Take it All Back

Shortly after posting the last entry we met the lovely Dave and Jenny Roberts and their little dog, Daisy.  They were moored up just behind us in Cassiobury Park.  We got chatting, decided to work through some locks together and ........... after several evenings, the 'odd' bottle of wine and lots of laughing ............. we are still together!  They have lived on board their lovely boat 'Sweet Dream' for eight years now but they have a permanent mooring just outside of Hertford.  It sounds idyllic. We would have passed it without knowing.  The signwriting on the boat  is very creative albeit a little risky for some!  Look carefully!

They have Daisy whom they sort of rescued/adopted when they were at Little Venice.  They think she is a mixture of all sorts - a true Heinz 57!  DO NOT BE DECEIVED!  She may be little but she has the courage of a lion and the tenacity of a bear!  She will 'take on' any other dog no matter how big!!  I have nick-named her 'Daisy Danger Mouse'.
She is absolutely lovely and very lucky that Dave and Jenny came along when they did.  She and Maisie are getting on well together - lots of crazy chasing about.

DANGER ALSO LURKS IN APSLEY!

I have had my first encounter with a retail outlet called 'Dunelm Mill'.  BIG shop selling loads of things at really good prices.  (At the end of Apsley High Street, not far from Sainsburys   - sorry chaps but we girls need to know these things!)  They also had a sale on!  I have never before seen so many ready-made curtains, fabrics, bedding, throws, blinds etc etc under one roof!  They also sell, kitchenware, some items of furniture, crockery, rugs, china, dried flowers, ornaments - it would be easier to say what they don't sell!
Well, you have to make the most of opportunities when they arise now don't you?  !!!!!  
Suffice it to say that we came out of that shop quite a bit poorer than when we went in!!  BUT they are all things we needed and intended to replace at some point soon.  I had made up my mind to replace the saloon curtains this winter - I now have the fabric on board, just not the sewing machine!!

Over the last few days we have been having some rain which is a good thing really - not sure the dogs would agree needing to be dried off all the time but they enjoy paddling and playing 'the stick game'.  Even Maisie has now bought in to this - she used to think it was stupid and a complete waste of time!

Rain or not we will be moving on to Berkhamstead tomorrow.

Back on The Grand Union

Travelling from Brentford to Rickmansworth with Anne and John on board as extra crew was so much easier!
The stretch from Brentford to the bottom of the Hanbury Flight had been significantly cleared of rubbish and debris since we were here last.  Well done BW - it was quite a task!

We saw a really alien-like thing whilst moored by the footbridge by Glaxo Smith-Kline.  A tree, now very dead, was completely covered in webs and had been annihilated by the caterpillars of the Lackey Moth.  I found out what this was because we e-mailed Hounslow Borough Council to let them know and they told us.                                   Really creepy and horrid.  It's now over to them.   

On Monday we had yet another pair of hands to help - Rebecca (Anne and John's eldest daughter) brought Nicole (Anne and John's youngest daughter) to spend the day with us.  Rodney and Gill, who had kindly offered to come and pick Anne and John up to take them home, drove to Rickmansworth in the afternoon and we all (7 of us!) had Salmon Wellington (!!) on board.  It pays to have a chef as one of your best friends!

It's easy to see why the area around Batchworth is a popular mooring spot for boaters and, therefore, difficult to get in.  There's always lots going on around the lock itself and then there's the Aquadrome with it's variety of water sports close by.  Stoker's Lake is a well-established nature reserve and a lovely walk with the River Colne running through it - dogs allowed!  This time we also discovered another nice walk called The Ebury Way which utilises a dis-used railway track and goes from Rickmansworth to Cassiobury Park near Watford.  We didn't go to see what the town of Rickmansworth has to offer because it was too hot but apparently the High Street is old-fashioned, traditional and full of character.  Tesco's has made getting provisions easy for boaters as there is a store right on the canal side with moorings provided.

We are now moored within Cassiobury Park and it has been hot, hot, hot!  In the evening, when it had cooled down, we took the dogs for a walk into a large wood which is called Whippendell Wood and is right by the side of the canal.  Cassiobury Park itself is a really nice municiple park.  The lovely little river Gade runs through it - kiddies paddling in the shallows and attempting to catch tiddlers, dogs paddling too - lots of dogs!

