Waterscape miss the news?

Waterways News Snippits

• Canary wins battle for £2bn project

Waterscape… “Waterscape Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of British Waterways..”

Why do BW not report this on their sites I wonder to myself.  A most important piece of news.  A huge income to come their way.. “The project is by far the biggest ever undertaken by British Waterways”  I would have thought it would have been plastered all over Waterscape!

Maybe it’s because out of this multi billion pound venture, all WE the boaters are getting is a “canal link to a basin”…. oh you have to laugh really don’t you!

I wonder… or should I dare go up that link…  if the link actually linked to another waterway, but somehow I guess it will be into a place full of expensive boats paying expensive mooring fees to BW… Corr they got it made… they will even make money on the link!!

Hemel Hempstead to Cassiobury Park

Today – M25 to Cassiobury Park Watford, Grand Union Canal, 3 miles 7 locks
Yesterday – Apsley to M25, Grand Union Canal, 3.5 miles 5 locks

No internet connection yesterday evening although we were in sight of the M25 by the time we had moored.  The wind was in the north, the M25 to the south of us was quiet to the ear

I enjoyed the run yesterday, although it was raining on and off most of the day.  The new buildings on the outskirts of Hemel Hempstead as we left the town were really very nice indeed, and I do hope that other canalside developments will end up something like this.  It felt safe, there were no gangs of youths charging up and down the towpath intimidating the boaters.  Well with this sort of development, I doubt the yobbo element would be tolerated.

Nash Mills just round the corner was also newly developed, a nice marina round yet more new architectural dwellings fit for those able to pay for a ‘watery’ outlook to their life.

We managed to pick up some ‘ballast from Homebase yesterday morning.. Cotswold Stone!… well that’s what it said, but more likely to be Cotswold faced concrete blocks!  Well anyway they weighed about 25 kilos each… same as a bag of coal.  They were 18 ins long,  and 6 ins tall and the same broad.  Just the right size to fit on the right hand side of the front locker.  The reason I have given so much information is because these were priced at just £1.00 each… hey you boaters this has got to be the cheapest ballast available!

So today then…

Under the M25 we went, so we are now in the grips of London.  In the first days of the M25 I remember mobile phone charges cost more if you were within the ‘inner circle’ of that dreaded road.  Remembering if ever I was travelling into the circle I used to get all my phone calls out the way before getting on the ring!  It was a weird feeling going under it… was thinking inner urban city, fouled props, dead fish, rubbish, mattresses, yobs, etc. 

Well none of that so far, in fact moored here tonight in Cassiobury Park near Watford I have to say that this is one of the nicest moorings on the system.  And considering we are about a quarter mile from the London Underground I am amazed.

Ah the cupboard has been cleared and altered so the fridge can be moved tomorrow… Vic has already made some major changes.

Well done Liverpool Boats… all screws to undo and NO GLUE! 

Apsley Locks with new kitchen aboard!

The Fishery to Apsley Locks, Grand Union Canal, 2 miles 4 locks

It wasn’t far to B & Q, and I was glad because it was a horrid start to the day with heavy drizzle.  I moored on the opposite side to the wharf, as expected, due to the ‘continuous moorer cruisers’!

Didn’t need to go to the other side anyway.  B & Q Hemel Hempstead was the worst B & Q I have ever been in …. “No sorry we don’t cut kitchen tops” “No sorry we don’t have any of those cabinates, we can order them.. delivery errrrr 5 weeks” “No sorry we don’t have 2” x 1” planed batton”… sheeeeeesh!

OK, so plan B.  Homebase.

Homebase is a little further along just between the two locks that we needed to reach by Sunday.  A smashing mooring just a couple of minutes walk away.  Luckily there was a dumped trolly just by the mooring and we loaded the unused flooring bought from their shop in Leighton Buzzard and set off hoping to have better luck than an hour previously.

Bit different here!

“Yes of course we will cut your kitchen top into the sizes you want” “2”x1” batton, yes of course we have” “Yes no problem in a refund for the flooring” etc etc etc.

Biggest effort of the day was trying to steer the trolly back to NP with all the bits and pieces for the new fit out of the kitchen.  Why oh why in this day and age do we have to struggle and struggle with shopping trollies with wobbly wheels!

Anyway I am happy tonight, all the bits and pieces are here, all I have to hope for now is that I measured it up right…. my measurements you see, Vic does the building!

Hello Hemel Hempstead

Today – Bourne End to The Fishery, Grand Union Canal, 2 miles 6 locks
Yesterday – Cowroast to Bourne End, Grand Union Canal, 4 miles 11 locks

I didn’t put yesterdays run in, nor did I put in THE pic of the totem pole, so I have put both in now

Before moving this morning went for a stroll with Lucy, while waiting for the layer of ice on the canal to melt, and coming up the locks was a most interesting boat called “Tiger”.  Aboard, solo, was Andrew, and we started chatting at the lock he was working through.  I asked if he had a home mooring, and his comment was “No I am a continuous cruiser, and I do it properly”  This reminded me of a blog posting Andrew Denny at Granny Buttons back in November when he passed through the same place on his way to London for Christmas.

I enquired as to whether there were still boats moored outside B & Q, as I read in Andrew’s (Granny B) blog that there seemed to be a community of boats not too keen on moving. Andrew’s (Tiger) reply, “Ah you mean the ‘continuous moorer cruisers’ along there”   So they were still there, which sounded like we wouldn’t be able to moor to pick up the kitchen worktop.

Andrew (Tiger) has been living aboard his narrowboat for 10 years now, and obviously enjoys his life to the full.  Over the ten years he has amassed quite a collection of what I can only really describe as ‘stuff’ found mainly on the canal bed.  He showed me his collection of very old windlasses (keys that open lock paddles to let water into a lock), some must have been from the days of the working boatman for sure.

He was in good spirits although his dog had died a few days ago, a companion of 16 years, he says he might do a massive spring clean, blaming the dog on his laziness to keep absolutely shipshape!  Hopefully we will catch up with him again on our return trip and see him with a new rescue dog from the nearby dog home.

We found a load of timber near one of the locks, got the chain saw out and spent a good hour collecting and stacking wood for the next few weeks.  I was surprised to see so much lying around, especially with so many moored boats round here, but wood is going to be hard to come by me thinks as we get nearer the Capital.

