Leaving the boys to it along the Lea

We spent the night in Leighton Buzzard yesterday, now moving on up to Milton Keynes ...

Friday 17 September

After surviving last night's shenanigans unscathed, this morning we ventured out to Tottenham Hale to get some cash out for Barry and Tom's weekend pocket money, then I got the tube to Euston and then the train to Lichfield, then Four Oaks, north east of Birmingham. 

Barry and Tom then continued up the River Lea with Pete ...

 Stonebridge Lock, the first of six locks today and Tom in action again

 

 

 

 

 

Painting them bright colours doesn't disguise what they really are - but does improve their appearance slightly! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Moored working boats at Ponders End Locks

They obviously like to make it comfy for the wildlife around here - brings back memories of Blackburn!

The boatyard before Enfield Lock, full of paraphernalia - hard to make an attractive photo out of this!

The now derelict house beside Enfield Lock - 'Lee Conservancy 1889'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Leaving Enfield Lock and passing the quaint terraced houses adjoining the canal with lots of floating gardens moored along the bank

If you want to see power pylons (and why would you?) this is the area to come to - they're everywhere

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Pete operating this lock ...

 ... and Tom working this one, sharing the day's load

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They then got a bit clever and started asking passing families to help!

After mooring up just past Waltham Town Lock, Tom and I had time to organise some dinner before a short walk into Waltham Abbey with Pete for a couple of drinks. After slightly more than a couple and a game of darts in one pub, we ended up in an after hours lock-in at another. I'm not sure what time we got back to the boat, but unsurprisingly it was in the wee small hours with all of us a little worse for wear.

... and meanwhile

Sandra arrived safely at her destination, got a bit dressed up and had a night out with her sisters, one of her nieces and lots of lovely friends at The Crown pub in Four Oaks.  After partaking of a few drinks, lots of catch up conversations and laughter, we were much more refined than the boys and left the pub just after closing time!

Mandy, Kath, Vicky, Linda, Arlene, Sandra, Sarah, Kerry & Karen - Viv & Ray had been there too but sadly had left before the photo!

 Sunflower-looking daisies - dazzling

Through the East End to the River Lee, and the dark delights of Tottenham Hale

Today we're heading back onto the Grand Union from Aylesbury, towards a place called 'Slapton' - there's some funny place names around here!  There's also an awful lot of locks ...

Thursday 16 September - part two

Firstly, here's a few more photos from the tidal Thames trip that Barry forgot to put on yesterday's blog (obviously taken by Sandra!!) ...

 

 

 

The boys at Battersea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking superimposed on Westminster!

 

 

 

 

Tom hardly put his camera down the whole trip bless him!

 Err, actually at this stage you're supposed to be concentrating on manoeuvring into Limehouse Lock!!!

We weren't sure which route to take, but soon decided on the right turning up towards the River Lee - with the challenge of finding somewhere 'safe' to moor accessible to a tube station for me to catch the train to Euston on Friday, for a weekend in Birmingham with my sisters and girlfriends.

After a short lunch stop along Limehouse Cut to fill up with water, the sun came out and with it a touch of blue sky - how different the photos would have been of the tideway in such light.  We really didn't do justice to the delights of central London in the grey and dismal clouds, however it was probably more realistic of British weather!

Approaching Bow Lock weir

A dark and gloomy sky above didn't bode well with the dismal surroundings ...

 

 

 

 

but Barry managed to make it look bright and cheerful regardless!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What an array of building designs!

The stunning building of the 'Three Mills' at Bow

 

 

If you can't have blue sky have a blue skyscraper!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure what this contraption is, though I think it's some sort of electronic signage

 

This arm is closed off for the foreseeable future as it's the site of the 2012 London Olympic Stadium - they have a bit of a job ahead cleaning up the graffiti ...

but realistically the colourful graffiti does improve the area somehow - though sadly no Banksy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part manual, part mechanical locks - and a lot of green slime on the canal which doesn't look too salubrious!

Which lock shall we enter??

Must've been some big boats passing through here many years ago

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           Taking you, taking me ...                               meanwhile Sandra sits alone in the lock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It may be seen as an eyesore - but the diversity of graffiti really does cheer the places up in a rather dilapidated looking part of London

The emerging shell of the Olympic Stadium - pretty impressive!

We continued through the East End and onto the River Lea (which can be spelt Lea or Lee it seems!) to Tottenham Hale, where we found the first (what we thought was a) decent mooring and the bonus of a nearby tube station and grocery store. 

 Another overwater - Underground

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tom looking cool at Tottenham Hale locks - another double one

Not long after we'd tied up I received a text from Pete, a fellow boater who we'd met up with last year on the Chesterfield Canal.  He asked us where we were, I told him, then about ten minutes later there was a knock on the roof - spookily he was moored just up the cut from us!  It was great to see him and he came on board and shared a few drinks with us while we caught up on his life story since our last meeting (of course he knew ours because of the blog!).