There are pathways through a nature reserve area and the more manicured areas provide picnic spots, paddling pools, a bouncy castle, play equipment and .................... the ice-cream van!

In the past when we have cruised the Grand Union we have missed all this because we have been on a tight time schedule.  This time we want to take our time and discover more about the areas we go through.  This canal is also heavily locked and when you have to work them single handedly, it can be very physically demanding.  I was hoping to be able to lock through with another boat but it never seems to work out that way!  Another good reason for taking it slowly.  We (that's the royal 'we'!!) also have some serious maintenance to begin - can't be 'put off' any longer!

"Ducklings on the Water"

Apparently this is how skippers of larger craft describe 'little-uns' like us over their VHF radios on the tidal Thames.
LIMEHOUSE to BRENTFORD
Whilst on this part of the system I really wanted to do this trip but three weeks ago it was looking unlikely as there just seemed to be a long catalogue of negatives.  Then we were told about the members of the St Pancras Cruising Club and that they were doing a Tidal Thames Transit on the Saturday of the Bank Holiday Weekend.
We contacted them and, as a result, found ourselves breasted up against the visitor's wall with 17 other narrowboats in Limehouse Basin on the Friday night.

We all met in the Cruising Association Clubhouse for a de-briefing and then a meal.  Members of the Cruising Club were really welcoming.  We found the whole event to be extremely well organised and everything about the trip very positive.  Our friends, Anne and John, were joining us for the weekend and they arrived , having travelled by tube and taxi, late in the evening.

The following morning boats were locked out in groups of three.  Nine boats were going to Brentford and nine further on to Teddington.  We were in the first grouped of three to go to Brentford and were 'sandwiched' between members of the cruising  club on 'Galatea' and 'Victoria'.  The water in the lock goes out VERY quickly and when the gates open the vastness of the river is quite awesome.  With a long blast of our horn we exited the lock and turned upstream.  From here until past Westminster there were LOTS of other craft on the river.  The taxis and trip boats go VERY fast and create lot of wash.  Anne and John, standing in the bow ..................... got wet!!!  They only, however, felt the need to bail out once!

On occasions, especially in the vicinity of Tower Bridge, there were four or five boats manoeuvring around us and then the wash was substantial!  These moments were indeed, in the words of Lynn Hancock n/b 'Piston Broke' ........ "buttock clenching"!! The weather was not great and at times the rain was quite heavy and cold but it was SO exciting passing famous London landmarks on the water.  We had taken everything off the roof (which in itself took quite a little while!) and safeguarded vulnerable things inside the boat.  Nothing came to any harm.  In total it was 16 miles to Brentford and it took exactly two and a half hours.

 Although we were naturally apprehensive about going, in practice we were surprised about how confident we felt once out on the water.  I feel certain that this was largely due to being in the comfort zone of experienced Thames boaters.
We are very grateful to them and would thoroughly recommend anyone joining one of their cruises.

Now I shall look forward to being able to do something like this again.

Into the Top Ten

I have found another mooring site that I think deserves to go into my "Top Ten".

Calling all Boating Twitchers .............. or Twitching Boaters! ................ take note!

Between Stanstead Abbots and Ware on the Lee Navigation.

AMWELL NATURE RESERVE
You can moor right by the side of this lovely reserve run by Herts & Middlesex Wildlife Trust.  There are three really good hides which you can actually go into without having to get a visitor's permit!  There are excellent pathways all around the reserve and, for most of it, you can even walk the dog!!  There are viewing points and information panels.


       






         Views of the reserve.

So often I see a reserve marked on the map, want to stop to have a look around .......... and there is nowhere to moor.  For me, this was a brilliant 'find'.  It's even close enough to lug a telescope!

What a fabulous weekend!

 Andy and Rhia's Wedding Day


It's not often that you can genuinely say that a day is perfect but ............... this one really was.