After mooring this evening thought I would stroll down to B & Q and see if there is anyway we can stop there in the morning.  Sure enough the boats were still hogging all of the space outside.  But I think we can just about get the back end in as we pass under the bridge just before.  I will have to be careful not to get stuck on the motor bike and lawn mower that I saw laying on the canal bed close to that bridge!

 

The Berkhampstead Totem Pole

Many thanks to Brian who left a comment for me last night (all comments good or bad are gratefully received by the way  ) showing me a page about the Totem Pole.

Charles Brookson writes..

“I have a flat in Berkhamstead by the side of the Grand Union Canal (which is the canal route between London and Birmingham). You can also see it briefly from the train between Euston and the North of England. The land on which the flats are built used to be a wood yard, J Alsford Ltd., and it was they who put up the Totem Pole over 30 years ago.

Henry and Tony Hunt carved the Totem Pole in red cedar in the local tradition, and it was shipped across and erected on the site. The Totem Pole comes from Southern Kwakiutu in British Columbia, Canada.

It stands on land that is owned by the residents of the flats. We also own the Totem Pole !”

Having done a little research myself, I found this interesting snippet from Dacorum as well.

“The carving is a fertility symbol and legend has it that women wishing to conceive should visit and make three wishes for the child the dream of!”

Well there you go!!

Also noted on Charles Brookson’s site was this interesting bit..

“Passing boats are free to use the WiFi access point which is generally accessible from the opposite bank!It has been up for a few months and I have noticed a few people using it. Please send me an email if you find it useful.”

The email address given on the page is feedback@brookson.com.  Goodness, Charles is very lucky to have that .com name too!

That dreaded 0870 from a mobile

I have to thank my good friend Ron for pointing me in the direction of this site, and thought it might be useful for some…

Say No to 0870

Living 24/7 on the English canals can only mean one thing as far as phones are concerned and that is the mobile phone!  Luckily I do have one of those old Orange Everyday 50 tariffs, which I use on occasion to dial up to AOL during the evening for internet access (50 mins per day after 7pm or weekends is included in the tariff costing just £15 a month).  Of course you cant get that particular tariff now, but I am able to dial all these 0800, 0845, 0870 etc although only in the evenings.

I am delighted to have been shown this site, there is many a time during the day that I have needed to use 0870, and it costs a fortune!

Not any more though

And so to Berko

Lots of pubs here along the towpath too!

It was a much better day today, the wind had dropped thank goodness.  I was wondering why I was feeling a bit fed up yesterday, I thought that it was the weather, I don’t like the winter wind much, and it was bitterly cold too.  Not only that, but when I took Lucy for a walk about 4pm, I had only been gone a quarter hour when there was a biting blizzard while I was crossing an open field, I kept going though puffing my way up the hill. 

It was only later that I realised that none of this was making me feel a bit low… for sure it was THAT Monday.  It was all the fault of some part time tutor at Cardiff University who has devised the formula 1/8W+(D-d) 3/8xTQ MxNA which seemingly proves that just everybody felt the same as me yesterday!

Today though I felt great, and locking down through Berkhamstead was quite and very pleasurable.  A totem pole beside the canal was an unusual sight, I must find out why it is there.  A nice town that I have never been to before.  On the way back I will explore, but it’s on to Hemel asap, because when we get there I get my new kitchen fitted out after picking up the worktop at B & Q.

I see I have missed some comments on the blog this week, and I do apologise.  I will go back and answered those. There have been a lot of entries in the Guest Book too, and to you all thanks for all your kind comments.  In the next couple of days I will fetch a few to the blog itself.

I was sorry to miss meeting Richard, owner of Hagley of which I wrote a few days ago.  Apparently Richard was just crossing the bridge on the way to do a bit more ‘restoring Hagley’ while I was locking through Puttenham.

Oh Wendie, you must have one of these!

I nearly forgot about this from last night in the Grand Junction pub…

How about this then, it’s called a “Depth Charge”

I watched in amazement as the barman poured into a pint glass, a half pint of very strong cider and a half pint of the strongest lager he had, stood the pint glass on a beer towel, then poured a vodka into one of those ‘shot’ glasses, you know, those tiny glasses?  He then just dropped the vodka still in the glass into the pint glass!

Apparently it’s not good idea to have too many of those in one evening!

 

At Cowroast after great night out..

Bulbourne to Cowroast, Grand Union Canal, 2.5 miles 0 locks

It was cold last night as we headed into the north wind making for the Grand Junction Arms looking for a nice quiet evening.  As we got closer so the music got louder.. Ah, a live band.. Well we had a choice, back to the bar on NP or try and hear each other speak in the pub.  Well the music was quite good actually, it had a pop/jazz type sound to it.  In we went then.  It was packed!!  I thought I had my days mixed up, surely this wasn’t Sunday.. all pubs are suppose to be quiet on Sunday!

Pushing our way through the crowds we found there was a bar furthest away from the speakers round the corner, and it seemed to me that this was were all the boaters were.  You can tell boaters you know, well I can.  Anyway I must look like a boater because people always are saying to me “Off the boats then are you?”.  Maybe the giveaway is boaters muddy boots, certainly shows you didn’t just step out of the new Jag in the car park

The music was good, but even better was the chap (boater!) who started to play on the piano just by where we were standing at the bar.. within 2 minutes I realised that this was not just any old boater thumping the keys of the joanna, hey this guy was bloomin’ brilliant!  He had everyone singing in that part of the bar such favourites as ‘Roll out the Barrel’ ‘Two Little Boys’ ‘Whiskey in the Jar’ and many more I can’t think of now.. oh yes ‘Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner’  You know all those smashing songs, and oh boy didn’t he play them well.

So who was this guy?  I just had to find out and to my surprise it was Wild Willy Barrett!   Ha now I bet there are not many who read this that know who he is.  Ah but I did!

Wild Willy Barrett was partnered by Jon Otway back in the mid 70s, and after he had finished his stint on the piano, I went over to chat.  He is still touring now with a group called Sleeping Dogz and really enjoying himself.  His narrowboat is moored at Marsworth Junction, I remember seeing it there when we came through yesterday.

