dream standards!

But we didn’t actually move very far – we  went through the bottom lock (ok, for the purists there are another two Marsworth locks, but they’re a distance away from the main flight) and stopped almost immediately at the service point. I thought that the services had been closed as part of the BW site’s redevelopment, but there is still a waterpoint, rubbish disposal and Elsan point just before the bridge. While Richard sorted the water, I took the dogs for a little bobble – although most of the development site has been fenced off, you can still walk to the top lock of the Aylesbury Arm. It was so sad to see the locks padlocked shut and a notice confirming that the arm is closed to navigation. We walked down the staircase locks and had a look at the enticingly lovely arm – ah well, that’ll have to wait for another year…

The stop at the service point was an unwelcome delay, but it’s always good to have a full water tank and fresh drinking water in our bottles – we had guests coming on Sunday and it wouldn’t do to run out of water!

looking toward the Aylesbury Arm – sadly shut until the collapsed lock can be rebuilt 😦

We set off down the rest of the Marsworth locks but then stopped again within just a few lock miles! Sadly, guest hound Monty hasn’t been very well during his stay, though he was getting substantially better, having started on some antibiotics a few days ago. It was time for him to go home and not have to endure the rigours of travelling to/from the boat – he gets so stressed in the car. So, after some complicated logistics, Sarah, Andy and Herbie hound came to pick Monty and Miffy up from the boat. Pitstone Wharf was a convenient pick-up point, and very familiar ground because this is where they bought their little runaround narrowboat, Henry H!

It was lovely to see them, especially Herbie hound, whose leg has completely and miraculously recovered – it was so good to see him, for the first time minus bandages. He came onto the boat, gave us the most perfunctory greeting and settled onto the sofa – he’s completely at home! But it was a fleeting visit – just time for coffee, danish pastries and a medicines handover for Monty (that took some time!) then they were away – up to Birmingham to make arrangements for Henry H’s repaint. I’ll post more on that another time…

I was so sad to see Monty and Miffy going home – I think that they’ve enjoyed their holiday, well, the bits at home anyway, and I’ve certainly enjoyed their company. It seems to me that looking after the oldies is a privilege not a chore – despite the quite monumental amounts of poo that I’ve cleared up during the last fortnight! 🙂 Having said that, I have now improved my status and am now Monty’s Co-mummy and Miffy’s Step-mummy – hurrah!

Ooh the boat did seem deserted with only Ty and Ollie on board…

View from the final Marsworth locks – we’re passing through the Chilterns now and the scenery is lovely….when you face is not full of hailstones 🙂

Just as we were about to get going again, we had the first apocalyptic hailstorm of the day – I persuaded Richard to sit it out, assuming that it would pass in 5 minutes. The hail did, but was replaced by a cold drizzle which was about as good as it got for the next few hours!

We passed through the swingbridge and were heading for enticingly open Seabrook top lock when I noticed that the boat on the lock moorings was moving. It was an Aqua hireboat that had passed us earlier – they’d got caught by the hail and, like us, had decided to sit out the worst of it with a coffee. However, they soon got moving when they saw us approaching and we ended up sharing locks with them down to Leighton Buzzard. They were efficient locking companions – they hire at least once a year, sometimes more, and were very experienced.

I love the Seabrook and Ivinghoe lock flights – they’re isolated and beautiful; in fact, there are few man-made intrusions to disturb the peace between Marsworth and the conurbation of Leighton Buzzard…..unless you count the canals themselves of course, the noise of diesel boat engines doesn’t count 🙂

There was plenty of natural noise, mainly in the form of torrential hailstorms. I know the old saying about “there’s no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing” but despite being well wrapped in warm waterproofs, conditions were downright unpleasant. The temperature dropped dramatically with each passing tempest – I dashed inside to turn the heating on – Ty and Ollie, stretched out warm and dry on their luxury beds, sniggered as I ran back onto the freezing helm 😀

Blue skies ahead – by this time we were desperate for the hail to stop…

Luckily, there were blue skies ahead of us, and by the time we got to Leighton Buzzard the weather was looking up. Our locking partners stopped off at the convenient canalside Tesco here, but we weren’t alone for long. By the time we reached Leighton Lock, nb North Star had caught up with us. Now they were splendid locking partners – experienced and cheerful boaters from “oop north”. They were going as far Stoke Hammond, so we enjoyed their company through Soulbury three locks.

There were CRT volunteers at the Soulbury three, so we locked down at supersonic pace – especially as we moved smoothly in tandem through the flight, despite the lively wind. It was very gratifying to be greeted with admiration by the canalside drinkers at the pub – they’d laid wagers that we wouldn’t get the two boats into the lock at the same time – Ha!

