Boxmoor to Cook's Wharf

(Posted by Alan)

Boxmoor to Cook's Wharf

Resuming my attempt to remember what happened on the intensive final two days of this trip!

In fact we did not intend to make a particularly early start, but a pair of community boats had been moored behind us, where not a lot of control seemed to be being put on the youngsters aboard, making their antics look quite dangerous. So when it looked that "Pisces" and "North Star" might be about to start up, we decided we would rather be ahead of them, than behind them.

Once we had worked a few locks, and were approaching the middle Winkwell one, someone hailed us from a moored boat, and asked if we would wait for them. I thought they might be a while getting going, but in fact we were quickly sharing locks, which helped us on our way a bit.

"Wooden stake and mesh" bank reclamation just below Berk- hamsted, something we have seen elsewhere, but new to the lower Grand Union, we think.

Small tug being delivered to these these works by lorry - I had previously thought it was being taken away, but have since met the lady who drives it, and who corrected me!

We continue to share locks at Berk- hamsted's "Rising Sun". I was fascinated to hear that the owners of this boat had saved at least £20,000 over an equivalent new one, by a second-hand purchase of an almost unused boat. (It's an Aqualine, built in Poland).

Alan lock wheels past extensive floral display at The Boat, Berk- hamsted






Our companions were stopping at Berkhamsted, leaving us to press on up the next eight locks to Tring summit alone. As we started encountering every lock against us, despite frequent boats the other way, we were clearly catching up another boat, but never quite seeing it. Often pairs of top gates were open, so we were guessing either two boats or a wide-beam.

Typical state of the refuse facilities at Cow Roast










We were not long on to Tring summit, about 3 miles with no locks, before we quickly caught up a wide-beam community boat. Much of the summit, being in a cutting, is relatively, (but not exceptionally) narrow, but they seemed to be navigating it incredibly slowly, even before they decided to start letting some of the visitors steer the boat, and were actually virtually stopping on a fairly regular basis. As we caught them at one of the wider parts, they could easily have held at the side for half a minute or so, and waved us past, but they didn't, and eventually we stopped in a bridge-hole and shut down the engine until they were out of sight. It didn't help much, as we very quickly caught them again, so we repeated this, waiting longer, but still caught them quickly.

Imagine our relief when as we finally got to Marsworth top lock, a narrow-boat was waiting to enter, meaning they could not share the lock, due to their width, but we could. I don't think I have ever been waved past with quite such bad grace, or such condescending comment. A great shame, as this was one of the usually better operators of coimmunity boats, but their arrogance and unhelpfulness that day has left me with a rather different view of what can happen.

Fortunately the lady we then shared with proved to be the perfect antidote. She was not young, but single handling a boat she had recently bought, and which was not without some mechanical issues. She was clearly having the time of her life, and neither the fact that a warning beeper kept coming on on the engine, nor that she had no idea what it meant, really didn't seem to trouble her at all. In fact she was not fazed when the engine decided to stop as she was under way, ("it does, sometimes", she said quite simply!).

So thank you, unnamed lady, as well as our accompanying boat earlier in the day. Not an auspicious day for community boat crews, we felt, but some very nice private boaters made our day. (And we got back within out target time too, which was surely a plus).

Almost home! - leaving the penultimate lock at Peter's Two








Boxmoor to Cooks Wharf
Miles: 12.2, Locks: 27
Total Miles: 179.8, Total Locks: 189

Widewater near (Harefield) to Boxmoor

(Posted by Alan)

Widewater near (Harefield) to Boxmoor

Apologies to those who have told us repeatedly that they are waiting to see if we made it home!

We did, of course, but immediately embarked on our project to try and give Chalice a DIY repaint.

Now any amateur that has ever tried it will tell you this is not a job for the faint hearted - that roof that doesn't look too big normally, for example, suddenly appears a lot larger if you are trying to take it back to bare metal, or to apply many layers of new paint to it.

So we have been busy, and the blog went on stall, but I'm now finally going to attempt to record those last two days.

In fact, the wet dock booking made us decide to try and get back from Widewater, (near Denham) in just two days, to allow us a clear day for getting at least a bit reorganised at home, before boat painting completely took over our lives. This is not a massively hard target, but we were both very tired, and we knew it would take a bit of effort.