A very enjoyable unexpected evening we had, for sure we will be visiting again on our way back in March

Up early this morning, and I only just got dressed in time when Peter Hawker backed up Bletchley alongside NP to offload coal on to our roof and fill her diesel tank.

Peter was telling me that Archimedes and Ara have now been bought, and are still being used for the sale of coal and diesel, but I can’t for the life of me remember what the two names were of the people that had now bought them.  Well it was early, and it was a good night last night, so that is my excuse.  No doubt somebody will know, if you do please leave a comment for me… thanks

So on to Cowroast then, that Tring cutting is some engineering feat, cut into the chalk ridge of the Chilterns to save having to build a long 1 and half mile tunnel or a serious amount of locks. Here you can see part of the cutting as we pass Bletchley’s butty Argus.

Its maximum depth it is 30 feet, and here is the highest point of the Grand Union Canal, some 120 mtrs above the Thames.  One boat crossing this summit level will draw off 200,000 gallons of water!

We stopped at lunch time today, it was cold and snowing, the wind was blowing, not a very enjoyable day for boating.  We must make Apsey Locks by Sunday in Hemel Hempstead though, as they close on the 31st for a couple of weeks of maintenance. 

Crick Boat Show

Waterways News Snippits

• it's a sell out at crick

I see BW has managed to sell just about all of it’s exhibition space for this years show.  Just goes to show really how popular inland boating has become.  I am not keen on over crowdedness, always trying to moor in a quite space.  Mind you more times than not when I do that, it ends up an ‘Asdas Car Park’ with boats arriving and wanting to ‘herd’ with others!

So I don’t go to boat shows along the waterways.  I don’t want to walk miles along muddy towpaths, nor to be three deep moored across the cut (another name for the canal), not able to leave if I wanted to.

Mind you having said that, I do fancy one festival this year that was pointed out to me last night, more of which I will write in my daily blog later, and that is Saul Canal Festival, and in particular would very much enjoy the Folk on the Water Weekend.  However this is in July and Gloucestershire is a long way from the Middle Levels

 

Glorious trip through Marsworth

Back Jacks Lock, Aylesbury Arm to Bulbourne, Grand Union Canal, 1.5 miles 11 locks

There was ice on the canal this morning, but a simply glorious day, a clear blue sky and the sun doing it’s best first thing to melt frost and ice.  We were lucky too, BW had a man working checking the state of the pounds (stretch of water between locks). The pounds were down, and he let water through from the GU main line before we set off this morning.

Note to self: “Do a waterways glossary for all those odd waterways type words”

Nice pic today of the boats leaving their moorings on the way to Black Jacks, the first lock of the day.  I had to be very careful too with my footing, you can see the amount of frost and ice around the lock gates.

We had a late breakfast at Marsworth Junction while we waited for Moore 2 Life to fill with water before locking up together to the Tring Summit Level, the highest point on the Grand Union Canal.  There was lots of gongoozlers (folk who like to watch boats, but like even more to watch crews struggle with gates) out today, can’t blame them really, this certainly was the best day of the winter so far.  There were lots of children about, and where I could gave them a little information about locks, canals and bits of history in a language that only children can understand!  I let them push gates open and shut, and at one lock, Vic had disappeared, and there was I marshaling a couple of youngsters with the lock gate, when I looked up and saw Moore 2 Life leave through the gate on his side and NP wandering over to take up the vacant space!  Stranded I was, much to the amusement of all at the lock side!

On up to the Tring Summit Level then for the night.  Bletchley and Argus the coal and diesel boats arrived just after dark, and have moored up just in front of us.  Diesel is just 37p a litre, a good price, and Peter has some coal too, we are down to our last bag but one, and need a good fill of diesel, so that is handy, and will be our first job of the day tomorrow!

Just gonna post this blog quick now, off for a pint….. errrrrrr two half pints at the Grand Junction Arms just along from here…….. need to wrap up warm though

January Picture Album

There are new pictures in the Picture Albums for January 05, I have been working hard here and updated to present. 

Brrrrr Chilly start today heading to Marsworth

Broughton to Black Jack Lock, Aylesbury Arm GU Canal, 4.5 miles 9 locks

I was surprised the canal wasn’t iced over when I poked my head out this morning, it really was very chilly, a thick white frost making the ground slippy underfoot and the ropes unwilling to uncoil.

We left not long after 9am, and I could have done with a fog horn, visibility was very poor indeed, I was hoping that no boats were coming the other way.  Quite a few locks to do today, and Vic once again let me work my way through them on our way up from Aylesbury Vale.  Marsworth Locks on the Grand Union shut for maintenance on Monday for a week, and we need to make sure we are through those and on to the Tring summit by tomorrow night.

By 11am the fog had eventually cleared to leave warm winter sunshine once again, and it wasn’t long before I started to take outer layers off. Steadily working up through we passed the boatyard by Bridge 7 at Puttenham.  This boatyard is currently restoring old working boats, and spied there along with Hood was Hagley, the next but last butty to be built by Walkers of Rickmansworth for the Grand Union Canal Company in 1937.  Having spent most of her later years as a houseboat on the Basingstoke Canal she was rescued just in the nick of time in 1998, re-floated and immediately docked for essential repairs before the start of her restoration.  She was looking good today too :D

Just walked with Lucy to the Junction some half mile away, and see the pound (a stretch of water between locks) between the staircase locks at the top and the one below is desperately low.  For sure will need to steal some water from the main line and run it through the staircase by opening all the paddles before we make our way up there tomorrow.

I forgot to show you the new floor… here it is.  As you can see, we have some planks on the rug there to take back to Homebase when we pass.  I did say to them that it was almost impossible to work it out, they said take more than you need, bring back what you don’t use.. Just they are a bit of a pain laying in the living area there at the moment.

White stuff is falling here, well I suppose we are close to the summit level of the GU canal now, ice is something we definitely don’t want this weekend :D

 

 

I have a French Keyboard!

Thanks to the Anon poster making a comment on the last blog, I can now rephrase part of my last blog

"Anyway, Aylesbury ducks are nice sauté with apple slices, or served with a green peppercorn sauce..."

 

That Aylesbury Duck!

