London in my sights

On Saturday I left Berkhamsted and headed south through Hemel Hempstead and stopped near Watford in a quiet, wooded area at Cassiobury park. It had been a hard day and although I only covered 10 miles I did pass through 25 locks and my knees where definitely feeling the strain of all those ladders.

Farewell Berkhamsted

This stretch of canal is mainly through open countryside and passes through Grove Park which sports a particularly impressive bridge. The Earl of Essex insisted that the bridge complement the existing architecture as a condition of allowing the canal to cross his land.

Grove Park Bridge

After a quiet night I continued in similar scenery on Sunday, stopping in Batchworth for supplies and a late breakfast/early lunch - I blame BST.  It was a frustrating trip as on each lock the bottom gates had been left open by the previous boat creating extra work.  There are a few inconsiderate boaters who only think of themselves.  Progress was slow as there are many on-line moorings in this stretch which means travelling even slower so as not to rock them too much.  After lunch I continued a further couple of hours before mooring up by Denham country park and spent the afternoon enjoying the warm sunny weather.  

Berkhamsted

After a couple of days on the Tring summit I moved on to Berkhamsted as needed to top up the larder.  The canal drops quite sharply as it descends the chilterns towards London. The short trip to Berkhamsted is only 6 miles but includes 7 wide locks and took me around 4 hours. The weather was warm when the sun was out but quite nippy as the clouds passed over.

One of the many beautiful ex lock keepers cottages

I reached Berkhamsted in the early afternoon and found a lovely stretch of visitors mooring in pleasant green parkland only 5 minutes walk from the high street and Waitrose.

Berkhamsted visitors moorings 

The town retains many of its older buildings such as this pair of cottages in the high street.

 On Thursday the forecast was for a cool overcast day so I decided to take another trip to London to look at the route through the city. Basically I can either use the tidal river Thames or the Regents canal. Although the prospect of taking my own boat past the Houses of Parliament and under tower bridge appeals it is a very busy waterway with strong currents to catch out the unwary.  After viewing the Thames from the entrance to Limehouse lock and seeing a river-bus passing at speed I decided that the tideway is not for me.

I spent the afternoon walking along 6 miles of the Regents canal towpath from Limehouse to Camden  to look at the mooring opportunities. While there are several visitors mooring areas they are very busy with many double moored so I doubt I'll be able to find a mooring. This is not a problem as there are good moorings at Paddington basin at one end and Limehouse at the other and I can easily travel the route between in a day.

Tomorrow I'll move off once again. Progress will be slow as the 4 mile stretch from here to Hemel Hempstead contains 11 locks.  My knees are complaining already.

Aylesbury and Wendover Arms

Having descended the 16 lock flight of the Aylesbury arm I stayed over the weekend to give my knees a rest.  On Saturday I took the train to London to have another look at the Regent's canal. I always enjoy Camden market which is so vibrant and colourful with many types of food to chose from.  This is the first time I'd visited on a Saturday and the place was heaving with many sitting on the edge of the canal by the lock which could make navigating tricky. I'm sure they'll move when 16 tons of steel approaches.  The atmosphere was great, as was the bang bang chicken.

Camden Lock

On Sunday I explored Aylesbury, a pleasant little market town which has retained many of its original buildings and is not completely spoilt by the 21st century. The town has several squares of which the market square is the largest. There are modern shopping arcades but these are quite discreet.

Part of the old gaol - Now council offices

 I attended morning service at St Mary's church, the first time in many a year. I'm not sure why I decided to attend on this occasion and I'm not planning on making it a regular item on my itinerary.

St Mary's Church

The Kings Head pub - Now owned by NT

  As rain was forecast for the middle of the week I decided to head back up the 16 lock flight to the main canal on Monday.  I had  fairly straight forward trip up the arm enjoying the lovely views and reached the top after around 4 hr.  

Lockkeepers house on the Aylesbury arm

On joining the main canal I headed south to to visit the partially restored Wendover arm only 3 miles up the canal. Unfortunately, that 3 miles included the last 7 broad locks taking the canal up to its summit at Tring.  

View from the summit

Turning onto the short Wendover arm

 The restore section of the Wendover arm is only 1.5 miles long with no locks and I was pleased to clear the final lock and turn onto the arm. Half an hour later I reached the end and moored up for the day having covered only 8 miles but 23 locks.

This far and no further

MK - Leighton Buzzard and Aylesbury

After a splendid week in MK catching up with visiting friends and family I finally headed off on Tuesday morning onto waters new as I have not been south of MK on the GU before. The weather was bright but a bit chilly as I wended my way through the outskirts of MK past Fenny Stratford and Bletchley before reaching open countryside. I called into the local marina to fill up with diesel and replace an empty gas bottle, I prefer to use the fuel boats when I can but none passed while I was moored up.   Shortly after leaving MK the canal begins its climb up the Chiltern hills through a series of locks beginning with a set of three just to get you into the swing.

As the canal climbs the views become quite expansive as the valleys stretch off to the distant hills.

