Brown Balls
Posted: October 14, 2014 Filed under: Bobbing about, Dry land, Geeky facts, Moving on | Tags: Cheshunt, King Harold, Lee Navigation, Lee Valley Country Park, narrowboat blog, rain, River Lea, River Stort, Waltham Abbey 2 Comments
The Lee Valley Country Park at Cheshunt provided a great place to stop on many levels, there was even entertainment for The Murkster. But 3G was flaky. The moorings are popular and were pretty filled by the time we pulled our pins.
A short drop down a couple of locks landed us at a very handy spot for Home Bargains, Pets at Home, maggots via vending machine (?) and King Harold’s tomb. As with most kings who died in battle there are a certain amount of
conspiracy theories surrounding the arrow and the eye: any man who guarded his coast with such determination would have been buried by the sea shore; the tomb was a red herring… King Harold actually survive and lived out his days a hermit up in Chester…and many more. Anyhow, there were film crews filming what looked something like Time Team and so far as Waltham Abbey is concerned King Harold’s resting place is right there, under the high altar, with them.
One sack of brown balls is usually enough to send Murk bananas, so the arrival 
of five left him slightly overwhelmed yet happy in the closest he’ll probably ever get to greedy labrador heaven.
After a water fill and rubbish dump, we were back on the move, down through one final lock before parking up for a night on one of the last stretches of rural Lea before London begins to open up all around. Perhaps not as pretty as the Stort but
then the Lea has had a hard life – in the first half of the 20th century it was the UK’s ‘silicon valley’, site of an electronics revolution with the invention of the diode in 1904. Thorn MK, Ferguson, Belling and Amstrad all set up factories along the brilliantly functional stretch of water.
Mild tonight and the ceiling has finally stopped dingle dangling with rain.
Under The Rainbow
Posted: October 10, 2014 Filed under: Bobbing about, Renovation | Tags: chimney, narrowboat double glazing, River Stort 4 Comments
Not one turn of the prop happened today, instead we stayed put and winterised the boat – not in a drain and leave it kind of way but in a re-jiggling to make as much space for coal and dog food as possible kind of a way. The triple glazing went up too – lovely stuff!
With just a couple of boats passing by there wasn’t much action, although the whole area is 
teaming with swans and geese and sheep. With the chimney swept, anchor away, coal storage sorted, cupboards cleaned and windows plasticed we’re ready for the worst the winter can throw our way.
Same spot, another day, another lucky rainbow.
Towie
Posted: October 8, 2014 Filed under: Bobbing about, Dry land, Geeky facts, Moving on | Tags: Essex, Harlow, narrowboat blog, River Stort, Towie Leave a comment
The river continues to curl deeper into Essex and on towards Bishop’s Stortfort, but the rain continues to fall and the levels are rising. The pitter patter on the roof isn’t creating the cozy, comforting, snug feeling it usually does. The locks are neither here nor there, at 13.25ft they’re wider than single but not enough space for two boats meaning that r
oping is a certainty as the paddles are pretty sharp. Opened in the 1780’s the canalised navigation was originally part of grander plans to link London to Kings Lynn, main cargos included: wheat, beans, peas, flour, coal and pig
eon dung.
On past Parndon Mill that’s been immaculately restored since the 1960’s and serves as a creative place for artists with all sorts of skills. With a long history dating back to a mention in the Domesday Book the mill has fallen victim to numerous fires, due to the combustible nature of the flour milled from the grain produced from the rich surrounding farm land.
…And then we came to Harlow.
Moored just by the station, with a waterpoint just a boat’s length back it wasn’t rural idylic but there were plus points. Plus the town is just a short walk away. Brain child of world-renowned architect Sir Frederick Gibberd, the town’s promoters promise, ‘Whether you’re planning a few hours, a few days or a lifetime here, Harlow won’t d
isappoint.’ A New Town, built after World War II to ease overcrowding caused by bombing during the Blitz it boasts Britain’s first pedestrian precinct and ‘modern style’ residential tower block. With rail links to London Liverpool Street and proximity to the M11 it has secured itself as part of the London commuter belt. Like it or not, you can’t argue with anywhere that offers up Poundland, Wilkos, 99p Store AND Savers all one after the other.
It was set to be a quiet night since the trains have all but stopped but a car has rolled up, crammed full of passengers who seem to enjoy listening to the same thumping beats, over and over and over. Okay bring back the rain.
Soggy Lee
Posted: October 6, 2014 Filed under: Bobbing about, Moving on | Tags: Lee Navigation, Limehouse Lock, narrowboat blog, rain Leave a comment
It was a soggy day, hats and gloves came out for the first time and the continual shower of leaves really felt like autumn. Murk loved being rural and kept his head down without the slightest look to get back onboard.
The locks are slow to fill and heavy on the gates but the paddles wind easily enough. Just a couple of boats about plus one canoeist who bravely shared a lock with us – he seemed oblivious to the crushing potential, whilst we hung onto the ropes, acutely aware of the slightest 20 tonne tug in his direction. Crazy guy.