Aylesbury Basin to Broughton, Aylesbury Arm GU Canal, 1.5 miles, 3 locks

I am so pleased to have left Aylesbury for one main reason…… the first comment I got when I told enquirers where we are… “Ah, Aylesbury, seen the duck then? Hehe”

The joke wore quite thin with me in the end, realizing that we had spent far too many days there for too many people to ask us where we were. So I went looking for this famous duck with camera in hand, determined to find this quiet white bird whos name had been giving me earhol’ grief all week from my family and friends. Anyway, Aylesbury ducks are nice saute (can’t put the accent on the end ‘e’!) with apple slices, or served with a green peppercorn sauce, and according to this farm site can be purchased for £21.93 a kg.. WOW!

No wonder I couldn’t find any

I did find this handsome fella and a few more of his friends just the other side of the last bridge before the visitor moorings there. There were about 5 or 6 of the very pretty male ducks, and 3 or 4 females who had a more conventional duck look about them.

Mandarin ducks they are…… from Asia, wintering in Japan! I wondered if they had been on a world cruise that had gone wrong, or maybe Japan these days, is not only getting overcrowded with humans, but with ducks too! Ha, obviously escapees from some local breeding house. Still they looked happy enough in the cool weather, and I am sure were enjoying their freedom

Enough of ducks, this is suppose to be a blog of our travels! OK then, we travelled from the basin through three locks and tied up. End of travel log, because I have something else to tell you.

Bang, bang… oh no people with guns in the field opposite the towpath, it was dusk…. errrrr at £21.93 a kg I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised to hear the guns. I could hear ducks and geese calling out in a Buckinghamshire accent (you know, all ducks and geese have accents), was it the Aylesbury they were after for Sunday lunch or perhaps a goose! Well suddenly the boat roof was splattered with shot, ah ha, would that elusive Aylesbury Duck quickly follow and land slap on our roof?! Put the oven on Vic!! :D

Not on your life…… umm I wonder what it tastes like anyway :P

The day of the Cat at Aylesbury

Moored Aylesbury, Aylesbury Arm GU Canal

It’s always the same when looking after someone else's animals… I have only done that once before while the owner went on holiday.  He had nobody to look after his dog, and his dog just hated kennels.  So your’s truly offered to look after him.

He got out!  He got hit by a car! And he died!

… and it was another two days before my friend returned from his holiday.  It was a long time ago now, but I had reason to remember that today.

Having been given the responsibility of looking after Chas and Ann’s mutt Molly and moggy Tara, everything was fine until yesterday evening.  I went to their boat Moore 2 Life to feed Tara, and came out to empty the litter tray pushing the doors across as I did so she wouldn’t escape… only to return and find that I had left the keys INSIDE the boat!

Their boat is very secure, and we couldn’t manage to get in at all.  If only Ann had left one of the windows open on the non-towpath side just a smidge, I could have got the boat hook through and hook the keys from the kitchen top.  I have heard stories about cats that have been locked in garden sheds for days on end without food and water and survived.  Tara had food and water, and some extra dried food as well as some tinned stuff I had just given her.

Chas and Ann were due back within 24 hours, I decided that she would be OK hopefully.  All I had to do was to visit very often telling her what a good cat she was, and how horrible I was that I wasn’t even coming in to tell her that, and to tell her that she wasn’t being fed.

In the mean time I had to find out from Chas and Ann if they had the spare set of keys with them without alarming them of the situation… you know what it’s like, something happens, you worry and hurry home.  Well it wasn’t life or death situation yet!

“Err hello Ann, erm do you have your spare set of keys with you because we might go out this afternoon if you have”  I was praying she would say yes…. Vic and crowbar breaking into their boat might not have gone down too well with the other boaters here!  Where is the nearest locksmith?  Do the AA come to call outs to narrowboats?

“Yes I have them here Sue”  Phewwwwwwwww

All was fine this morning, there she was on her little cushion by Annie’s chair, and again an hour later, but then horror!  I couldn’t see her.  She wasn’t on her cushion nor on the blanket on the bed, not on any of the chairs, not in the loo, just nowhere to be seen..  I called and even promised her double feed later in the day… nope she was having nothing of it!

Now I started to panic…. It was at this point I remembered what happened to my friend’s dog all those years ago, I felt sure she was dead.  Either that or she had escaped.  “She can’t have escaped Sue, we can’t even get in there!” from helpful Vic.

Went back every 10 minutes looking, nope, nowhere, just flippin' nowhere!

I sent Vic to look, maybe she just hated me too much now.  Can’t really blame her to be honest.  He saw her! .  As he looked in the back window, she just poked her head out of  her little basket thingy that Ann tells me she never uses… It was no more than a poke either… just a quick look to see who was at the window and she disappeared back in again.. so phewwwwww again!!

Well Ann and Chas arrived back safely, and I blurted out all that had happened, thinking that they would be disappointed in my stupidness… but it was all smiles….

Oh and Tara?

She got tons and tons of fuss and a huge bowl of kitty food, she was quite happy!!

Aylesbury Basin

15th Jan – Buckland Lock to Aylesbury, Aylesbury Arm GU Canal, 3.5 miles 5 locks
16th-18th Jan – Moored Aylesbury

Our trip on Saturday through very remote countryside was lovely.  The canal is really quite narrow in places, and for sure it was important to keep to the centre of the channel for fear of going aground.  This part of the canal reminded me so much of the Selby Canal which has been my most favourite over the last year.

The sun shone most of the day on Saturday, and it really was quite warm.  One of those ‘Ah but remember that day back in Jan” when we moan and groan about the awful winter weather.  I will have to return to this blog to take another look at the pic above!!

Pulled in at Tescos to pick up some milk and bread before dropping down the final lock to the basin.  Such a pity that there were a few floating ‘things’ that sort of resembled boats moored outside Tesco.  Looks like they are there for the winter to me…. anyway they don’t look as if they are capable of floating very far!

Very busy along the moorings on the short stretch to the basin.  There was enough room by the water point to get in, but decided to go to the top and see if there was anywhere else.  Nope!  Only just managed to turn NP without hitting any moored boats, Vic fending off the front and me off the back rather pushing and pulling her round instead of engine power.

