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.