What a wonderful, beautiful wedding day in every respect.  There was a beautiful service in a beautiful church with beautiful music sung by a beautiful choir.  The bride was SO beautiful and all the outfits worn by other principal people made them beautiful too!   The venue for the reception was beautiful, the flowers were beautiful, the food was beautiful, the weather was amazingly beautiful,  the speeches were ................ beautiful?  Well, really good!  It was all just so fantastic and I'm so pleased that everything worked out so that we were able to be there.

The happy couple

Hanbury Manor Hotel - the venue for the reception

Chinese lanterns lighting up the sky in celebration

On Sunday we were collected (all of us - dogs as well!) and taken to Mick and Lynn's for a barbecue.  It was really good to be able to sit and chat properly to people we have known for many, many years.

Now back to reality!

The Morning After the Night Before!

The Lowes have come to England

They set off to buy a car

They went to Waltham Abbey

Which from us was not too far.

They phoned and said, "Where are you?

We'll come over for a chat."

Them being them...... and us being us .....

It didn't end up like that!

The wine it started flowing

At first - the odd bottle or two

The decision to stay

Was made by Ray

And agreed by the rest of the crew.

The empty bottles became more and more

The wine had such a bashing.

A meal was shared

The cards were aired

The girls took such a thrashing!!

The chaps?  They just had all the luck

It wasn't that they were clever

Trouble is - they'll go ON & ON

Gloating about this for ever!

The next morning I did feel rough!

I really did feel ill

My stomach hurt, my head it spun

To think I do this all for fun!

Just give me an Anadin pill!

Why I'm the one always worse- for- wear

Goodness only knows

Hubby maintains his dignity

And so do both the Lowes!!

It was really good to see them.  They always take time out of a busy schedule to come and find us.  We shall look forward to seeing them again in September when they come to collect this new acquisition with the plan of driving it most of the way back to Cypress!  I hope that next time we sit down to play cards, they remind me of the last time!!  No Ray, I don't mean about the WIN - I mean about all those bottles! xxoo

The River Stort

They did come and find us on Sunday whilst we were moored up just below Waltham Common Lock right in the centre of the lovely Lee Valley Park.  Being moored here was just a bit 'up my street'!  Lots of pits, paths and bird hides which I could actually go in without having to get a special permit!  The dogs thought it was rather special too.  Despite it being 'on their patch' it was exciting new ground to Mick and Lynn.

The River Stort
On Monday we cruised to the junction with the lovely little River Stort.  Right from the beginning it was a delight.
We cruised to a little place called Roydon where we had arranged to Meet Mick and Lynn for a meal in the "White Hart" in the evening.  LOTS to celebrate:-

• Andy and Rhia's wedding.  We can hardly believe it!  Our most vivid memory of Andrew was when we were on holiday in France when he was only two.  We had stupidly locked our Datsun 280ZX leaving the keys inside!  Andrew (being tiny at the time!) was squeezed through the quarter-light to retrieve the keys. He was in his element sitting in the driver's seat pressing all the buttons and turning the wheel!  He did eventually open the door to let us in!  No surprise then that he is really excited at the thought of driving a really, really special Bentley as his first vehicle as a married man!

• The Big 'O'  Our very special friend, Mick, has just had a 'notable' birthday.  Bring on free bus passes and Winter Fuel Allowance!

• Friendships of Longevity.  Our friendship with Mick and Lynn is now entering it's 5th decade and that ......... is very special!

From Roydon to Hunsdon Mill is an absolute delight.

Hunsdon Mill Lock

Parndon Mill is a lovely spot too.

We are now moored up near Pishiobury Park and we walked to The Maltings at Sawbridgeworth so I could have a browse in the Antique Centres!

The Maltings at Sawbridgeworth

Information boards along the tow path assure me that I am in the domain of the water vole and otter!!!!

I have, I have and ................. at the Broxbourne Silvermeade Reserve I DID hear reeds being munched and see a splash!  No water vole though!

I do, I do!  All the time!!  And to no avail!  Never mind, it pleases me to know that I am at least sharing their chosen domain.  

Sorry about the 'waxing lyrical, Lynn but ................ it's what I do best! xxoo