Chas and Ann have gone off to see their new grandson, born only just last week, they are due back tomorrow.  In the mean time I have been strolling round the town.  Lots of sirens here all the time, and one or two problems with groups of youths walking the towpath and banging on boats etc, you know, that mischievous stuff, nothing serious.  Went to the market today… but was disappointed, it was just about the worst market I have come across, and before I upset any that live in Aylesbury, just an opinion, no doubt you just might feel the same as me though!

Having said that, oh such a friendly bunch of boaters here… even a welcome boat with a big “Welcome Boat” sign prominently placed on the top.  I was told that a mooring will always be found here for any visiting boat, but expect to be doubled up if its busy like above. 

Oh the bakery just by the end of the wharf, next to the Ship pub looks as though it has gone   Passing there today, it looked abandoned, although the sign on the door is still there with all the opening times… Umm maybe they have gone ski-ing for a week or two!!

We are here I think for a couple more days… laundrette for me tomorrow… won’t have to do that for much longer, my new Candy has arrived at my daughter’s house, and we should get that at the beginning of February.

 

The start of the drop to Aylesbury

Marsworth Junction to Buckland Lock, Aylesbury Arm GU Canal, 2.5 miles 11 locks

A quick walk this morning with Lucy flexing my muscles ready for a busy day.  I was excited… Vic was going to let me do ALL the locks today. Would I remember how to wind up a paddle!  And would Vic remember that to turn right you have to put the tiller to the left!

It has been a long time since Vic has let me do any locks,  he much prefers to do them himself leaving me to the tiller. Anyway it’s about time Vic got a bit of tiller practice… umm

Well Vic made the corner OK from Marsworth Junction, and neatly put NP into the first of the paired staircase locks.  Great start, but I found the paddle to empty the water from the top lock into the bottom very heavy indeed, and I wondered if I had made a stupid mistake to ask if I could do the locks today.  Surely the not often used Aylesbury Canal Arm would not be THIS bad all the way down

I needn’t have worried, it was quite light work, and very enjoyable as I went from one lock to the next on foot.  And with names such as Black Jack Lock and Gudgeon Stream Lock it was sheer delight. Also to do some narrow locks after having been so long on the wide Grand Union Canal locks was a very pleasant change.

It was quite shallow in places, but luckily NP has a shallow draft, something we are going to need when the weather gets warmer and we try the drains and byways on the fenlands in the summer.  I was amazed at the size of the fish, the water was quite clear.  I decided that when we moored I would have a go at getting myself a good sized fish!

Well there were plenty of fishermen on the banks, and not one of them was unhappy about our passing by.  A very friendly lot indeed which does make a change, sometimes the fishermen can be quite miserable with boats passing.  I was chatting with one guy who was fishing just below a lock I was working through, and telling him that I was being allowed to do the locks today for the first time for months, he had a wry smile, then as Vic left that lock and passed him his comment was “That’s the way to train ‘em mate”

Here is Gudgeon Stream Lock, we stopped for a cuppa and a bite to eat.  Not for too long though because the signs on most of the locks tell us to empty them after use and leave the bottom paddles open.  The reason given was that the lock walls were leaking!!  I wondered just how big the holes were, so drunk my tea sharpish worrying that all the water would drain out of the pound!

Moored at Buckland Lock.  There was a nice gap in the trees for the satellite to find our dish over the valley, but not only that, there was a nice hard edge to moor to at this point too.  The fishing rod came out shortly afterwards…. but all those lovely fish I saw earlier did not follow us down.

So 11 locks for me today, and I really enjoyed it.  Took 2 hours and 15 minutes, not bad for a rooky!

 

 

On today to Maffers

Ivinghoe to Marsworth, Grand Union Canal, 2.25 miles, 5 locks

Late morning start, well I was tired after yesterdays venture to the capital.  Ivinghoe was nice to be honest, very quiet although there were lots of boats on both sides of the canal.  I do have to say a big thankyou to the young boater who whenever he passed us in his car along the widened towpath there, always gave a thought to stop and ask if there was anything we needed in the village, which was over a mile away.  Last night too, before I got back he stopped purposely and asked Vic if he would like a fish supper brought up from the village.  You see the fish and chip van arrived just the one night a week!  Mind you when he said “village” I am not sure if he meant Ivinghoe or Cheddington, silly of me, I should have asked!  It was certainly nice to come to an area that is obviously populated by many static boats and be made most welcome.. thanks

A beautiful day as you can see as we make our way through the Seabrook Flight of three locks.  In the fields on the far side watched a barn owl hunting the other evening while taking the mutts for a walk.  Such a wonderful bird, and even though it was quite windy the control the owl had was quite incredible with such a huge wingspan.  The owl was in hover mode for long periods before dropping down.  Very unlike a hawk who has a definite swoop.

I very nearly fell in at this lock, I went to get off the boat to take this pic, but went aboard again to put NP a little further forward in the lock.  As I stepped off the lockside I stood on a hollow piece and very very nearly fell between the boat and the lock wall. Two boats in the lock don’t quite fill it up sideways, there was enough of a gap this side for me to have slipped in.  I was very lucky indeed…. a fall there would almost certainly had meant trouble for me if the two boats had moved across.

I wondered after that what to do in such circumstances.  The natural thing would be to come up to the surface where you went down.  I may give that more thought if ever it happened and perhaps swim under the boat and come up behind……… but things happen so quickly.  I must be more careful.  Today I was lucky.

Much needed water was put on at the junction, and with no moorings beyond the BW Yard before the right turn to Aylesbury we backed back up under the bridge and just about had enough space to moor.  Spot NP behind the tupperware tub… nose to tail it was literally!

Off on our way to Aylesbury tomorrow, and been round the corner to have a look at the first two locks which are in a staircase flight.  The only staircase flight on the Grand Union Canal between London and Birmingham.  Narrow locks too they are and 14 more after that till we get to Aylesbury 6 and half miles away.  It’s suppose to be one of the nicest canals on the whole system…. well that remains to be seen

More thoughts on the Boat Show

And so to the narrowboats.. I was only impressed with two of them, well to be fair, I only ‘walked through’ four of the eight or so there, leaving the hire and share boats to those looking for next years holidays.