During the evening, around 2200hrs, we felt someone boarding the boat.  Tom had gone to sleep on our bed as he was very tired, so it was just Pete, Barry and I.  We went out of the front of the boat and saw (in silhouette) three black guys in dark hoodies looking menacing - it was extremely hard to see them properly and I would've been scared witless had I been on my own!  Thank goodness there were two hunky men to give them their marching orders!

When confronted they mumbled that we had to open the back up as there were 'stolen goods on board' - yeah right!  More likely they were high on drugs and just looking for a way of breaking into any property to steal what they could to fund their habit.  Barry and Pete engaged them in conversation whilst walking behind them along the towpath, Pete got his phone out and said he had a friend who wanted to chat with them and not long afterwards they were running their little legs off to get away!  Not so stupid after all maybe?!

A horrible experience, but it is seriously the only time we've had any such problems whilst cruising the cut so I count us as very lucky - we'd probably be more likely to have problems on land.

... and at the end of a long day a spa bath would be very soothing!

Pete said he'd carry up the river with Barry and Tom tomorrow while I'm away, so it's a boys weekend and a girls weekend coming up!

Luckily life has a larger proportion of loveliness than sad hooligans!

The tidal Thames - terrifyingly thrilling!

We've now moved along the Grand Union as far as Aylesbury at the end of the Aylesbury Arm - our final narrow canal for a long while to come ...

Thursday 16 September - part one  Warning!  Today's blog is a biggie, Barry was unable to prioritise the photos any more than he has, this being his highlight of our 2010 trip ...

We had to be up bright and early this morning, 0700hrs, for a quick breakfast then Barry was off to see Teddington Lock-Keeper to get the go ahead - "... off you go" he said, hurrah!  Barry also called Limehouse Lock and to our astonishment experienced no problems from him either - the only instructions were to call him when we were going under Tower Bridge.  He didn't ask our size, so we didn't volunteer the information.

I was unsure whether being 'allowed' to do this journey was a good thing or not - of course I was terribly excited about travelling through the centre of London on a narrowboat, but at the same time was terrified remembering the experience we had in 2009 entering Keadby Lock on the tidal River Trent and had no wish to repeat it.

The weather overcast and cool, but could've been worse.  We exited Teddington lock around 0830hrs, half an hour after high tide at Tower Bridge as instructed, and were sadly the only boat travelling on the tidal Thames today, the others turning off to Brentford Lock.  Tom and Barry had the life jackets on that came with the boat, so they were a little dated (and brightly coloured!), while I had the new one I'd bought last year.  Better to be safe than sorry ...

 We're first into the lock - very eager!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Plenty of room for everyone - even fitting one through the centre!

It looks like the start of a race - note the hut at the end of the lock from Monty Python's 'Fish Slapping Dance' 

 Perhaps it was a race - if so we were left well behind

The overcast weather turned into a rather cold day with a biting wind, so I donned a jumper, scarf, ear warmer, gloves and even had to put my UGG boots and thermal vest on after a while!

All was smooth sailing until Hammersmith, so I was happy to drive while Barry and Tom took tons of photos.  Then two large boats went past in opposite directions, and the boat started swaying from one side to the other - that was it, I was totally freaking out and passed the tiller to Barry and went below to make a coffee!  We were going to be meeting the big boys from now on ...

 17th century Ham House - apparently haunted by a dog!

 A beautiful building - not sure what it is?

 

Marble Hill House in Twickenham - no matter how much money you have you can't stop the planes flying over 

 

 

 

 

 

The navigation lights on the bridges to show which arch to go through - double orange is 'go' 

 

Along the banks of Richmond - an amazing array of craft

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This heron looks like he's seen it all before - the only narrowboat we met coming in the opposite direction, through Richmond Footbridge

 Passing Isleworth and the ruins of St John's Church

 Looking ahead to Brentford, with a very fit rower fighting against the current

 

 The entrance to Brentford Locks and The Grand Union Canal - from now on we're on our own

Tom and Sandra in their snazzy life jackets

Through Kew Bridge, looking back at Brentford, with the tower of the 'Kew Bridge Steam Museum' on the right ...

and the Kew Garden Railway Bridge with an 'Underground' train going over water

 

 

Sandra looking cool, calm and collected as we pass Chiswick Bridge - no sign of nerves (yet!) 

 

 

 

 

 A row of terraced houses watch the waterfront

Chiswick Pier and another rower

  Dove Pier at Hammersmith

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ornately eccentric Hammersmith Suspension Bridge ...

with a slightly crazy boater in the foreground (beginning to look a little concerned)

The river front at Hammersmith 

 New housing developments at Fulham The Pier at Putney - starting line of the annual Oxford and Cambridge Rowing Race upriver to Chiswick

 The container terminal at Wandsworth, unloading from the huge barges dragged up the Thames

 Wadsworth Bridge, and the apartments get more and more striking from here on in ...

 very futuristic, though being 2010 I suppose this is the future we heard about as kids!