Above Widewater lock is usually a good tie-up, and this time was no different, so I have no real excuse that I woke early. However it was a good opportunity to take Charlie for an early morning walk, which I did trying not to disturb the other people on board, (a challenge!).


Leaving Widewater on another fabulous day









A strange feature of this part of the trip was that although the canal had become quite busy, we still ended up sharing very few locks, or indeed even finding very many in our favour, necessitating someone regularly being ahead with the bike to set them up, if progress was to be maintained.

However at Lot Mead, just north of Rickmansworth, the resident of the lock-side cottage approached me, and said there was a problem with the top gates, and despite multiple attempts to shut them or dislodge obstructing matter, they could not be closed. I was just thinking "what chance of getting BW out quickly on a Sunday of a Bank Holiday weekend.", when A BW guy appeared. I'm not sure if he was actually working, or just doing a good turn, but miracle of miracles, he knew where to find a keb. Now a keb is a long shafted rake, with end like a digging fork with it's tines bent through 90 degrees, and exactly what you need, but finding one near a GU lock these days is nearly unheard of. So when out man fished around expertly, we were mightily relieved when he pulled out the obstruction. It was one of the shaped metal caps used to top off the mitred posts of the gate, but curiously it didn't belong to the current gates, as both theirs were still present. Good old BW man - our chances of getting back on schedule suddenly recovered!

Approaching the pair of locks at Cassiobury










It is unusual this far down the Grand Union to find many low pounds, because much of it has rivers flowing in and out, and water is usually plentiful even when rainfall has been unusually low. However we did realise we were seeing quite a few pounds where levels were down from usual. Fortunately Chalice has a shallow draught, and is little affected by small water shortages on a canal like the Grand Union.

Using British Waterway's property as a waiting point to avoid the shallows in a low pound at Nash Mills



The schedule we were trying to stick to actually required that we got beyond Boxmoor, but there are opportunities to moor there that are rather quieter and less affected by road and rail traffic noises, so we decided enough was enough. We had done 23 locks, but stopping a bit early left us 27 to do on the final push.

Widewater (near Harefield) to Boxmoor
Miles: 14.0, Locks: 23
Total Miles: 167.6, Total Locks: 162

A Quiet Day With Cath's Father & His Wife

(Posted by Alan)

Brentford to Widewater near (Harefield)

On two successive trips on the tidal Thames we have tried to take Cath's father and his wife for a trip, but each time he has been busy, (or so he claimed, anyway!).

With hindsight we now realise this would not have been a very clever idea, as neither is young - in fact Dot became 85 yesterday. We found the two and a half hours, much of it crashing through waves physically exhausting, and realise it would have been very difficult for them.

Anyway we had agreed to take them out for the day today - they could get to Brentford on public transport, and if we could deliver them to Uxbridge station, getting home would be quite straightforward too.

They couldn't get to us particularly early, but we should have time, including a lunch stop,

Now, I have to say, if you wanted to show off the Grand Union, you would not by choice start at Brentford. This has to be the most litter strewn bit of the entire cut, locks are filled with floating debris, and the prospect of large plastic bag tangled on the propeller is ever present.

Jim and Dot at Hanwell, (shame there is nowhere else for the bikes!)


Also you probably would not choose a route that fairly early on includes a flight of 8 double locks, which is what you get with Hanwell and "Norwood Top" combined. Furthermore these locks were unusually busy, many of the intermediate pounds missing a foot or more of water, and a few boats reversed locks on us that they probably should not have done. I think our guests may have been initially perplexed about an arrangement that took maybe an hour and a half for only a mile travelled!

Locking up through Hanwell - the threatening clouds never did deliver much rain.







One of the few remaining parts of the old asylum buildings, viewed from a lock. They have always had a kind of menace for me, since I first encountered them in the 1970s.

The next part of the plan didn't work too well, a suggestion to have a pub lunch. The canal guides indicate three possible canal-side pubs each at a different bridge separated by around half a mile. The first was deserted, and looked uninviting. The second proudly announced outside that it did food, but when Cath enquired, it did not. The final one looked far more promising, but was in the middle of a refit, and not doing food at the moment. The guide showed few more options, and the next pub along apparently has strippers - we decided not to inflict them on a couple in their 70s and 80s.