I have just deleted most of what I wrote about the narrowboats.. I have decided not to criticise the interior layouts of the boats, but I will say that I was somewhat surprised at the seemingly unthoughtfulness of the designs

Best boat for me was the Liverpool Boat, closely followed by the New Boat Company.  Price wise as well Liverpool Boats came out on top in my view, a very good price for a very good boat.  Sea Otter’s aluminium narrowboat was on display, but with a price tag of £102,000 for 58ft would only capture a small market.  As well as that the interior was pretty basic.  I don’t know, but somehow I would have thought that aluminium and steel coming together in a bridge hole might just see a very expensive boat a bit bent!

Of course, NP is a Liverpool Boat, so I was delighted to be able to go and see their latest offering…. and what a surprise I had too.  Our design for the refit of our kitchen was exactly the same as the kitchen on their boat at the show, and I just had to take some photos to bring home to Vic to show him how our new kitchen would look!   I did tease him somewhat when I got back though, saying to him that I had seen the perfect kitchen and had photos for him to be able to build it… teehee!

Walking through the boats with no intention to buy is a bit like being a fraud, but there are always new ideas to be seen.  One new concept I saw was the round stainless steel kitchen sink.  No drainer, just another very shallow kitchen sink complete with plug for “washing lettuce” so the salesman told me (just about see this in the pic above).  What a waste of space that was, although one boat had a cut out piece that fitted over the sink when worktops were needed… I suppose that’s ok, but normally when working in the kitchen I would usually need the sink as well!

Top idea that I saw was on the New Boat Company boat, that old problem of the corner cupboard.  I really did like this, but on looking up the price at MFI it was well over £300.  Having said that, I would have thought it would include the cupboard as well as the baskets etc.  So NP won’t be having that new gadget, anyway I would miss diving head first into the corner reaching for the cheese grater which always seems to make its way there!

Lots of chandlery and clothing on show too, best of the chandlers by far was Mailspeed.  A huge free catalogue too with just about everything in it you would ever want.  Mail order, so there would be no problem ordering on the internet.  Mailspeed had two huge stands, I could have spent hours there browsing!

Had a walk through of a half million pound sailing yacht too…….. blimey standing on the top and looking up at the sail I nearly fell off, and felt for one moment that my hot dog lunch was about to leave my stomach……. how can one feel sea sick when there is no water to be seen!  . Dutch barge…… nope not my scene, but it was fitted for the european hire market to sleep 12.

A great day out, only spent 5 hours there, another two hours would have suited me.  I also came back very happy about my own home.  For sure I had not seen any boat there that I would have swapped for No Problem.  

 

Visited the Boat Show today

12th and 13th Jan – Moored Ivinghoe, Grand Union Canal

Well the floor is finished and it looks just great.  I just couldn’t wait to get the brush out and sweep merrily the whole boat from end to end in less than 2 minutes, and just to make sure, I did it all again!  Wonderful!

So an early start this morning with a taxi ride from the bridge here to Cheddington Station about a mile and a quarter away to catch the train to London.  A couple of changes in London and the Boat Show was in view.  It wasn’t overly busy, and noted quite a few on the stands moaning about slow trade.  Although it was very much geared for the Yachting World as I had expected there was a nice area of narrowboat type stuff. 

Grabbed the Official Show Handbook, and made a beline for The Fox @ Waterside pub to have a large coffee and a browse.  This pub feature was incredibly good, looking just as you would want a canalside pub to look like both inside and out.  If you are reading this blog before going to the show, nip over to the ‘Canal Boat’ stand just opposite and pick up one of their free brochures.  Inside you will find a coupon for a free half pint at the Fox pub.  Or pick up a few and have a very merry time!!

Popped into the East Hal to see the Watersport Arena and watch some action…. windsurfing indoors is quite a spectacle.  I had seen it on the tele before and knew it would be noisy, but live not only was it very noisy with all those wind machines, but spray was whipped up into the Arena as well!  It was obviously very much more difficult for the competitors than in their normal surroundings of the wide open sea.  I was pleased I went for the experience, but it soon got quite boring as each competitor couldn’t make the top turn without falling off… not one managed to complete the course..

Very little time spent in the East Hall, it was all geared for watersports…. having said that it seemed busier there than anywhere else..

I was absolutely amazed at the amount of electrical gadgets available now for gps, it is very big business, yet the prices are still sky high for this equipment.  I would have liked to have spent longer browsing around the many stands that specialised in them, but the day was moving on, and still so much more I wanted to see.

Narrowboats next then…… well not right now, will tell you about those tomorrow.  

Well I have tried and tried to post this, my internet connection is so bad this evening, have taken the pics out for now, … trying again to post 

 

My Internet Connection is giving me grief!!

10th and 11th Jan – Moored Ivinghoe, Grand Union Canal

Maybe it is the wind, but my internet connection sure is giving me grief this evening, very much off and on….

I have a couple of pictures of the floor, but won’t chance posting them tonight, getting the blog through will be difficult enough.

Colin made a comment on my last post giving some very interesting information about Corkettes Two Locks.  I did have a quick look late last night as to what his research turned up, but have not been able to go back today to look more thoroughly.  I did post on Colin's website that I liked one of his three theories, and that was of a report in the Buckingham Canal Society’s ‘newsletter’ called The Navigator (Summer 2003) of a lady in Canada looking for an ancestor called Corkett (notice no ‘e’ on the end) who was a lock keeper in this area.

"We have had enquiry’s through our web-site ( shows its getting looked at) from people researching their ancestors, Zoe Archer from Ontario Canada is looking for info on her husbands family who were lock keepers on the Grand Junction canal in the mid 1800’s, if you know of any Corkett around the Soulbury, Cheddington or Ivinghoe area please let Diana know"

I have written to Tony Colins, the editor of BCS to see if he can throw any more light on this

Another email I wrote way before Christmas was about the footpath near Water Eaton having padlocked gates all the way along.  Although I wrote to the Milton Keynes footpaths department is was just outside their area, and they sent my email on to Aylesbury…..

………. All of the gates were padlocked, and I had to climb over them all. The paths near the main road were not marked, and I was unsure of the route.  I have a pictures here for you to see the chain and padlock, and a map of the other gates etc http://www.choiceforum.co.uk/images/water_eaton.htm  Regards ……

Success!!