The crew of North Star had a good chat with the volunteers – they’ll be volunteer lockies themselves at the Wigan flight over the Summer – give them a wave and be nice to them if you’re up that way 🙂

Now time is a strange thing – a few years ago, we had a splendid trip along this stretch with the Matilda Rose’s, Yarwood’s (then Caxton’s), Sarah and Andy and a multitude of hounds. I remember that the trip from the Globe to Stoke Hammond and back only seemed to take five minutes! Today, in the absence of company, and the associated beer, the cruise seemed to take an age, though the landscape was as enticing as ever.

There are picture postcard views everywhere you look..

Mind you, I think I was mentally dragging my heels – the July photo in the 2013 calendar is of Lou lying luxurious at Stoke Hammond lock. It’s one of our favourite locks – so picturesque and we have happy memories here, all captured on camera, and, to top it all, the locals often have very fine fresh eggs for sale lockside. I was surprised by the shock of pain I felt as I pulled up to the lock. Ty and Ollie got off for a bimble and I was assailed by pangs of regret that Lou (and Lynx and Blue) weren’t there – it was quite awful – not least because grief is so futile – I can’t change the past, only look to the future – which is bright with potential when it comes to hounds 🙂

But there was no time to linger, our target for the day was Fenny Stratford and we were determined to get there. We had guests coming to join us on Sunday, but we weren’t sure whether they’d join us at Fenny Stratford for a day’s cruise or meet up for tea at Stoke Bruerne later in the day. It wasn’t entirely our guests’ fault that the plan was a little fluid – we couldn’t confirm our position until we’d actually moored up for the night!

Nonetheless it seemed sensible to do a car shuffle tonight, so I left Richard at Fenny Stratford lock to catch one of the infrequent trains from the station, which is only a short distance from the canal. On Saturdays. the train run every hour or so – they don’t run at all on Sundays! I caught the 6.15pm to Bletchley, which fails to connect with the Tring train by 2 minutes; but I used the 30 minute waiting time quite productively to set up Sunday’s cruising plans. It was decided that everyone would met us at Stoke Bruerne bottom lock and have an afternoon trip up the flight. By the time I’d finished texting and tweeting the arrangements, I was at Tring, where a short taxi ride got me back to the car. It had been fine at the reservoir car park. The car shuffle was very smooth, until my satnav gave me a ridiculously cross-country route back to the boat – bah! Ok, it wasn’t the satnav’s fault that there are new-ish roads here that aren’t in it’s memory! Note: there is convenient roadside parking in Fenny Stratford on the lane that runs down to the swingbridge.

When I got back to the boat I was beyond of tired; I’d anticipated eating at the canalside pub, the Red Lion, but it’s a proper pub i.e. it only serves drink and no food! Richard didn’t fancy the scrapings from the boat fridge so he went off in search of a chinese takeaway – he found “Aromas” which I’ll only mention as a reminder not to go there again – it took almost an hour for them to produce a meal and it wasn’t the best – though I enjoyed it – “hunger’s the best sauce” as they say :-).

With only two tired but continent dogs on board, we slept the sleep of the exhausted – I got up once to cover the dogs with blankets – the temperature plunged overnight. Ollie is getting the hang of sleeping on the boat sofa rather than on our bed but I did feel a bit sorry for him – he doesn’t get cold when he’s snuggled down between me and Richard 🙂

Note: was passed steam tunnel tug Hasty today, there’s a photo below but I just wanted to put a better link to Hasty’s website here.

Photoblog:

Miffy enjoyed a fortnight of being top girl – the boys certainly deferred to her if she wanted their food or beds 🙂

Demolition site- I wonder what’s will replace the old buildings – it’s a substantial site; Luckily the service point (adjacent to the wood panel fence) is still available.

This was on top of a long pole at the old BW site in Marsworth – is it a bat roost?

The veteran’s olympic looking team…

Miffy enjoyed a bit of looking – it might have worked better if she’d kept her eyes open!

All these photos were taken before the hail started – they’re fair weather lookers :-)..

Portrait…

This field full of white sheep had a substantial number of jet black lambs…

A day of great contrasts…

There are some lovely old structures along the Grand Union- there double arched bridges are a real feature along this section..

The power of trees 🙂

Overplating..

Snug…

The canal meanders around the contours beyond Leighton Buzzard – this opens some lovely vistas…

Indigo Dream and nb North Start approaching Soulbury bottom lock – it’s rare for a move to go so perfectly when there’s an audience!

Steam tunnel tug Hasty – her history is here- http://www.tunneltug.org.uk/