So a change of plan saw us stop at the supermarket at Bulls Bridge, and buy what was needed for a lunch on board.

By now we were into a fairly long lock-less section, so hopefully our guests got a better idea that canals is not all being static in locks.

We eventually arrived at Uxbridge, by which time I think we had worn them out. Cath ensured they were safely on a train, before returning to the boat.

We were by a noisy road, and a noisy pub, so decided to push forward for a few more locks starting with Uxbridge lock itself.

We moored at one of our regular quiet overnight mooring spots, just above Widewater near Denham.



I just wish the boat we shared Denham deep lock with, and who then followed very slowly behind us, had told us their intentions. Having set up Widewater lock for two boats, and waited very patiently for them, they instead turned into the marina entrance, just before the lock.

Oh well, that's boating for you!

Brentford to Widewater (near Harefield)
Miles: 14.0, Locks: 14
Total Miles: 153.6, Total Locks: 139

The Tidal Thames - again

(Posted by Cath)

Stonebridge, Limehouse and Tidal Thames to Brentford

The day started overcast, and while there were occasional sunny breaks it remained fairly cloudy.

We knew it shouldn't take too long to get down to Limehouse, but set off with plenty of spare time. I decided that the boat was filthy after our trip up the Lee, and began washing her down, as well as cleaning inside.

Last lock before the Thames at Old Ford - there was consid-erable surface weed on this stretch!





We stopped at Three Mills at Bow, where there is a large Tesco next to the river. I went there while Alan took Charlie for a walk prior to heading onto the Thames.

Alan realised that we had left a "goat chain" (used for mooring against piling) at Stonebridge. Thanks to the magic of the Internet, Alan sent a message to our friends and the chain was recovered - not quite sure how we're going to get it back yet. We ate a light lunch at Bow, then set off again.

At Limehouse we breasted up next to a boat that was going to Teddington, so we knew that he would be leaving half an hour or so before us. There were two boats going to Teddington, but we were - once again - the only boat going to Brentford.

The river boats rather dominate the narrow boats - this one passed us later on. (Chalice waits in the back -ground).



Somehow, it doesn't seem to matter how much preparation we have done, we always end up in a rush - trying to get the anchor chain out of the locker - and the anchor set up on a chain and line at the back of the boat - the bikes inside, and everything stowed safely away.

We waited until 2:15, after the hourly Thames Broadcast from London Vessel Traffic Services, and set off onto the Thames once again. This time it looked even more choppy than last time - it was - very much choppier.

Back on the big river again, soon after leaving Lime- house.







It's hard to show how rough it was, although the number of blurred photos we have is probably the best evidence.



Charlie took one look at it and headed inside to his bed, David and I stood in the front well deck. Within two minutes we had been splashed from head to toe, and my shoes were soaked with the water that was running over the front deck. It was also very windy, and quite cold.

Fortunately it became a bit better once we got past the Tower, such as when passing HMS Belfast.





Alan makes a poor attempt at a "no publicity" plea to the photo- grapher.






We waved at passing trip boats - although the passengers looked at us as though we were some species of lunatics.

Another shameless image of Chalice passing famous London landmarks.






Cranes at Battersea Power station.









Attractive housing further up river.










Shortly after Hammersmith Bridge we saw a bright orange boat coming towards us at a huge speed, which proved to be an RNLI lifeboat. This stretch of the river normally has an 8 mph speed limit, but Google reveals that these craft have a 40 knot (46 miles per hour) capability, and we can well believe it was doing that! It had flashing blue lights and a two tone horn, and shot past us so fast that it barely appears in our son's time lapse video. It is very reassuring that they move quite so fast in an emergency, but we would not like to see anything get in the way of one!

Did we enjoy it? Well, yes, but perhaps not as much as last time. Maybe we should have waited longer before trying it again, although when the opportunity presented it we weren't going to go the other way around.

As we arrived at Thames Lock, Brentford, a tiny boat with an outboard came out of the lock. As it puttered past us in a cloud of blue smoke, David pointed to it's name - Purple Hayes - somehow appropriate.

