Mr Thrifty

 

Common sense prevails

It was good to read nb Freespirits blog and find out that the problems on The Ashby Canal have been resolved. It appears that the local fishing club who resent the yearly canal Rally had claimed it affected their right to fish and complained to Natural England that boats were causing damage to the reed beds and wild life habitats on the canal. After a meeting with Canal and River Trust and Natural England it was agreed to put 200 meters of temporary nico-spanning to protect the reed beds during the rally. I would imagine that the Anglers are still not happy , but then when are they ever happy with boaters.

We pulled pins on Tuesday at 09.15 in beautiful sunshine and soon passed this Heron soaking up some rays.

The maintenance on a lot of the infrastructure on the canal system is certainly lacking and this lock is a good example. The lock leaks so badly that every time you leave the lock it has to be left with a paddle up so the lock is always empty when not in use.

Yet again poor maintenance. This is the Elsan Disposal point below Berkhamsted. There has been no water supply for a long time according to a local boater who was on the water point, and you wouldn't believe what it looks like around the other side where you empty your cassette. But with Elsan points so far apart you have no choice but to use it. I have sent an e-mail of complaint to Canal and River Trust , so lets see what happens now.

With inches to spare we just made it on to this mooring opposite the park in Berkhamsted.

After mooring it was straight into the Town and Carolyn's lunch out… Oops that look again….  “What's this !! you promised me a lovely restaurant” says Carolyn . When you get an 8oz Sirloin steak with chips ,peas ,tomatoes , Mushrooms and a pint for just over 8 quid and your middle name is Mr Thrifty you just can’t go wrong, and I'm pleased to say this visit to Wetherspoons was a lot better than the last one.

With Molly and Hamish booked in for some treatment at the local vets on Wednesday we will spend another day here and then on Thursday move up to Tring summit and start locking down hill again after coming up 45 locks from London .

 

                                                                                 Happy Days