A stroll in the park.

After stocking up the fridge I spent the next few days just messing about on the river between Kingston and Chertsey killing time. My eldest son Steve is a keen runner and regularly runs in the weekly 5K parkrun at Peterbourough - he's completed 50 and us currently training for the Edinburgh marathon. Bushy park, near Hampton Court, is where the very first parkrun was staged 10 years ago and I had arranged to moor at Hampton Court on Friday so Steve could stop overnight before running on Saturday. I carelessly mused aloud that as this was the home of the first parkrun I ought to enter making it my first parkrun. Steve was very encouraging, I'm not sure if he is hoping the exercise will extend my life or enable him to claim his inheritence early. So after supper and a bottle of wine I duly enrolled and was soon in possession of a freshly printed barcode which would identify me as a competitor.

As I drifted to sleep on Friday night I realised that the last time I ran more than 10yds to catch a bus was in the school cross country some 40 years earlier - sleep did not come easily. Saturday morning arrived all too quickly and I remembered that I do not actually possess any running wear. Option one was to run in my underwear, the penalty for forgetting PE kit at school, this was quickly dismissed by both Steve and I as our minds shared a vision which almost saw our breakfast make an unwelcome reappearance. I therefore settled on option two, my normal clothing - let's face it I don't think drag coefficient matters at my standard. It was therefore with some trepidation that I strolled through the Hampton Court grounds to the start next to the beautiful Princess Diana fountain in Bushy park. Thankfully the field was large, almost 1000, and as I spotted several people much older than me my worries of crawling over line in last place subsided. I began to feel confident that I could certainly give a few of these a run for their money and not disgrace myself.
After a safety brief, which I couldn't hear, the run was started and as I began to jog along with the crowd I found Steve was behind me for the first 2 yards. However, he quickly moved through the pack leaving me to jog along with the bulk of the runners. All went well for the first 100 yards after which I realised I was breathing quite heavily and being overtaken on all sides. I wasn't too worried, the majority of the entry were both younger than me and much fitter so I should expect to be passed by many. The first kilometre is dead straight and as I spotted the leaders making the turn ahead I realised the first milestone was in sight and slowed to a fast walk while I recovered my breath. A glance over my shoulder set alarm bells ringing for two reasons. Firstly there were not as many people behind me as I had expected and secondly, the start was much closer than I had hoped and a quick glance forward and back again suggested I was only about halfway along the 1K straight. Not to be detered I walked for a couple more minutes before settling back into my rather slow jog which was frankly little above walking pace. It was with some relief that I reached the turn at the end of the straight and could tick off the first kilometre only 4 more to go. I dropped back to my fast walking pace and was immediately passed by a nice old lady who could probably give me 15 years. My heart was lifted when I saw she was wearing a T-shirt proudly stating she had completed 250 park runs. Clearly this was a serious runner who's training programme was probably more strenuous than mine, which comprised of lying in bed muttering "I should get some exercise". It was around this point that I found I was humming the Paul Simon song "I can't run but I can walk much faster than this" and realised I had a running anthem to keep me company.
The next 3k were completed in a similar pattern of slow jogging and fast walking until I was met by Steve around the 4k mark. He had of course already finished, had a rest and retraced his steps to find me. So I completed the final kilometre in company with my son to finish in 42:24 minutes. Quite honestly an appalling time which saw me finish in position 973 from a field of 983. I never thought when Steve was born that I would run with him in a London park at the age of 56. And I wouldn't have missed it for the world - it was a great day and while I've not got the running bug, I won't be throwing my bar code away just yet.

Onto the Thames

Thursday saw me finally head out of London on the Paddington branch heading towards the Grand Union main line for the final few miles and 10 locks to the end of the GU where it joins the Thames at Brentford.  Whilst quietly stocking up at a convenient canal side Sainsbury's I heard that my regular visitor Paul Beaumont was in town and free for the day. After a quick correlation check on bus routes and canal we arranged to meet at Wormwood Scrubs of all places. With Paul safely aboard we spent a lovely day cruising under the M25 and over the North Circular by aqueduct before joining the main line at Bulls Bridge junction.

Whilst swans tend to build large tidy nests safely above the waterline coots tend to build their nests from any old rubbish and usually on a lump of floating weed. This one chose an old tyre floating on the river and nesting materials included plastic bags.

Paul was not impressed by my new waistcoat which I picked up in a retro shop on Portobello Road. The man clearly has no taste.

Friday afternoon saw me taking the bus to Twickenham to surprise Paul and Debbie who I knew would be visiting the favourite Harlequins pub before going to the sold out match in the evening.  Fortunately their friend had a spare match ticket and I was able to watch the match after all.  A quick detour to a local shop on the walk to the ground saw me suitably attired in Quins hoodie and looking like a fan.  Sadly I had not taken the waistcoat. I brought my usual good luck to help Quins beat Leicester Tigers in a nail biting final minutes of the match.

Saturday morning was quiet as I recovery from the over indulgence of the rugby and carried out a few of those boring domestic chores we all have to do.