A Canal World Forum member was waiting by the lock, she had read that we were coming through, and was taking some pictures before heading off to work.

David put extra power batteries into his camera which held up though the whole journey this time. He has produced a new time lapse video (without the break for replacing batteries that he had last time), which shows the whole trip - because of it's size it won't be uploaded onto the Internet until we get home. However, one of the problems with it is that the first section is very jerky, because we were being thrown about so much by the waves.

We got just about the last mooring at Brentford. The man on the next boat was interested in our trip, as he'd been seeing two boats off towards Teddington from Thames Lock and had seen us arriving. He saw Alan straightening out a chain on the towpath. "That's someone who knows about mooring in London," he said. "It's an anchor chain," I replied. "Oh, I thought he was going to moor up with it."

Once again we got to go for a nice walk in the nearby park with Charlie. Before getting a dog we would have slumped about on the boat, now we get out in the fresh air, and get to know more of the areas near to the canal or river.

Stonebridge, Limehouse and Tidal Thames to Brentford
Miles: 24.4, Locks: 6
Total Miles: 139.6, Total Locks: 125

To Stonebridge Lock on the River Lee

(Posted by Cath)

Harlow to Stonebridge

Another long push south today. It started overcast, and even rained slightly at one point - but a lot of the day was hot and sunny again.

Chalice at Parndon Mill, south of Harlow.













Heading south on the Stort.












We kept on South for the whole day, with little to distract us from the travelling. All along the canal were bramble bushes hanging with huge, ripe blackberries. I must get my jam kettle out when we get home.

One of us cycled ahead a lot of the time - and Charlie got a lot of walks between locks. At Waltham Common Lock I decided to walk Charlie through "Waltham Marsh" down to the next lock. On the map it had looked very simple, but I got lost and although I had a walkie talkie I didn't have my phone with me. I couldn't hear Alan on the radio, although he could hear me saying that I was lost.

Then suddenly I turned a corner and there was Waltham Town Lock, I couldn't see the boat, and began to wonder where they were when they appeared. They'd been slightly delayed at the previous lock.

We decided to moor up near to our friends on Rallentando at Stonebridge Lock, and Charlie got another walk through Tottenham Marshes. Rallentando is nearing the end of a long and thorough paint job, and looks amazing. I suspect that our approaching painting session is unlikely to produce anything like as good.

Harlow to Stonebridge
Miles: 17.4, Locks: 17
Total Miles: 115.2, Total Locks: 119

*$~@$&!!!! goosegrass - and Bishops Stortford

(Posted by Cath)

Sawbridgeworth to Bishops Stortford and back to Harlow

Another baking hot day.

Attractive cottages by the Sawbridgeworth Lock

As we set off towards Bishop's Stortford, I decided that it would be a good idea to walk Charlie up a couple of locks. I put him on an extendible lead - usually he's on a short lead to help with his training. He had a great time, running through the long grass, and trying to get down to the water. He was panting more and more, and clearly wanted a drink.

When I caught up with the boat I got David to bring him a bowl of water on the lockside, as he was clearly so thirsty. He lapped it up lying down - he was obviously more puffed out and thirsty than I'd realised.

Back on the boat I discovered that Charlie was covered in goose-grass seeds. Not just a few, but several hundred at least. I sat on the front of the boat trying to brush them out of his hair, but as he got more and more fed up with the process I resorted to hacking at the longer 'feathers' of hair on his legs with a pair of trimming scissors. I doubt that I've managed to remove half of the goosegrass, it's going to be a long process and he'll probably need a 'number 2' cut when he gets back home. My priority at the moment is to remove them from his feathery feet, where they will cause him considerable discomfort between his toes, and from his ears - which are becoming more disreputable with every day..

Nicholson's guide seemed to suggest that there were interesting riverside pubs on the route into the town. The idea of a nice meal in a riverside garden seemed very appealing on a very hot day. The reality was very different. Like many towns there has been a lot of building going on recently, and there is a lot of new housing backing onto the river. The pubs that seemed to be riverside were close to the river - for example, on a road next to a bridge, but with a frontage only onto the road. None of them seemed very welcoming or suitable for a meal.

