Wind, Rain, Sunshine & Excitement

Saturday 16th May

We managed to get our favourite mooring opposite the 4th Green at The Grove with Aria & Teezy.  Karen & I spent the afternoon sitting on the roof of Aria, with Pimms & Pringles, in the sunshine while the rest of them watched the golf.

Aria, Aylmer & Teezy at The Grove

The following afternoon all six of us took a walk up to The Grove and after a walk round the extensive landscaped grounds, retired to the golf club terrace for drinks in the sunshine.

Teresa, Jan & Karen on the terrace

The following day Monday started off very wet so we had a late start travelling to Boxmoor where we ended up mooring on our own as too shallow & windy for us to get in with the others. We dined alone at the Seattle Steak House where we could see Aylmer  across the cricket ground through the window. If you look carefully you can just see her to the right of the flash light. It was a lot clearer with the naked eye.  Fabulous steaks!

from the Seattle Steak House

We then had a couple of windy & rainy days travelling along the Grand Union and climbing to the Chilterns.  We moored on our own, in a very isolated spot, between the Ivinghoe Locks, overlooking the beautiful Dunstable Downs, where we could clearly see the Chalk Lion, carved out of the escarpment in 1933 to advertise Whipsnade Zoo. 

The white splodge just right of centre is the Whipsnade  Lion

We left the others behind as Tony was on a mission to get to Soulbury Three Locks, near Leighton Buzzard, where he had been promised a game of golf if he could get there for Thursday.  On the way we shared locks with a party of nine Bell Ringers (ringing their way at many churches along the Grand Union) and Margaret & Paul on Pussers Rum out of our home marina at Hallingbury.

Sharing Grove lock with the Bell Ringers

Pussers Rum pulling out of the lock ahead of us.

We made Soulbury Three locks in time for Tony to have an afternoon game of golf with Mark and the game was halved (a draw for the non golfers amongst you). Later we joined Mark & Malou for an enjoyable evening at the Three Locks pub. What a wonderful end to a lovely day.

Jan, Malou & Mark at Three Locks  pub.

We managed to stop the Fuel Barge before we left Soulbury & filled up with diesel at 72p a litre.  They often travel like this, two barges roped together facing opposite ways.  One is the fuel carrier the other the living quarters.

Fuel Barge.

The next highlight, for me anyway, was Fenny Stratford.  We had decided to stop here to wait for the other two boats to catch us up.  We wandered up into the village & found a nice little pub, the Bull & Butcher, which did a great fish & chips for two for £9.95.  Great value.  Taking a different route back to the boat I spotted a Patchwork & Craft shop.  Needless to say Tony opted to return to the boat leaving me to browse the treasures inside on my own.  To my delight I found they were running a workshop the next morning on Free Motion stitching, something I have only recently started to learn, so I signed up.

It was a brilliant workshop, taught by owner Sally, who has a very relaxed and informal style which suited my holiday mood perfectly.  Sally started by telling us not to expect anything pretty at the end of it as we would only be doodling, but I'm quite proud of my doodles which I'm sure my crafting friends will be interested in.  The best bit about this experience is that I discovered the new marina we will be mooring the boat at after our summer trip, is only 40 minutes from the shop (www.threadsandpatches.co.uk ), so I will be able to go back to this Aladdin's cave in the future :). So excited!

Free Motion Quilting doodles by Jan Adams

 Saturday 23rd May

2015 Summer Journey on the Waterways

Saturday 9th May

It was with mixed feelings that we left Hallingbury Marina on Saturday.  Excitement at setting off on this years summer jaunt and sadness at leaving the marina which has been home to Aylmer since we bought her back in 2011.  After our summer journey we will be mooring her in the Midlands, giving us new cruising opportunities.

We joined friends Tony & Teresa on nb Teezy and Martin & Karen on nb Aria who are to be our travelling companions for the summer.

Tony A, Teresa, Karen, Martin & Tony G

On Monday we took a short walk along the towpath, from our mooring at Waltham Common Lock, to the Lee Valley White Water Centre. We spent a pleasant hour or so sitting on the terrace with coffee & watching the German canoe team practising the slalom course.

Teresa,Karen, Jan.

We couldn't resist the podium!