The next stage of the trip involved transiting a short stretch of the tidal Thames which can only be undertaken for a couple of hours around high tide as the river Brent is not navigable at lower water.   I had already checked the tide table and would be able to depart at around 16:30 on a rising tide which would help by pushing me up the Thames to Teddington. I moved down to the lock a round 15:00 and by the time the lock keeper arrived at 16:30 three other boats had joined me. The lock keeper used both locks to allow us all through together and we headed out onto the Thames in convoy about 100ft apart.

Leading a small convoy up the Thames

 Around half way to Teddington we passed though Richmond bridge.

After waiting in a small traffic jam at Teddington we passed through the lock around 18:00 and I headed up stream a further mile or two to the visitors moorings at Kingston which I recall are handy for the shops.

Final days in London

On Friday I went to Notting Hill had a wander along Portobello Road and the famous market. Lovely to see all the bright colours and activity of a street market.

I popped into a small coffee shop called Talkhouse, mainly to use the loo, and found it serves some wonderful teas which are beautifully presented. My peppermint tea was excellent and came in  glass teapot with a small flask of hot water.

As a Richard Curtis fan I had to take a photo of the famous blue door from the film Notting Hill.

On Saturday morning I finally got down to some much needed painting on the hull where the blacking has been damaged over time. In the afternoon I had a visit from my friend Malcolm and after a hour or so catching up we went for a walk around Covent Garden and Chinatown - very pleasant.

On Sunday I treated myself to breakfast of eggs Benedict in Covent Garden, accompanied by a woodwind and string quartet. Very civilised, if a tad pricy. The day was spent enjoying the spring sunshine as I walked around the area, visiting Carnaby Street which sadly looks like any other street now, before walking across to the Mall to catch a bit of the marathon.  Not surprisingly the crowds were massive and all I could see was a few heads bobbing along as the taller runners passed. I then moved onto Trafalgar Square to enjoy the spring sunshine before heading back to the boat.

I've have enjoyed visiting London by boat and am already considering Wintering here as there is so much to do.  Although it might not be practical due to lack of moorings - something to think about through the summer, far too early to be thinking of next Winter.  It's now time to move on so I'm back on the Paddington Arm and will spend the next few days exploring the last few miles of the Grand Union before joining the River Thames at Brentford and enjoying the wide open spaces of the Thames valley.

Return to Paddington and a visit to Greenwich

I have visited London many times but only on day trips, usually to see some particular event or museum and it's always been a rush.  I'm now enjoying having the time to just wander around and visit whatever catches my interest.  On Wednesday I had a gentle cruise back to Paddington along the short Hertford Union canal, a 2 mile shortcut from the river Lee to the Regents canal which runs along the side of Victoria Park and cuts out Limehouse Basin and of course adds another name to my list of canals travelled.  I then retraced my earlier journey back through the city to Paddington via Kings Cross, Camden and of course Regents Park.

That rare item - A lock keepers cottage still used by a lock keeper.

Camden Lock - always a busy spot

Mr B in the last lock of the day

On Thursday I visited the Greenwich observatory, home of time. Of course I had to take the standard tourist photo stood astride the Greenwich meridian.

I knew that Greenwich is also home to the original imperial measurements of distance. 

What I didn't know is that the famous prime meridian which marks 0' longitude and thus the basis for timekeeping the world over is not in fact the original.  It has moved three times since the Observatory was built and is now some 15 feet east of it's original position.  The reason for this is that the telescope has to stand on a line facing directly North - South to enable the observatory to complete the task of mapping the night sky. However, each new Astronomer Royal brought with him a new, bigger and better telescope which for which he required a new home.  You can see in the following photo the final prime meridian on the ground to the left which is lined up on the centre of the left-hand building where the telescope was housed. To the right there is the building which housed the previous telescope and thus the previous prime meridian.

Sitting atop the octagonal observatory is the world earliest public time keeping device - the Time Ball. Once a day it is raised to the top of the pole and at precisely 13:00 it is dropped allowing ships moored in the Thames to set their ships chronometers. To provide a warning the ball is raised halfway up at 12:55 and then all the way at 12:58 giving the watching sailors time to prepare for its release. 

The final irony I learned is that the wonderful observatory, build by Wren, never actually housed the telescope.  Wren chose the octagonal shape to provide 8 windows to maximise the available views. The site had previously been home to a tower from the reign of Henry VIII and whilst the tower had long been demolished the foundations were still sound and so Wren used them to save money. Unfortunately this resulted in a building which was not correctly aligned and did not have a direct view North or South and thus could not be used to house the telescope.

Here ends the history lesson.

A London Tourist

So after a quiet night near Enfield I continued up the river Lee. The river winds it's way through mainly open marsh land as it continues North into Hertfordshire. I stopped for lunch in Ware and found a very good fish and chip shop which set me up for the afternoon which I spent wandering around the area before returning for another quiet night.
In the morning I headed back down stream hoping that the loop around the Olympic park would be open but sadly not.  I did meet a collection of three rowing boats waiting to come into a lock a I left. I'm not convinced this is allowed as I thought locks were reserved for powered craft.

