Thanks a lot mate !

 

With Curly now back in Devon we pulled pins from Berkhamsted at 10.30 after doing a shop in Waitrose.Situated next to the canal as we leave Berko is a genuine Canadian totem pole. It was given as a gift to John Alsford when he owned the timber yard that was originally on the site where it stands. The carving is a fertility symbol and legend has it that women wishing to conceive should visit and make three wishes for the child they dream of.  We will stay well clear of this !!!!

With the advent of canal transport, Castle Wharf became a hub of inland water transport and boat building activity. It is still known as the port of Berkhamsted even to this day.

An unusual boat to see on the canals, but I bet it would be great on rivers.

This is the first winter mooring sign that we have seen . There was a volunteer checker taking boat numbers and he said out of the 4 boats on the moorings only one had paid the Winter mooring fee.

Thanks a lot mate !! No fishing on lock landings , that's the rule . With the edges very shallow before the lock landing Carolyn had a lot of trouble trying to get off to operate the lock. It then left me in the middle of the canal while Carolyn filled the lock. Mind you I did use the bow thruster rather a lot and gave it a good old bit of welly as I entered the lock. I hope I didn't spoil his fishing (Yes I do).

Unbelievable . We came out of the bottom of the same lock and there's his mate on the bottom lock landing. There are 2000 miles of canals to fish and they choose lock landings !!!

Some of the gates on this stretch are so heavy . On most of the locks you have to leave them empty after leaving and as we are going down hill nearly every lock is against us.

Carolyn liked the artwork on this boat called AFRICA.

Looks just as good from the front.

Carolyn just loves all that power of stopping the traffic. This is Winkwell swing bridge and it must breakdown more times than any other bridge. The last time we came through Carolyn opened it and then it wouldn't close and just before we got there today it had just been repaired yet again.

We are now moored just above Fishery lock near Hemel Hempstead and with heavy rain forecast we will sit it out here . At the moment we are in no great hurry to get anywhere ,so we will just take it easy and enjoy this unseasonal mild weather.

                                                                                              Happy Days