Sav, Martin, Tony G, Tony A, Jan, Teresa, Karen & Briony

Tuesday afternoon we arrived in Limehouse and that evening went to The Grapes, a lovely old pub right on the river (literally, the waves lap against the cellar when the tide is up!). Sadly it's illustrious owner was not about. Briony, Martin & Karen's daughter, & her partner Sav joined us for a very enjoyable evening.

The following morning Mitch & Sarah joined us for a very sunny day through London on the Grand Union & Regents canals.

We made them work!

Hi!

London can always be relied on for the weird, wonderful & simply BIZARRE!

After leaving Mitch & Sarah at Paddington Basin we set off to meet Aria & Teezy again on the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union.

 These poor cormorants were waiting to be rescued by CRT (Canal & River Trust) after their feathers got clogged with oil. Apparently some moron had emptied gallons of used cooking oil down a road surface drain that fed into the canal. CRT had already spent two days syphoning off the oil & rescuing birds.

Aylmer & Aria at Bulls Bridge

 Thursday was a very wet & windy day but because of the oil spill we decided to make a move to the junction where the Paddington Arm meets the Grand Union proper at Bulls Bridge. There is a very convenient Tesco here with 24 hour mooring where we were able to stock up with supplies.

The 'Ricky' (Rickmansworth) Festival

On Friday we set off in mixed weather. Lovely when the sun was out but quite nippy when it clouded over. We had a long slow journey through the 'Ricky' Festival site. About 150 boats were already moored, some 3 & 4 abreast, ready for the festival which started on Saturday.

We managed to find a reasonable mooring just above Common Moor Lock where we were pleased to stop after a very long day.

We passed this boat last year. At that time the car was just sitting on the back, how strange we thought!   It has now been welded on. Not sure it looks any better or what the point of it is. Does the car steering wheel steer the boat? Love to know WHY!

Friday 15th May

The homeward journey

Tuesday 9th September

We soon turned onto the Paddington Arm & had an uneventful journey down to Little Venice where we turned into Paddington Basin & were lucky enough to find a good mooring.

Mooring in Paddington Basin

We stayed a couple of days in Paddington & had a great time doing the touristy things and meeting up with Mitch & Sarah for a pub crawl around Soho.  The last night we were rudely awakened at 3am to find the boat had been set adrift by some inconsiderate reveller & we had to haul it back to our mooring in our PJ,s!

We left Paddington and set off down the Regents Canal to Lime House.  A quite depressing journey with miles & miles of double & triple moored, scruffy 'liveabourds',  We spent a night in Limehouse and had a pleasant meal at the clubhouse setting off to Waltham Abbey. Martin & Karen, from nb Aria (our companions from the beginning of our journey) cycled out to meet us at Enfield Lock and helped lock us through to Waltham Abbey. We moored overnight and had a great evening with Martin & Karen at Spice.

Next day Tony & Teresa, other friends from our marina, walked along the towpath to meet us at Fields Weir just before we turned onto the River Stort & travelled with us to Hunsden Mead where they had moored their boat. We all walked into Royden for a meal at The Crusader.

The following morning was bright and sunny, if a bit breez,y for our last day on this jouney & we travelled in company with Tony & Teresa back to Little Hallingbury Mill.  Nice to be home but what an incredible journey - 753 miles and 513 engine hours.  Can't wait until next summer.

Sunday 14th September 2014

Left speechless

Monday 1st September

Berkhamsted was a pleasant surprise. We managed to moor up opposite a park and only a couple of minutes walk from the High St.  A high street full of independent shops, including a very good old fashioned hadware shop stocked from floor to ceiling (literally) with all sorts of nuts & bolts, hooks & handles, washers and widgets & tools, infact everything a DIY'er could possibly need.  Tony was fascinated. In the evening we had a very nice meal in The Thai Cottage.

You do see some strange sights on the canals.  This one has left me speechless!

Approaching Watford, just below Lady Capel's Lock is this cute little whitewashed turnover bridge where the towpath changes from one side of the canal to the other. Leading us to......

one of Tony's favourite spots, opposite the par3 at the Grove.  He sat here for a whole day with a glass of wine (or two) and his fishing rod, watching the golfers. Bliss!

And he did actually catch a fish.