I continued along the river towards London and decided to moor up for a few days by Bow Mills a couple of miles from Limehouse.

Three mills at Bow

I've taken the opportunity to explore the tourist attractions in the area which I've not visited before. Yesterday I climbed over the roof of the O2 dome, an amazing experience, and well worth the effort for the views. 

On top of the o2

Today I took the easier options of a ride on the Emirates Air Line cable car over the Thames followed by a trip on a Thames clipper from Greenwick back into the city disembarking at Embankment.

View of the o2 from the cable car

Tomorrow I'll visit the Greenwich observatory before taking the bust back through the Regents canal back to Paddington. I'm expecting a visit from my old mate Malcolm Harley on Saturday followed by my brother and family popping in on Tuesday on their way to Gatwick.

Leaving the capital on the Lee

As I'm only allowed 24 hrs free mooring in Limehouse Basin (£25 a day after that) I had a quick trip on the DLR to Westfield shopping centre at Stratford to buy some decent sandals for the summer. After a minor detour via Canary Wharf (wrong train) I found what I was looking for in Ellis Brigham and after parting with the best part of £60 I returned to Limehouse to head out on the Limehouse Cut past the Olympic park and out of the city on the river Lee.  The river passes to the west of the park, there is a loop around the park but unfortunately this was closed due to construction work on the site so I had to settle for a single pass.

Olympic Stadium

 After passing the park the river heads through Bow and Tottenham to Enfield where I'm moored for the evening. The views are somewhat limited on this stretch as the canal is flanked by a series of reservoirs on the right hand side which are behind a 20 foot tall grassed bank, and blocks of flats and offices on the left. The reservoir banks are landscaped in places with frequent benches and picnic spots along the towpath which doubles at the Lee Valley footpath.

Just below Enfield lock is an old British Waterways yard and dock which is now home to several old working boats including this rather nice motor and butty pair Fazeley and Hare.

After a couple of nights in the busy city it seems very quiet and peaceful in the suburbs of Enfield. Looking forward to a quiet night.

The Regents Canal

The Regents Canal runs from Little Venice near Paddington along the Northern edge of Regents Park and then on through Kings Cross and Camden to meet the Thames at Limehouse Basin.  Little Venice is a pretty stretch of tree lined canal with many boats moored on both sides. 

After Little Venice the canal disappears briefly into the short (272 yd) Maida Hill tunnel after which it shortly enters Regents Park.

The canal side cottages are rather more grand in this very sought after area of the capital. There are several splendid residences on the right bank before they give way to the London Zoo.

After leaving the park the canal meanders around the north side of Kings Cross and St Pancras stations before heading to Camden lock, famed for its market.  Having visited the area often on foot, one of my favourite spots in London, I enjoyed arriving ob the water at last.

Beyond Camden the canal becomes largely urban as it is edged by large office or housing blocks which rather limit the view.  It opens up again as it passes beside Victoria Park and then quickly defends through the last of the 12 locks to arrive in the large Limehouse basin. The basin gives access to the Thames and there are several large seagoing  vessels moored in the marina.

I navigated around these with care as I wish to retain my no claims discount.  I was pleased I had made a recce visit on foot as there is no indication from the water as to where the visitor moorings are. I soon found a suitable slot and moored up for the night.  The moorings are limited to 24 hrs so I shall have to move on tomorrow. I plan to head up the Limehouse cut and explore the canal which loops around the Olympic park before joining the rivers Lee and Stort and heading up to Hertford and Bishops Stortford.

And finally to London

After another peaceful evening in the countryside I set off on Sunday morning down the final three locks on my way to the capital.  The first being the aptly named Denham Deep look which at 11 ft somewhat dwarfed Mr Bunbury.

The Grand Union canal continues south to Brentford where it join the Thames but I turned off onto the Paddington arm which, as the name suggests, links the GU to Paddington and joins the Regents Canal at Little Venice.  The canal becomes more urban as it approaches the city, sadly it also became extremely cluttered with rubbish, the majority being plastic bags ranging from sweet packets to bin liners.  They are a pain as they get wrapped around the propeller and need to be removed by hand. The boat is equipped with a "weed hatch" which is basically a removable plate to allow access to the prop from within the boat.  I had three trips into the weed hatch during the day. Not pleasant.  I later found out that this is an annual phenomenon known as "The Churn". Apparently, the warm spring weather heats the water and releases methane gas from the rotting vegetation on the canal bottom which then causes the rubbish which has accumulated and sunk over the winter months to float to the surface.  After a few weeks the gas has been released and the rubbish once again sinks to the bottom.

On a brighter note the local bird population is supplemented by ring necked parakeets which are the only naturalised parrot in the UK. Although they brighten the area they do make a lot of noise.

By early afternoon I reached my destination of Paddington basin and managed to find a mooring next to the station.  After the peace and quiet of the last two moorings it seems strange to be next to a main London station, surrounded by tall buildings with hundreds of people passing by rather than the the odd jogger or dog walker.