The weather remained clear and I arrived in Leighton Buzzard by early afternoon. The visitors moorings were quite busy and I had to moor towards the end which was closer to the main road than I would have liked but very close to Tesco which made shopping easy. As I suspected the sound of traffic could be heard but this lessened around 8pm - Unfortunately this was about the time the local youth met up in the Tesco car park with their pimped up hatchback with a serious sound system. Thankfully they must have had homework to do as they moved off around 9:30 and what passes for calm in an urban area returned. 

In the morning I continued up the canal through a series of locks enjoying the impressive Buckinghamshire countryside. I had planned to head down to Aylesbury today but I was enjoying the views and taking my time with the locks and found I was running well behind schedule. And I cared not.  However, by noon forecast gales arrived making the boat handling quite difficult. As you can see from the trees in the following picture.

Therefore after only 6 miles and 8 locks I decided to find a sheltered spot to moor up and enjoy the peace and quiet with only sound being birdsong, lambs bleating and of course the wind. While pleasant to begin with I must admit that lambs bleating can be as annoying as crying babies after a while, but still preferable to drum and bass. 

I made an early start on Friday morning as rain was forecast for the afternoon. The plan was to climb the remaining three locks to Marsworth junction and then head down the short Aylesbury Arm of the canal. Although only 6 miles long it does drop through 16 narrow locks through splendid countryside on its journey to Aylesbury.  It is perhaps the prettiest stretch of canal I've travelled to date. 

The Aylesbury arm begins with a pair of staircase locks where the bottom gate of the first lock is the top gate of the second with no pound in-between. 

As I descended the arm the views across the vale to the distant hills was superb. However, by lock 12 I noticed the clouds gathering and realised that I was unlikely to reach Aylebury completely dry.

 I got caught in a couple of heavy showers but the combination of waterproof coat and Tilley hat kept the worst of it at bay. I finally reached the basin at the end of the canal only to find it is being refurbished and as a result there was nowhere to moor.  I thus had to turn around and head back half a mile through the bottom lock to the visitors moorings I passed on the way down. As it happened the moorings here are probably better than the basin as they are away from the town centre.

Aylesbury is a pleasant little market town which has retained much of its character in the market square.  This morning I attended the church, not a regular event but I felt moved to visit for some reason. Although a small congregation the service was enjoyable and the coffee and biscuits afterwards very welcome.

And now, as the temperature is forecast to drop to -6c tonight I shall light the fire.

Milton Keynes with friends

After my 4 day trip from Oundle onto the Grand Union and Milton Keynes I decided to take a short break. My old RAF colleague Pete Billings lives in MK and we met up for lunch on Thusday before he kindly gave me a lift to Tesco to top up the larder. 

Friday saw the arrival of Paul & Debbie Beaumont who were spending the weekend in their motorhome on a campsite only 200 yds from the canal hidden behind the trees.

Paul arrived late morning while Debbie joined him later after work. Paul and I passed the afternoon cycling firstly to the "Cathedral of Trees", which was a bit of a disappointment, and then onto the Barge Inn for a pint or three of Doom Bar which was most welcome in the warm spring sunshine. Pete joined us for a pint with his lovely dog Newfie.
As time was getting on Paul & I cycled to meet Debbie off the London train and then the three of us cycled back to canal. On my return the neighbouring boats informed me that the wind which had picked up a little had blown my new satellite dish into the canal. I decided to leave the search and rescue operation until morning. My eldest son Steve joined us for dinner in the evening as he was running in the MK parkrun the following morning. The four us enjoyed dinner at the Barge Inn before retiring for the night.

On Saturday morning Steve completed his run after which Paul & Debbie joined us to play "Hunt the dish" with a collection of poles. The dish was located and Paul & Debbie managed to recover it while I steadied the boat. The dish was intact but had collected a bit of mud from the canal bed which I promptly managed to transfer my T-shirt. I changed shirts and immediately transferred the remaining mud to the new shirt. After making sure all goo was removed I proceeded to put on another clean shirt.

We then settled down to watch England v Italy in the 6 Nations with beer and nibbles. 

After a good match we relocated to the motorhome for a mid afternoon BBQ before settling down once again to watch Ireland v France.
Steve left for home on Saturday evening and I enjoyed a lie-in on Sunday morning before once again taking to my bike and heading into MK centre with Paul & Debbie.

A climb up through the pretty Campbell Park and then a gentle downhill stretch to visit the Cotswold outdoor shop before heading to Weatherspoons for lunch. We spent the late afternoon onboard enjoying some rather good wine and cheese with a gentle jazz accompaniment.

A superb end to a lovely weekend with good friends. Now looking forward to catching up again when we find another

Northampton to Milton Keynes

On Tuesday morning I met a local chap who kindly offered to help me up the 16 locks of the Northampton Arm.  During conversation on the trip it turned out the guy is homeless and living in a nearby barn and helps people up the flight in the hope of a handout.  To be fair he did a stirling job and got me up the flight in under 3 hours which is good going so I was quite happy to tip him few bob for his effort.

After clearing the flight I continued the few miles along  the Grand Union canal to Stoke Bruerne via Blisworth tunnel which was, as ever, cold dark and occasionally very wet where water pours down the air shafts.

