After a wet night at Rickmansworth we pulled pins and headed down stockers lock and passed the farm which was the location for the TV series Black Beauty back in the 70s.
You cant pass this chap hanging around off the side of a disused building without taking a picture.
While filling with water at Coy Carp lock we finally met up with fellow bloggers George and Carol on their most impressive wide beam boat Still rockin’ . They kindly invited us on board for a cuppa and a look around . It certainly is a beautiful boat and the extra space the a wide beam offers is amazing. Maybe something to think about for the future.
After a night moored below Harefield lock we pulled pins at 09.10 and soon passed Harefield marina ,this is where the HS2 rail viaduct is planned to cross the canal. As you can imagine there are a lot of locals against it.
The next lock is Denham deep .So named as it is the deepest lock on the Grand Union canal at just over 11 feet. As you can see Carolyn was not that happy about walking over the gates with them being so high.
We have passed this boat a few times before and looking at the weed growing under the paddle wheel I guess it doesn't move a lot. Although it would be good to see it cruising down the canal.
The last lock of the day for us is this one at Uxbridge. With the Art deco design building in the background and the side wash pushing you across the canal as you exit the lock its always an enjoyable experience passing through here.
After a couple of miles we picked up a mooring above Cowley lock and settled down for the night. Its a very early start in the morning as we have a bit of along cruise ahead of us .More about that in the next blog update
Happy Days
Great pics. Lovely to read you've now met George and Carol. Are you headed to Paddington? If you are headed to London there is a book I recommend called A Curious Guide to London by Simon Leyland. It is available for Kindle as well as paperback. I checked it out from the library in Tring and fell in love with it so I downloaded it. It is full of amazing, unusual free oddities one can find all over London, like the extra noses for the statue of Nelson in Trafalgar square, the Russian spy drop in Mayfair, and dozens more fun and amazing things. Thanks for a visit back down the southern GU.
ReplyDeleteJaq and Les xx
Hi Jaq and Les, We are heading towards London as we have been lucky and got a mooring at Rembrandt Gardens . We do have a couple of guides on London ,but will have a look at A curious Guide to London. I doubt I will see much of Carolyn as she just loves all the shops and I don't. Still I expect we will enjoy our trip. Gary and Carolyn
ReplyDeleteWe've not only seen the 'paddle' boat moving but also shared a few locks with it a couple of years ago! It was great, crunching and graunching away. The owner doesn't take it out often as it takes a lot of looking after and fairly constant attention, but he was showing it off to his American visitors.
ReplyDeleteKath (nb Herbie)
I bet it was an experience to see it working. I suppose if it was any good there would be more of them. Anyway without people trying something different where would be.
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