A little more refined - and still costing a small fortune I've no doubt

Different style again ...

 and again - incredible to see the starkly contrasting styles here

 Hope this boat is "Ship shape and Bristol fashion"

 Can't mistake this as being London 

The Albert Bridge, currently having a bit of an overhaul 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Victoria (Grosvenor) Railway Bridge, with the Battersea Power Station chimneys behind

 The now derelict Battersea Power Station 

I see no "pigs on the wing" - for Pink Floyd fans only!

 These ones look a little threatening, as if they're about to attack!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Passing Westminster was awesome, despite some scary moments when large boats and passenger cruisers made a cross wash and the boat bobbed up and down like crazy; rather nauseating at times. 

We knew (because I'd read the manual and had the picture taped to the back hatch!) that the warning of flashing white lights on top of a bridge arch means 'Watch out!  There's a large boat coming through', and you're supposed to avoid that arch.  At one point we came to a bridge with said white light flashing, but Barry said it was too late for us to move to the two orange lights arch - that was the point where I could see why a VHF radio would be a really good thing to have so that the warning was more in advance!  Luckily the humongous boat trailing a big pontoon wasn't as near as it could've been, and we managed to swerve out of it's path, and pass unusually on the left, in good time - phew! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can see why people are a little wary of navigating the tidal Thames on a narrowboat, but wow, it really was an amazing thing to do!

 The Houses of Parliament - don't go too close to the exclusion zone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Passing the London Eye - Sandra's laughing hysterically now!

 Looks more like a bike than an eye!

 Lots of different craft of all shapes and sizes

St Pauls Cathedral peeping through, and the Gherkin making an appearance

 Millennium Bridge

 Towing a huge maintenance barge up against the tide - the vessels we managed to avoid!

Southwark Bridge

 Tower Bridge was our next point and it appeared that two battleships were blocking our way ...

but it was just HMS Belfast and the Brazilian training frigate U27 alongside, plenty of room

Now straight ahead through the fairytale bridge - no need to raise it! 

Tom and Sandra look like they've not a care in the world

Arriving at Tower Bridge, I called Limehouse Lock who said they'd have the gates open and to just cruise on in.  I went to the bow, ready with the rope as you have to swiftly attach it to a chain at the side of the lock once you're well inside. 

Looking back to the stern, I was horrified to see that rather than intently concentrating on the lock approach, Barry and Tom were both shooting away taking photos, seemingly oblivious to the fact that there was a huge passenger boat and police speedboat approaching on the other side round the previously blind bend and Tom was steering the wrong way.  Now I may be more anxious, being British and all that, but really the 'she'll be right' attitude of kiwi's can be rather scary!!  I shouted "look out, there's a huge boat coming", trying hard to control my anxiety that they appeared was more intent on taking photos than watching where they were going (of course Barry says he was always in total control!).

  Not sure what this is all about? 

 Great looking Dutch sailing barges

Check out the tidal drop on the river wall, with an hour an a half still to go - a drop of 4.4 metres today though it can be over seven metres

 The last remnant of a bygone era holding out against development

 How many people must live here?

 Limehouse Lock ahead - so is a blind bend!

Sandra sees the boats approaching before Barry and Tom do 

Oh dear!  Get out of the way quick!! 

Overshot a little having to avoid the other boats ...

Of course Barry skilfully avoided any chance of a collision and steered us safely into the lock - he knew it was more than his life's worth not to and had joked earlier that he'd have to jump overboard if he didn't get it right - damn right!!

Once safely inside the bosom of the lock, the lock-keeper ensures we're safely roped up bow and stern, then mechanically opens the end gates which strain to let the water in from above, rather than the normal process of opening gate paddles.  This created a humongous wash and we needed to tie the rope up to the front 'knob thing' (!) to prevent it pulling the rope out of our hands.

 But still managed to cruise in calmly

 Sandra holds on tight - with the rope also wound round the bow tie ...

 No gate paddles on this massive lock - they just start opening the gates and thousands of gallons of water come rushing in

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It doesn't take long to fill

We'd hoped to stay at the 24 hr BW moorings just past the lock, which supposedly welcome you from your journey so you can stop and have a cup of tea (according to the guide!), but they were literally packed with narrowboats, at one point they were three deep and so obviously not just there for 24 hours!  One cheeky boater asked us how it was on the Thames, as they may go 'next week'!  Well thanks a bunch thought I, don't say "you're welcome to moor alongside if you want to" will you, just sit and watch us sail past unable to stop for a breather after our adventure.  There's certainly some selfish boaters around ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Limehouse Marina - full to bursting

Not an inch spare for poor little Northern Pride after her big journey ...

So we continued on our way up Limehouse Cut ...

Part two of the day tomorrow ...