By early afternoon the rain had set in so we pulled over to the bank opposite the rowing club in Broxbourne and moored alongside a handful of other boats with smoking chimneys. Depsite a fair bit of washing, cooking and drying waterproofs, nasty condensation hasn’t taken hold yet.
By far the most exciting photo of the day was taken by a lovely guy we met on our ascent from the Thames, a great reminder of an exciting day – thank you Paul!
Down To The River
Posted: October 4, 2014 Filed under: Bobbing about, Dry land, Moving on | Tags: Bethnal Green, Camden, Islington, Limehouse Basin, Little Venice, Mile End, Millwall, narrowboat blog, Regent's Canal, River Thames, West Inida Docks Leave a comment
Time was up in Little Venice so we detangled our ropes from our neighbour’s, shuffled boats about, then stopped at the tap for gallons and gallons of water. The washing machine
was going flat-out for most of the day. Under Cafe Laville where Nick sent a few lattes, flat whites and green teas flying by testing the horn. Amazing how small London canal world soon squashes – turning down into Camden we passed our neighbour midway through a trip boat commentary. A top lock hanger 
joined us – as did a volunteer, which was a bonus. 
Camden was crazy busy, the lock gates double as benches, with some long-term sitters no longer recognising them as integral to the working of the lock. It took a while, but we emerged the otherside and began the run along 
to Kings Cross. The Islington moorings are few in number and strictly single moor but they’re very nice and have a waterpoint close by.
Bethnal Green wound round, and back, and in on itself, Victoria Park was packed with all sorts of boats and boaters – just about anything can pop out of a hatch along t
here. The light had begun to fade as we dropped through the final lock and 
into Limehouse – deserted compared to the last time we were here, we pitched up, the only boat hugging the concrete wall last night.
When the rain finally cleared and the sun broke through we walked down through Canary Wharf and 
beautiful West India Docks before ending up in Millwall – aside from a walk along the Thames the main purpose of the trip was to buy fire lighters…it’s not easy in London. Don’t Londoners have fires?
Back at Limehouse we moved over to the super sucky pump-out machine that managed to get right down to our green light. Yay. Fire lit, shit pumped and chicken in – even city life can stay relatively simple.
Cocktail
Posted: September 28, 2014 Filed under: Bobbing about, Dry land, Geeky facts | Tags: Bill Nighy, Covent Garden, Grand Union, Jared Odrick, Kensington Gardens, Little Venice, London, NFL Regent's Street, Speakers' Corner, Trafalgar Square, water 2 Comments
Forget asking to share mooring rings, guarding your offside from moor alongsiders and expecting any sort of gap between your boat and the next, London is a whole different ball game – one continual loop of musical boats where everyone ropes up to anythin
g that keeps them roughly secured to the towpath, it’s not that people aren’t nice, everyone gets along well enough, it’s just the way it is.
So, w
riting from a different patch of water from the one we’d expected to sleep on, we took advantage of this 
evening’s boat shuffle and hooked up to the nearest waterpoint before settling in for the 
night – possibly.
A far cry from some
of the dark, deserted rural spots we’ve parked up in, here the sky isn’t ever truly black and the towpath never sleeps.
A couple of days discovering and re-discovering 
London we’ve come across all 
sorts: NFL on Regent’s Street (good, but the drains were oh so stinky), Covent Garden, a lively Speakers’ Corner (not one for you SFR), Kensington Gardens, Trafalgar Square, the National Portrait Gallery (loved that)…
Bill Nighy’s back
The house boats across t
he water and the enormous Georgian houses beyond make for a pretty good view, meanwhile they get to look a stack of us boaters; one big cocktail of people all getting something from the canal, somehow it seems to work.
Living Local
Posted: September 26, 2014 Filed under: Bobbing about, Dry land, Geeky facts, Moving on | Tags: Grand Union, Kensal Green, Little Venice, London, Paddington Basin, Regent's Canal, South Bank, Tower of London, water Leave a commentDespite far less boat travel t
han normal we seem to have been all over the place this
last week, thanks to legs and trains. Our mental web of London continues to gradually grow and some roads are magically beginning to link up, making a few convenient loops.
Unfortunate eno
ugh to take navigational advice from SFR, AJ and UM arrived at Paddington 
having traipsed through most of London on foot – this wasn’t made any more enjoyable by a very large roll of rubber we’d asked them to bring along. It was lovely to catch up with the ‘la famille’ and with London dangling off tube stops it doesn’t take too long to get right back down to the Thames and onto the South Bank. The tower poppy display is spreading, apparently the appeal for volunteers to plant the ceramic flowers was overwhelming.
‘Home’ in terms of family is now just a 30 minute Southern Rail ride away (when there hasn’t been a fatality on the line that is), which feels so local 
compared to Manchester or Birmingham. Swiss Family came up trumps with a great book to aid our London adventure and it was brilliant to see so many familiar faces in one place!