Having negotiated Iron Bridge Lock  we moored up & had a walk through Cassiobury Park, collecting conkers to ward off the spiders.

Between Cassiobury Park and Croxley Green CRT are carrying out towpath improvements and at Common Moor Lock the numptys have used the lock mooring for their work boats, making it very difficult for boaters to access the locks!  Speechless again!

They say the waterways are like a linear village, you meet the same boats but in different places.  We met up with Rambling Rose at Rickmansworth, who also moor at Hallingbury Mill,  also on their way home.

An odd but ingenious floating dry dock near Uxbridge. The barge is sunk & the back dropped down so the boat can float in, then the water is drained out so the whole thing floats & hey presto - a DRY DOCK!

Jan, Tony, Paul & Denise

On Sunday 7th September Denise & Paul, friends from the Thatchers, met us for a  day out on the boat.

Paul turned out to be a great Helmsman and did the whole of the return journey bringing us safely back to our mooring in Uxbridge where we all retired to the Swan & Bottle for a late lunch.  A great day guys, thank you. x

Sunday 7th September

Northants, Beds & Bucks

We returned to the boat on Sunday 24th August after I had spent a week with Mum whilst she was recuperating from her hip op.  Although it was a serious business helping her to manage with reduced mobility and sorting out the endless appointments & medication she needed, I have to say there were a few funny moments,  Like when I attended Mum's lunch club & got told off for helping to clear away the plates as I might bump into somebody & cause an accident.  I was the youngest by at least 20 years and am steady on my feet (well at least before I've had a tot).  Also when Mum telephoned me when I'd gone to the local shop because she'd remembered what else she'd needed.    " What's that Mum, I'm still in the shop" I said.  "I've forgotten" said Mum.  I laughed out loud, startling the poor lady in the shop.  Luckily Mum saw the funny side too.  Anyway I'm pleased to report that she is doing great and has progressed to a walking stick and is managing on her own with occasional visits from the family.

Sunday we reloaded the boat, filled her with water & fuel and generally sorted ourselves out.  Monday it poured with rain so we stayed put at Crick & set off Tuesday morning along the Grand Union Leicester section.

Waiting under the M1

As we arrived at the Watford locks it appeared everybody had done the same and we joined a queue of 10 other boats! 

Watford Flight (Northamptonshire)

 Luckily there were some very helpful volunteers to speed up the process.

Soon after turning off onto The Grand Union proper at Norton Junction, Blissworth Tunnel came into view.  The third longest navigable tunnel in Britain, 3076 yards long and it takes 30 - 40 minutes to pass through.  

Inside Blissworth Tunnel (the plants in the foreground are on the front of our boat)

Very eerie, especially when you pass another boat.

Leaving the tunnel. It took 12 years to build, being opened in March 1805.  No machinery to do the job in those days.  Once opened the boats had to be 'legged' through and as there was no towpath through the tunnel for the horses, they had to be walked over the top.

Next stop Stoke Bruerne where we met up with Dave & Grace who had driven over from Ely to spend the day with us. 

 After a satisfying lunch in The Boat we retired to Aylmer for drinks in the sunshine.

Another interesting tunnel is to be found at Cosgrove, although this one runs under the canal.  It was built 250 years ago to get the horses, which towed the boats, from the towpath side to the stables at the Barley Mow pub on the opposite bank. It's hard to believe horses managed to get through such a small space!

The Iron Trunk Aqueduct, built in 1811 as the fourth attempt to carry the Grand Union Canal 35 feet above the river Ouse. https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/directory/47/iron-trunk-aqueduct .

Thought I'd seen it all.  Complete with rabbit hutches!

At Soulby Locks we met up with Mick, Val & Marley on nb Gorse and travelled together for a couple of days.

Val, my locking partner, made it so much more fun.

Marley pays a visit

We stopped overnight at Slapton Locks, near to Cheddington where in 1963 the Great Train Robbery was carried out. 

We passed through some beautiful Buckingham countryside.

And saw a rainbow over Bedfordshire.

We said goodbye to Mick & Val at Cooks Wharf and continued on to Marsworth where we moored for the night and looked out at this glorious view from the rear deck.  A beautiful end to another week in paradise :)

Sunday 31st August 2014

679 miles - 441 locks