Moored at the end of the navigable section of the Stort.

I went shopping for food while Alan emptied the loo and filled the water tank, then I persuaded him that we should go for a coffee and some cake. We found somewhere, but only our coffee appeared - we eventually gave up waiting, paid for the coffee and went back to the boat. Our over riding feeling about what little of the town that we managed to see was that it seemed much like every other provincial town, with the same range of shops. Perhaps it was too hot, and we were too tired.

The Stort is really very attractive. Towards the south it is particularly wooded, while towards the northern part there are many open fields. Near Stortford it becomes wooded again.














Passing under Kecksy's Rail bridge, North of Sawbridgeworth.













After our brief visit to the town we set off south again. If we are to get to London on Friday we needed to get quite a long way, so we kept on through Sawbridgeworth where we passed a very attractive housing development. The strange thing is that the riverside frontage is bordered with a row of mooring bollards - and accompanying 'no mooring' signs. Why go to the cost of the bollards and then forbid mooring? There is also a marina, which is still completely empty - why?

Passing the new housing in Sawbridgeworth, above Sheering Mill Lock

"No mooring" bollard.

The empty marina. Where are all the boats?

We carried on into Harlow, where we moored next to the railway station, and went to eat at the Hungry Horse on the other side of the river. Our concerns about the railway, and in particular the platform announcements, proved unfounded, and we slept well.

Sawbridgeworth to Bishops Stortford and back to Harlow
Miles: 14.8, Locks: 15
Total Miles: 97.8, Total Locks: 102

And from the Lee on to the River Stort

(Posted by Cath)

Waltham Abbey to Sawbridgeworth

It's been a very warm and humid day, relieved by occasional (mostly light), and very welcome showers.

Alan took Charlie for a walk before I'd even woken up. We were a bit late getting started, and I walked up through the next few locks with Charlie. I was very surprised by the size of the blackberries growing - although Jessica had told us that they were very good along the Lee and Stort.

We were working up with two other boats, a narrow boat and a 30 foot GRP boat.

The three boats at Aqueduct Lock.


We carried on to the Stort, with the GRP boat following. The locks are narrower on the Stort - 13 ft 3 inches, too narrow to get two boats side by side. However, as our boat is 50 foot, and the locks are about 85 foot long we thought we could fit the GRP boat in behind us. We could, but the locks fill so violently that we were being thrown all over the place and we were worried about causing damage to the fibre glass boat. As they could travel a lot faster than us, and we knew they only had a few locks to go we suggested that they went ahead of us, and we carried on alone.

The Stort was opened for traffic in 1769, allowing access for the farmers and markets of Essex to the River Lea and from there London, and the rest of the world.
An attractive cottage, at Brick Lock.










At Roydon we went under the low rail bridge. We took the chimney off - just in case - Alan, who was steering, had to duck.















The banks of the rivers are covered with Himalayan Balsam, an invasive non-native plant which was introduced in the 19th C and quickly spread along waterways. It's considered a pest, but the flowers are bright and attractive.

The River Stort becomes narrower and very meandering, particularly after Harlow, requiring considerable concentration to make sure that you don't meet with another boat coming the other way. In fact, we only came across one day-boat out of Broxbourne. Given that the country is in recession and more people are supposed to be holidaying at home we don't understand why there is so little traffic on the river.















We rounded one corner to be faced with a river full of children in canoes, and nobody seemed to have noticed that we were bearing down on them. We reversed, and the instructor herded them off to one side, although one girl clearly hadn't grasped the difference between 'forward' and 'backward'. The centre also had kids jumping into the river as part of the many activities that were going on - the children all looked like they were enjoying themselves.
















We kept on until Sawbridgeworth, where Alan and I took Charlie into the town while we shopped. We ate here two years ago, but were sad to see that the excellent pub appeared to have changed hands, and is now a very different type of establishment. So we ate curry on the boat - followed by blackberry and apple crumble, made with very local, and very fresh blackberries.

Waltham Abbey to Sawbridgeworth
Miles: 14.6, Locks: 15
Total Miles: 83, Total Locks: 87