We couldn't agree as to what we wanted to do today, Alan and I both wanted to go to Camden Lock market, but we thought that we would be very unlikely to be able to moor there. Eventually we decided to head up towards Camden and if we couldn't get a mooring we'd just turn back. As it was we found a mooring right by the market.
Passing the Zoo on the Regent's Canal
Autumnal Trees on the Regent's Canal
The market has changed enormously since we used to go there in the early 1980's. It covers much more land than it used to, and it still has a 'hippy' ambience, but, like so many things now, there is a strong commercial element. It was good to go around looking at things but we didn't spend much money. We looked at some beautiful pottery and tiles, but who goes to Camden Lock to spend more than £5000 on a vase? Everywhere there were piles of hot food of every different type - mexican, moroccan, chinese, thai - with the vendors calling out to you as you passed, offering samples of their products. We ended up eating pancakes - some might think that boring when so much else was on offer, but they were very good.
Afterwards we set off to head back up towards the end of the Paddington Arm. A long journey, and it was getting quite dark by the time that we passed the visitors' moorings at the Black Horse pub. There was one mooring left, but it proved impossible to get close to the bank, so we headed off again, knowing that we didn't have to deal with locks. However, as dusk fell it was quite difficult to see where the towpath was at time. Eventually we managed to find a mooring offside on some parkland near Northolt, hammering the mooring pins into the ground in complete darkness by torchlight. Even after we had moored there were boats passing in the dark.
Locks: 0, Miles: 15.5
Total Locks: 45, Total Miles: 59.8
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