Friday 25th September 2009

We continued our epic journey .......

06:25 a misty dawn at Denham Deep - an early start today

07:20 - the day is becoming much brighter now..

we set off at 9:30 and pass some 'interesting' water craft! ......

oh no, it's one of those gravel barges!! no problem it was only a very heavy wide-beam!
I wonder if this caravan got washed off the land in a flood?
??
that's more like it

a gravel barge being loaded at bridge 183

well executed mosaic mural in one of the bridge holes

new developments abound

the Nestle factory - the smell was delicious!

We arrived at Bulls Bridge at about 4pm and moored on the Tesco 24 hour stop

'Brunel' appeared from the the Paddington Arm junction. (Update) According to Waterways World December 09 Brunel was a business barge which was craned into Paddington Basin in 2004 as part of the redevelopment but failed to attract sufficient attention and was never occupied and so was ignominiously towed away!

it was being pulled by a tug in front and ..

being pushed by the one behind - it was quite an effort to do that left turn - again according to Waterway World Dec 09 about 30 tons of water was pumped aboard as balast to enable it to pass under the low bridges en route to Brentford and most of the mast and some of the superstructure was cuat away; the side doe was welded shut to keept the vessel watertight whilst on the tidal Thames.

We are saying cheerio to Porthcerri in the morning as we are going onto the Paddington Arm and they are off to Brentford.

Thursday 24th September

We got up especially early this morning to take a walk in the park before setting off again - I'm so glad we did - it was a fantastic morning the sun very bright and I was pleased with the pictures that I took. Just a few of them here....

Molly thoroughly enjoyed the freedom in the park

We eventually left our mooring above lock 77 at about 8:45 to collect water at lock 78 where we met NB Porthcerri and shared locks with them down to Denhem Deep.

Pat and Ian are out on their annual 6-week late summer cruise - they are not slow coaches as we are on the canal, I think this was the longest stretch we'd ever cruised in one go, but we thoroughly enjoyed it and sharing the locks made it all so much easier. They are also on their way to London and as they had mention that this was not their first time we asked if we could tag along with them as we were quite apprehensive about the journey into the capital (especially after reading the navigational notes in the Nicholson's Guide about the gravel traffic and to beware of their boats manoeuvring between Copper Mill Lock and Denham Bridge) - Pat and Ian said that would be fine by them. some of the lock-side houses are really pretty (but presumably no longer belong to BW)

cute!

must remember this on the return trip stopped to collect essentials and eat lunch at Batchworth Tesco good job he's wearing a safety harness or he'd fall! just below Copper Mill Lock - the current was very strong today - I take it that canoes use this area as a slalom

following Pat and Ian on Porthceri past some pleasant waterside properties before mooring up for the night below Denham Deep Lock.

Tuesday 22nd and Wednesday 23rd September

We upped stiks on Tuesday to continue our way south and cruised past Les on NB Valerie - he was chaperoning NB Heddwyn on what I think was her new owner's maiden voyage (a very good looking redhead). We continued on through lock 71 and found a nice quite mooring close to the canal side village of Hunton Bridge.

We went for a walk around the village and found a great studio who make and renovate stained glass - check out this website - Chapel Studios - we went inside for a 'nosey' - they were pleased to talk to us and show us what they were doing and what they had been working on in the past on renovation projects all over the world. Although I had my camera I forgot to take some photos at the studio but took these of the village buildings.

views of the local church

a very large redwood tree in the cemetery grounds

A once very imposing Langleybury House now all shuttered up

In its days of glory - built by Sir Robert Raymond, a lawyer and friend of Sir Robert Walpole, who purchased the Langleybury Estate in 1711 (see link above)

the old school house

On Wednesday we cruised on passing...

some very nice properties on the wayTurnover bridge 163

Clarendon Park Farm in the distance

and the beautiful Grove Bridge - the Earl of Clarendon apparently insisted on an elegant bridge when the canal was routed across his land. The current bridge was restored in 1987.

we ended a lovely day moored above lock 77 at Cassiobury Park. We got up especially early next morning to take a walk in the park before setting off again - I'm so glad we did - it was a fantastic morning the sun very bright and I was pleased with the pictures that I took.

Monday 14th - Monday 21st September

Sunset on 14th at Bulbourne looking towards the lock taken at 6:20pm before we moved off and moored up at Cowroast.

We're waiting for Sam from Foxton Boats to take out the gen-set for repair - he'll be with us on Friday; we'll move down lock 46 and moor up by the houses as there is access to the road from there.

In the meantime we did part of the Chiltern Walk over the hills from Dudswell and down to Aldbury and back to the mooring. It was another beautiful day and the scenery was well worth it - we even saw several groups of deer - tried to get them on camera but they were too fast for me - managed a few seconds of video but they were disappearing into the distance before I managed to see them through the camera!

Apacas - We'd never seen them in person before!

this white one was a real cheeky chappy!

he had to get into all the pictures!
told you!!
We walked for miles not quite knowing where we were and the came out of the trees to this vista of Cowroast Marina at the bottom of the hill.
back into the trees again - a lovely scene
the colours were wonderful
the village of Aldbury in the distance - time to get back to the towpath on the other side of the village after a lovely walk in the very warm sunshine.

the sky on Friday morning at 5:45 am

and again at 6:15am

Friday - by the time Sam arrived Rock'n'Roll had a 10degree list as the pound dropped dramatically, so as soon as he left we cruised down to Winkwell and found a good mooring just before the swing bridge opposite the Three Horseshoes. It had been quite a morning and we were worn out by this time, so off to the pub for a late steak lunch and couple of drinks, back to the boat and promptly fell asleep! We stayed for a couple of days here walking - we walked into Hemel Hempstead to B&Q for some bits and pieces.our walk from Winkwell into Hemel Hempstead took us past the Fishery Inn

and beautifully manicured lawns

The river Bulbourne runs alongside the towpath on this part of the canal and some of the residents had created lavish gardens using bridges across the river onto a small island and continued their theme onto the towpath - this one was quite stunning.

We decided on Monday 21st to move down to bridge 51 and moor there for a couple of hours while we collected post from the post office within WH Smith and then move on to a more suitable mooring for the night. We collected our post and wandered the shops. We eventually went down a few more locks and finally moored south of lock 69 for the night.

This picture was taken between locks 68 Nash Mills and lock 69; there were other BW boats on the other side of the canal also full of rubbish - is this boaters rubbish I wonder, it looks as if it's been there a long time - I can't imagine the vermin that it attracts.