There and Back Again - Regent's Canal

After spending a few days in Paddington Basin opposite the ingenious rolling bridge and was joined by my eldest son at the weekend for Father's Day.  Having been moored in the shade of St Mary's hospital I hadn't realised just how hot it was in the sun and decided to cruise across the Regent's canal to Limehouse Basin.

Rolling Bridge Merchant Square

The first few miles of the canal are the best as it leaves Little Venice and meanders through Regents's Park to Camden.  Both pretty and lock free.

Regents Park

Beyond Camden the canal drops through 12 locks over the remaining 10 miles to Limehouse.  Sadly the visitors moorings along the canal are fully taken by London boaters who just shuffle up and down the canal making it very difficult for visiting boats to moor. 

Leaving Camden Lock

 Limehouse Basin is where the canal meets the tidal Thames and home to a marina.  A quick look at their website showed that mooring my boat there would cost £10,000 per year - supply and demand.

Sunset over Limehouse

After spending Saturday evening at Limehouse we decided to have a short cruise up the Lee Navigation and take a lap around the loop which surrounds the Olympic Park.  The route passes close by the main stadium and the Orbit tower.

Main Stadium - Now home to West Ham

The Orbit

 Steve was a volunteer at the 2012 Olympics and, being an IT expert, worked in the media centre helping ensure the media remained connected to the sports and of course their papers.

The Olympic Media Centre

 Leaving the park and rejoining the Lee at old ford lock we headed upstream a few miles to find a mooring.  Progress was slow due to the covering of weed which tends to get wrapped around the propeller.

Weed on the Lee Navigation

Sunday evening we walked back through the park to the westfield centre for dinner.  After a couple of cooling drinks in The Cow pub we chose the Real Greek restaurant and enjoyed a very pleasant meal.

After spending a couple of nights on the Lee I filled up with diesel and made the return journey to Paddington Basin where I'm currently moored up awaiting the end of the heatwave this morning.  Next I'll make my way back on to the Grand Union and begin the journey north.

London

So I've spent the last few days making my way from Kingston upon Thames into the city joining the tidal Thames at the famous Teddington Locks.  This is the barge lock which at 650 ft long is only used when it's very busy.  As it takes an age to fill and empty.

I was directed into the the more normal sized launch lock which, thanks to Monty Python, is the home of fish slapping.  The video is available on Youtube and shows the content taking place in front of this small hut which now bears a blue plaque to commemorate the event.

I chose to take the easy route so only followed the tidal thames for around 4 miles before turning off at Brentford to join the Grand Union canal.  Just above Richmond stand the impressive Star and Garter house - sadly now sold and converted to apartments.

After a night in Brentford, one is enough, I made my way up the Hanwell lock flight along with another boater which shared the workload.  This is one of of my least favourite lengths of canal as it is shallow and fairly stagnant which results in a lot of methane being generated by the rotting vegetation on the bottom.  This is released as the propeller stirs the water resulting in an rather unpleasant aroma.  After clearing the flight it was just a few miles to Bulls Bridge junction where the Paddington arm branches east into the city for the final 12 miles into Little Venice and Paddington Basin.

Little Venice is a a largish triangle of water where the Paddington arm joins the Regents canal.

And just beyond is Paddington Basin, somewhat dwarfed by the tall blocks of Merchant Square on the left and St Mary's hospital on the right, where Alexander Fleming discovered Penicillin.

This will be home for the next week and I'm now looking forward to a visit from eldest at the weekend.

Windsor to Kingston upon Thames

Having spent a few days in Windsor I continued down the Thames through Chertsey, past Runnymede and Hampton Court Palace and am now moored up in Kingston-on-Thames.  Runnymede is of course famed for the signing of the Magna Carta, quite appropriate in Election week.  And also the John F Kennedy memorial. 

The rather splendid house boat "Astoria" dating from 1911 is moored in Hampton.  It was owned originally by the famous showman Fred Karno who used it to entertain guests including Charlie Chaplin.

It was bought by Pink Floyd guitarist Dave Gilmour in 1986 who converted into a recording studio because he spent half of his life in recording studios with no windows, no light, but ion the boat there are many windows, with beautiful scenery on the outside.

And now I'm preparing to tackle the tidal Thames through central London and looking forward to passing the houses of parliament and tower bridge.

The Thames - Oxford to Windsor

Well I'm very remiss in not updating the blog for over a month. In my defence the first two weeks I spent moored in Milton Keynes catching up with an old friend and doing a few maintenance jobs.  After that I headed back up the Grand Union to Braunston and then followed the Oxford canal to Oxford to join the mighty Thames.  I've covered this route before so didn't want to repeat myself although I will share a shot of my favourite lock cottage at Sommerton deep lock.

Rather than following the canal the last couple of miles into Oxford I joined the Thames via a short link canal called the Dukes Cut.  This joins the river above Kings lock and the river very quickly opens into a wide valley on the approach to Oxford.  The dreaming spires can just be seen on the horizon above the paddling horses - it was a very hot day.

On reaching the city the river splits into several streams and the main navigation wends it's way through around the city passing the well known pub "The Head of the River".

Below here the river opens into a wide straight length where the many Oxford collage boat houses are located and where, when I arrived, the annual "Bumps" races were taking place.  While I could have pushed through quickly between races I took the opportunity to moor for a few hours and watch the racing.  At around 62 ft a rowing 8 is longer than my boat.

Once the racing was over I continued a few miles down stream and moored just outside the city before heading down to Abingdon the following day. The sunset over a footbridge was particularly peaceful.

Abingdon offers some of the best visitor moorings on the river.  Firstly they are free, always welcome, and are alongside a beautiful open park only a short walk from the town.  I spent a few days here visiting the old town and enjoying the rest after a few days at the tiller.

 I spent the last weekend cruising gently down the river through Goring and Pangbourne before stopping at a quiet spot above Henley-on Thames.

The next day I found a space in Henley and, after handing over my £10 mooring fee, explored the town.  Moving on I passed through Marlow before mooring in a pretty reach called Cliveden Deep.  The mooring offered a splendid view up river to Cliveden House, once home to Lord Astor and of course the place where the infamous Profumo affair began.  

On route I passed this lovely steam launch, complete with serenading guitarist on the stern.

Yesterday, having seen heavy rain and wind was forecast for a few days I cruised the few miles to Windsor where I know there are good moorings and so here I am safely tucked behind an island sheltered from the main river.  Unfortunately not sheltered from the rain and gale force winds but they will soon pass.