Dear Sue, Thank you for your e-mail passed to us from Milton Keynes Council.  I have been in touch with the landowner who has assured me that he has now unlocked the gates. He will also be installing new gates to replace some of those that are in bad condition. I will be inspecting the route again in a few weeks time to make sure that all the work agreed has been undertaken. If you have any further problems please do not hesitate to contact me. Many thanks ………

So next time Lucy and I are walking that particular footpath we will not only be able to get through the gates but have some new ones too!!

That’s about it for today…. oh the flooring is coming on a treat. The lounge and kitchen are complete as well as the long passageway down the whole length of the boat.  The bathroom is half finished….. due to the fact that one bit just wouldn’t behave and go in… had enough after that, and the bedroom also has to be finished… a couple of days and goodbye to the hoover and scraping dog hairs up, and hello to a quick brush! 

Through Corkettes Two today

Solbury Lock to Ivinghoe Bridge, Grand Union Canal, 2 miles, 3 locks

Just the couple of miles then and we were up through Corkettes Two, better known as Ivinghoe locks 32 and 33. Corkettes Two is a working boaters term for these locks… but I have no idea why. I couldn’t find corkette in the dictionary, sounds like some gadget for opening a bottle! I shall try to find out as we journey down to London. Anyway here is a pic of NP in one of the Corkette Two Locks.

See what I mean about stashing as much wood as possible on the roof! Luckily we stacked it well enough not to lose any in the recent wind.

A bit more done on the new floor this afternoon. Probably the most difficult bit of all along the passageway, not much room to work, lots of trims to take off or cut to get the flooring under. The bathroom door had to come off. Its one that slides……. and we took 8mm off the bottom of that, putting it back was a real pain though…. but maybe we were tired by then. It’s looking good though

With the passageway finished we will do the lounge tomorrow, hopefully that will be a doddle…. lots of straight runs with no cut outs. Will take a pic if we get it finished.

It's Windy at Slapton... we are sheltering

Jan 7th - Leighton Buzzard to Slapton Lock, Grand Union Canal, 3.5 miles 3 locks
Today - Moored Slapton

WOW what a 24 hours that was. Not only is the mode of transport of a high sided vehicle precarious in the high winds, but so is a narrowboat!!

I didn’t really want to leave Leighton Buzzard in the high wind, but the warden had been along and knocked the door. Yes we had been hogging the 2 hour mooring outside Tesco for more than 48 hours, and yes we shouldn’t have been there, but we were waiting for Chas and Ann on NB Moore 2 Life to offload their sofa to another boater who was to collect it the following day. The warden was very helpful, and let us stay… well there were only two boats including us on the 2 hour mooring, it was dark…. there was enough room for another 6 boats to moor up for the 24 hour Tesco, but as we had only seen one boat pass all day, I doubt there would be anyone wanting to shop that late!

So onward then in the wind, first stop the huge fallen tree about a mile or so out of LB…. yep plenty of wood left there. Out came the chainsaw, and we stashed as much as we could on the roof, still leaving plenty for other boaters..

Onward then…… we still have to get through Ivinghoe locks by Sunday night before they close for maintenance. Grove Lock came first with the wind driving from the side, it was extremely difficult. Having cleared the lock for Vic to close the gates the wind had me on the side before he could get back on…… it was just impossible to get out, so Vic opened the gates again so I could reverse back in, pick him up and ‘bomb’ out, leaving both gates open. Well on this occasion tough, because there was no way we could close them and not get caught with the wind!

Trying to slow down passing boats was almost impossible…….. did manage to a bit, but still got shouted at for going too fast! Perhaps they would have preferred a broadside heavy bump!

Stopped for water after Slapton Lock, we had had enough, the wind was just too much, so while we filled with water I walked under the bridge and round the corner to see if there was anywhere to moor with some sort of shelter from the wind. Sure enough there was a good towpath hedge acting as a windbreak, so we decided to moor there for the night…… blimey a rough one it was too. Even trying to moor the boat was hard….. Vic managed to hold onto the front while I fought with the back trying to pull it into the side to tie up…. Took us a good 5 minutes to get NP secure……. Chas and Ann and Moore 2 Life were having terrible trouble in front of us trying to get their boat in….. Just Annie on towpath fighting with the centre rope, while M2L was flirting with the opposite side of the canal. But as soon as we had NP under control went along to help…… and it wasn’t long before both boats were secure.

Today we decided not to move in the wind….. well we only have a mile or so to go to get through Ivinghoe so we decided to have a little go at the flooring….. Hey it’s looking good already!

We have just done a couple of rows….. it’s not that easy, just as I thought, the ‘just clicks together’ instructions are not exactly truthful… you do have to use a hammer to click them in, but if you can’t swing the hammer because of walls, it makes it interesting to say the least… So here is the first bit done… Got some spots on the camera I think….. but this gives you an idea of what we are doing

The wind has dropped for now.. so we will get through Ivinghoe in the morning, might do a bit more of the floor later tomorrow too

Leighton Buzzard.... we are leaning!

5th Jan – Solbury Three Locks to Leighton Buzzard, Grand Union Canal, 3.5 miles 1 lock
6th Jan – Moored Leighton Buzzard

We were thinking again over the Christmas period of putting a laminate floor onboard NP.  We did think about it a while ago, but thought that it would be easily scratched.  Wendie has just fitted much the same in her kitchen, and both Lucy and her own mutt George were charging over it, claws working overtime!  No ill effects at all, so we decided we would definitely go for it.

Our trip from Solbury yesterday was quiet… we enjoyed very much.  Herons were lazy, not particularly wanting to fly off, and kingfishers, seemingly just as lazy, were watching us from overhanging branches as we passed… maybe they were enjoying the one or two boats about, it’s certainly very quiet here on the Grand Union.

I counted 33 narrowboats at the hire base here in Leighton Buzzard, already the fleet is looking good for the summer.  A lot of the boats have been ‘blacked’ and painted up ready for the holiday makers in the spring.

Topped up the freezer compartment from Tesco here, and went over to Homebase to look at the flooring.  They have a sale on at the moment, an ideal time to purchase, plus today there would be 10% off the sale price too!

I checked on the internet for prices from other DIY stores, and sure enough Homebase would be the best place to buy….. well the ‘planks’ are now onboard along the hallway, and we are listing to one side, quite a bit actually… I even over balanced a couple of times this afternoon!