Having maxed out our stay in Paddington Basin we untied an
d headed out for water in Little Venice followed by a mega shop at the mammoth Sainsbury’s at Kensal Green. Boats boats boats everywhere, every shape, every sort, pretty much anything goes. Little Venice is twinkling tonight, breasted up and not far along from our lovely neighbours 
from Paddington Basin, so far so good – although the far end, beyond the
designated visitor moorings has some pretty nasty bags of grot on the tow path and so much rubbish dumped in the water it’s actually impossible to moor.
It’s been a bit of a whirlwind last few days, but London life is beginning to shape up nicely.
Portobello Road
Posted: September 21, 2014 Filed under: Bobbing about, Dry land, Geeky facts | Tags: Hyde Park, London, narrowboat blog, Paddington Basin, Portobello Market, Portobello Road 2 Comments
Boris bikes definitely seem the way to go as at the moment we are walking our legs off. It was another
sunny morning so we set off in the direction of Little Venice and ended up in Portobello Market. The market dates back to 1870 when traders gathered to sell their horses. Busy s
treets, splashes of colourful houses, out of the ordinary things for sale and an energetic atmosphere made for an interesting wander. A long list of films, n
ovels and songs have sprung from various doors and shops – not least Paddington Bear who enjoyed elevenses on Portobello Road with Mr Gruber each day – resulting in clusters of flashing cameras in various locations.
A few areas are beginning to join together now, meaning we 
might manage our way home without following the blue dot provided we’re within a 10 minute radius of Pa
ddington Basin.
Legs hanging, we opened the door to a fresh and fully fueled Murk, eager for a walk, so after a very quick lunch we were back out – off through Bayswater and down to Hyde Park.
The moorings have busied up as the weekend has gone on, tonight was especially busy with boats circling in search of a space.
Bright Lights
Posted: September 20, 2014 Filed under: Bobbing about, Dry land, Geeky facts, Moving on | Tags: Banksy, Camden, Double Locks, Hyde Park, King Robbo, Limehouse Basin, Little Venice, Regent's Canal, Regent's Canal Dock, Regent's Street, water Leave a comment
Limehouse Basin was a lovely place to stay, boats coming up and heading out into the wider water provided regular entertainment, one especially beautiful yacht moored opposite – complete with a muesli eating, wholesome yacht boy. Originally known as Regent’s Canal Dock, in 1865 1,500 ships and 15,336 barges entered, it was expanded several times and often so busy you could walk the water by hopping from one boat to another. Changing water levels were interesting as with high tide the deep lock we rose in shrivels to barely a lock at all. The Thames effectively provides one large lung for London with stale air being pulled out and fresh bought in on the tides.
Leaving the basin
we faced our first double loc
k since the Huddersfield Broad. It was great to share with a couple we’d been moored next to, the ride up towards Camden has endless (mainly stationary) boa
ts and people all around everywhere. Split from our lock buddies for a while we headed separate ways for wate
r – turning up at St Pancreas Cruising Club it was clear that Nicholson has slipped in a not totally public waterpoint; luckily the guy was very nice and let us hook up, despite the tap not being the ‘free for all’ variety for over 30 ye
ars.
After passing the bridge where King Robbo and Banksy staged their well documented graffiti war, we arrived in Camden and worked through the two locks we first had a go at on a days training in 2012. It was a messy affair back then.
Through Maida Hill tunnel and past Regents Zoo, we entered Little Venice before moving on to Paddington Basin. Incredibly lucky to find two moorings available we pitched up with the crew from Black Bart who own chairs – and we like them – that’s the second lot of chair owners we
‘ve enjoyed spending time with now!
Loving London life so far, Hyde Park has Murk’s seal of approval and Oxford Street, Park Lane, Marylebone and Mayfair are all around a ten minute walk away.
Liz And Phil
Posted: September 16, 2014 Filed under: Bobbing about, Dry land, Geeky facts, Moving on | Tags: Eton, Eton College Fields, narrowboat blog, River Thames, Thames, Windsor, Windsor Castle 2 Comments
A misty start meant Cliveden House had vanished this morning. The sky began to clear as we travelled
down river passing some very elaborate homes, it seems a flag pole and boat are a must along this stretch. Not overly busy with pr
ivate boats today although plenty of French Brothers river trips were running. No horse racing to gawk at as we drifted by, just long long lines of sprinklers watering the course. Rounding the bend the castle began to come into view, with mooring available on either side and the island we opted for a night on Eton 
College Fields – Windsor is just 100m across the water.
The city was bustling as usual, still odd to see hotels we’ve stayed in and car parks we used before sussing out this alternative way to see England. After a walk through the shops and up to the castle we made a very quick trip to Waitrose.
Up on the roof and moored right
on the flight path Nick lost himself in ‘Planefinder’, point it at a plane and you get all sorts of interesting information down to details like how many seats are o
n each flight. It’s along the same lines as his M6 traffic reports – interesting for the first few minutes….
Still reeling from
getting caught for our first mooring fee this trip, enjoying the evening sunshine there was no escaping the ticket man marching along the riverbank. The further downstream we’ve travelled the higher we’ve climbed in terms of ‘neighbours’, not totally next door but we’re claiming Windsor Castle for tonight, Liz and Phil even helped with our tv tuning thanks to a surprising aerial poking out from a turret.
Marpessa2 