Despite the good forecast Wednesday morning arrived shrouded in mist. It had lifted a little by the time I took the photo but at first light I could hardly see the boat opposite me. I had intended to stay another day and do some more painting but as it was clearly not painting weather I decided to head on down the flight of 7 locks and make my way to Milton Keynes.

The trip down the 7 lock flight was straight forward but hard work single handed. A couple of the lock gates were particularly heavy and took a lot of effort to open.

The canal then meanders through open countryside to the village of Cosgrove which was split in two when the canal was built.  The only concern of the villagers was getting horses from one side of the village to the other and so the canal company built a horse tunnel. It is just large enough to het a horse through being about 2 ft wide at the base and widening to 3 ft at shoulder height. The whole tunnel is only 6 ft high.  This is a photo taken on an earlier trip with my niece standing at the far end.

However, while the company may have scrimped on the tunnel they certainly didn't on the centre lock bollards which are around 2 feet square and I suspect could safely hold the QE2.

Shortly beyond Cosgrove the canal crosses the river Gt Ouse via an aqueduct before reaching Wolverton on the outskirts of Milton Keynes. It then takes a large loop around the northern suburbs before finally heading into the city itself.  Despite being famed for its concrete cows and town planner jokes MK is a very lovely place with great swathes of open park land in which the housing is planted like small villages all connected by footpaths and of course the grid road system.

The canal takes a very scenic route into the city as the following photos show. Also the mist had cleared and the spring sunshine was bringing the place to life.

And finally to my mooring in the picturesque Campbell Park, made even more so today with the addition of a charming wooden cruiser moored opposite.

Oundle to Northampton

The river was re-opened on Sunday morning so not wishing to miss the opportunity to get off the river I made a quick trip into town to grab a few essentials before heading off around 10:30 in glorious sunshine.

Leaving the Marina 

The river was still flowing reasonably quickly which slowed progress as I was heading upstream. It felt good to be on the move again as I start my new adventure as a live aboard boater of no fixed abode.  The day was stupidly hot for march and I was wearing a T-Shirt and I'm sure my forehead caught the sun.

Glorious spring morning

After 16 miles and 10 locks I moored up for the night at Irthlingborough moorings which are alongside the now defunct Rushden  and Diamonds football club. A lovely peaceful spot in the open countryside.

Monday morning arrived with a change in the weather. Overcast and quite chilly.  I set off around 8am with the temperature still around 4 or 5c. After the T-shirt yesterday I was now wearing a long sleeved shirt, jumper and coat. I also remembered to fill the flask which my son Simon bought me for Christmas. This proved very useful as I the small cup is around a third of a normal mug which means I can drink it before it goes cold which is what usually happens if I fill a full size mug.

View of Mooring and flask

The day saw me meandering through the Northamptonshire countryside where the first signs of spring could be seen. A few lambs in the fields, clusters of daffodils on the banks and a hint of green on some of the trees.

I passed this rather unusual colour scheme. While not in the narrowboat tradition, it is never-the-less a beautifully decorated boat which somebody has probably spent a lot of time and money personalising.

Somebody likes that film

 As the day drew to close I reached Northampton and the final lock of the day, taking me from the river Nene onto the Northampton Arm of Grand Union canal just as the sun was setting over the canal which looked to be aflame.

Sunset over Northampton

 Another long hard day at the helm with 18 miles and 17 locks completed I'm now ready for a long hot shower.  Tomorrow I have the 16 locks of the Northampton flight but thankfully I have an offer of help from a local chap who enjoys working the locks so that's a bonus.

Life afloat is good.

Update from the marina

Having arrived at the marina a week ago I planned to stop for a couple of days and then head up river to join the Grand Union canal at Northampton. The Environment Agency had other ideas and on Friday the river was closed again due to the high flows needed to try to release the many millions of gallons of water held in flood plains across the route. The river us currently running at around 8 mph and is around a meter above normal levels.

The time in port has given me a chance to catch up on a few maintenance jobs like touching up the paintwork, the locks do take their toll on the lower hull. I've also been reorganising my storage to put things I use regularly in easy to access lockers while things like spare bedding go into deeper storage under the bed. The result of course is that I can't find anything now.

I bought a new folding bike today as my full size bike takes up too much room in the rear cabin and us awkward to get in and out. The new bike is much easier to load and seems to ride well too.

The house is let and my new tenant moves in on Monday - can't believe how quickly that happened.

So onto my cruising plans. Assuming the river settles down in the next 3 or 4 days I plan to head up onto the Grand Union and make my way down to Milton Keynes where I'll probably stay for a week to catch up with my old mate Pete Billings. After that I plan to continue down the GU to London and hopefully spend a couple of days at Paddington basin. Will then explore the Regents canal through Central London and head up the rivers Lee and Stort to the north east for a few weeks. By early June I should have made my way up the Thames to Oxford ready to take the train up to York for my daughter's wedding. Then a gentle cruise die not Windsor where my brother will take the boat for a week in late June.

By early July I should be heading along the K&A and spend the summer months visiting Bath and Bristol.

That's enough waffling for one night. I'll keep you updated once I get on the move again. In the meantime feel free to pop in if you are passing Oundle.

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