Next week - Round the horn to St Ives

Over the last couple of weeks I retraced my journey back to Milton Keynes where I met up with Pete Billings in his boat Hyperion. We spent few days in MK before setting off up the Grand Union to Stoke Bruerne where we stopped overnight and enjoyed a rather good take away from the local Indian, the Spice of Bruerne.

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Pete with his dog Newfie setting off after a short break on the GU

Hyperion and Mr Bunbury at Gayton junction where we parted company as Pete continued up the GU to his marina while I headed down the Northampton Arm to join the river Nene.

After leaving Pete I had a steady run down the river, stopping for a couple of days at Oundle before reaching Peterborough on Friday. I've spent the weekend catching up with my eldest son and doing a few little jobs on the boat although to be honest it's been too hot to do much.

I'm booked through Stanground lock in the morning and will head across the Middle Levels and should be ready to pass through the Denver lock and into the Gt Ouse on Wednesday. A few more days gentle cruise up the river should see me in St Ives by next weekend. I then plan to spend a few weeks on the river between St Ives and Bedford and anyone in the area is very welcome to pop in to say hello.

Tring the summit of the Grand Union

Saturday morning started off with light rain which was forecast to clear by mid morning which it did. I headed up the canal towards Berkhamstead, only 5 miles away but with 12 locks to climb the trip would take 4 or 5 hours. After the first lock I met up with another boat heading the same way and we shared the locks thus sharing the workload.  Shortly after departing the sky clouded over and a heavy shower ensured I was soaked although at least the rain was warm. Contrary to the forecast the showers continued through the day making the journey damp but not unpleasantly so. The trip was fairly uneventful apart from passing this moored boat which I initially thought had been involved in an unusual accident until I realised that somebody has actually attached a car body to their boat as a cabin extension.  There are some unusual DIY alterations to boats but this is the most extreme I've seen so far.

We arrived in Berkhamstead mid afternoon, just in time for the rain to stop and the sun to reappear.  A quick visit to Waitrose ensured the larder and fridge were restocked ready for the next few days and I passed the early evening fishing - or at least dangling a fishing line in the canal but the fish weren't playing.  I realised that the mooring was close to the main west coat rail track with high speed trains passing frequently and nosily. Thankfully the rail traffic eased by midnight.  After an early start courtesy of the 5:10 to Paddington I decided that it was time to relocate to a quieter mooring. After an excellent, if not entirely healthy, breakfast in a local cafe I set off on the final stretch of 7 miles and 7 locks to reach the Tring summit and a quiet mooring at the end of the short Wendover Arm.

After reaching the summit at Cowroast I was treated to a 3 miles of tranquil treelined lock free canal before making the turn onto the Wendover Arm.

This arm was originally 5 miles long and led, not surprisingly, to Wendover.  Like many canals it fell into disrepair and is currently being restored by volunteers as and when funding is raised. Only the first 1.5 miles is currently open to navigation but it worth the detour. I found a spot at the very end of the canal with a stunning view over the Chiltern hills.

Reaching the Tring summit marks the end of the uphill locks although there are plenty on the down hill journey to Milton Keynes starting with a group of 7 in the first mile - that challenge will wait for a day or two while enjoy the peace and quiet. Who knows I might even get on with some much needed retouching of the paintwork.

Beginning the journey north

Time for a long overdue blog update.  After a brief shore leave I returned to Mr Bunbury at Hampton Court on 27 Jun when my brother ended his short break aboard.  As ever Dave took good care of her and I had lunch with the family before they hit the road back to the Isle of Man. During a brief shopping trip found a lovely two bottle tantalus in  local antique shop at the right price, for some reason these are usually very overpriced.  My shipmate Harley Bear was not impressed.

After seeing Dave on his way I had a short cruise down the river to Kingston to stock up the larder before heading through Teddington lock on Saturday and back onto the Grand Union Canal. On Sunday I moved onto the Paddington Arm and moored up near the infamous Wormwood Scrubs before heading on to Paddington on Monday. This is a lovely well maintained mooring next to Paddington Station and thus very handy for the city. 

Paddington Basin

Whilst walking along Praed Street I spotted a Tattooist's shop and having been thinking about getting a tattoo for a few months I decided to investigate.  The place turned out to be the Duda Tattoo studio, run by a Brazilian family who have worked in New York and Milan before moving to London this year. After chatting with the owner and checking out his previous work, I when ahead and after a couple of hours I left with a slightly sore arm carrying the phrase "Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think". The title of one of my favourite songs by Jools Holland's big band and my mantra for life.

Having already spent time in London I spent the rest of the week cruising steadily back up the Grand Union canal and arrived today in Berkhamstead. This stretch begins the climb up the Chilterns and has many locks. The pst couple of days have been very hot and on Friday I covered only 5 miles but they included 12 locks. Today was even worse with 12 locks in only 4 miles but it was much cooled today with a few showers to keep me cool.  

Shortly after leaving Paddington I passed this beautiful maintained canal side garden with a row of conifers and decorated wall. A little oasis in the busy city.

The weeks journey passed through some peaceful countryside including Cassiopia Park near Watford and just further north Grove park. The weather was very hot and sunny so the shade of the trees was very welcome.

I plan to spend the weekend in Berkhamstead before continuing north towards Milton Keynes next week.  I gave the engine an early oil change this morning after only 50 hrs. Always wise after a rebuild.