They are going to take some fitting, they are the type that ‘just click together’ or so it says on the instructions… sounds easy.  I am wondering if it will be that easy when we come to do it.  I have said to Vic not to rush,,, it doesn’t really matter if it takes a few days, we will just have to cope with a bit of disruption for a while!

Tomorrow we will move off to see if there are any logs left from the fallen tree between here and Grove Lock, I do hope the wind eases off a bit.  At the moment it is bombarding the front of  NP, well at least it isn’t raining..  YET! 

Back Onboard and Colin visits....

4th Jan Linford Park, Milton Keynes, GU Canal to Solbury Three Locks, 10 miles 5 locks

A phone call from one of Colin’s sons asking if we would like a McDonalds breakfast told us that Colin and his family were on their way to join us on No Problem for our first move since the Christmas break.  Having taken two cars from their home in the morning, they parked one at ‘The Three Locks’ pub at Solbury, and drove the other to Linford Park to join us on our trip out of Milton Keynes on route to London.

It was a horrid day really after the last two weeks of quite nice sunny days.  Today we had wind and rain…. but that didn’t stop Colin’s three boys from enjoying life on deck. Kiernan was a natural on the tiller, within 5 minutes he was in total control of NP…. and he sure did enjoy.

It was nice too to get back into our normal living style after the raz-ma-taz of the Christmas break… wind in our hair back to the elements was fine by me

Colin’s wife Maureen enjoyed sitting at the bow………. a few bumps for her though as the wind was taking us wherever if felt…not much paint to have to re-do in the summer considering

The youngsters enjoyed the few locks that we went through, and I wonder whether a little taste of narrowboat travel might make them think of a holiday on the waterways in the future…… for sure they all seemed to enjoy despite of the weather.

We picked up a load of coal at the house in the middle lock of the three at Solbury, their prices really do undercut everyone…..

No internet connection last night, we were in a bit of a remote area, and Colin and the family left just before dark, homeward with thoughts on getting ready the new school term the following day for the boys…….. iron shirts, trousers, where is the sports kit? where are the library books etc……… no doubt a manic time for Colin and Maureen after a relaxing day!!

There are some great pics of our trip in the new January 05 Pic album……… do have a look at those.

We popped into the pub in the evening, well we didn't have anything in the freezer to eat, although there are plenty of ‘tinned’ meals in case we get stuck…….. ah well it was a good excuse to go out…….. lovely pub that Three Locks’ by the way, floorboard there remind you of spit and sawdust……. food was good, but the music left a lot to be desired…… youngsters running bar, not a lot of people in…….. you know what they play

Pic Albums updated

Phew, I have managed to update the albums for December and January………

Christmas and New Year Ashore

We spent the Christmas and New Year ashore at Wendie’s home….. Wends came to pick us up from Milton Keynes, and we left the boat hoping Finch wouldn’t be around.  Taking with us everything of value, and leaving our friend Colin to check her when he could.  Talked to some of the boaters around telling them we would be away, and left a few beers as goodwill Christmas presents with them. 

From a very quietish life here on No Problem into the hectic world of a young family was a massive change….. first night not in bed till very late, chatting and chatting.. Next day was the works Christmas Do, which we always get invited to as it is family business of course, it was just great.  We won the row boat song contest for the second time in three years, and by the time we had finished on the floor rowing and swinging about, I did have to get someone to put me into an upright position!!  Champers all round as a prize for the winners, and here is Jen (youngest daughter) sharing out the sparkly..

It’s lovely to see everyone letting their hair down at the Xmas do…….. and everybody partied till gone 2am!

Unfortunately I was poorly for a couple of days after that….. wasn’t the party, but I caught ‘the bug’ that the family had a week previously, but by Christmas Eve I was back to my old self again. 

It was lovely to see all our families, Vic’s mum popped in with some of Vic’s family, and my Dad popped over on Christmas morning.  Lunch was just great, both my daughters and my son were at the table plus daughters hubbies as well as my four grandchildren, what more could I have asked for!

After Christmas I re-formatted Wend’s computer as it had been giving her a few problems and re-installed windows and all her programs.  Her broadband connection had me spoilt too… and I took the opportunity to download a few programs and burnt them to disc to bring back with me.

And so to New Year… once again a great night.  The ‘gals’ went out to a local pub, which meant that I didn’t have to taxi this year… and the two granddaughters were settled all night even through the tremendous amount of fireworks on the midnight hour.  Dogs didn’t like that at all!!

My first pic of the year of Vic………. well it was about 1am by this time!  The girls arrived back and we partied on till gone 4am!

All too soon it was time to pack up and think about returning to No Problem.  We had such a great time, I was quite emotional on Monday when we left….. maybe I had been there too long.. Won’t forget it that’s for sure.

 

Wonderful Christmas and New Year!

Well a new year, 2005……. and the light is getting better by one minute per day!

So a very, very happy new year to all.  Hope you had a lovely Christmas and New Year whatever you were doing,

Christmas and New Year for us was spent with the family, eldest daughter Wendie and hubby took us in and gave us a bed for the fortnight, sharing the family life with them and my two granddaughters ………. with very regular visits from my other daughter and my other two granddaughters!

It was very hectic as you can imagine!  Back on the boat here this evening I am feeling sad to have come home, but that can only mean that I have had a wonderful time… Thanks Wends and Dan xx

No Problem had no ill effects from being left for a couple of weeks, and our very good friend Colin kept a very good eye on her while we were away, many, many thanks to you Colin. 

Well as you might expect there is an awful lot to say about the last two weeks, but not tonight… I am quite tired, and not only did everything get packed away this evening (twice as much came back to put somewhere!), but NP had a film of dust all over her… so there was a bit extra to do on our return.

Colin and his family are joining us tomorrow on our move through to the other side of Milton Keynes, Colin’s home town…….. we are planning on getting through Ivinghoe locks by the weekend as they will close on Monday next……. and eventually on to London, but we have to dodge all the closures on the way.  Aylesbury is on the agenda too.

I will write more tomorrow, and there are some pics to come as well, but in the mean time I will leave you with this festive one on a quiet moment just before midnight on Christmas Eve.