We pulled pins from Cowley at 07.55 and were soon into Cowley lock. As you can see there are still a lot of leaves about and it’s a case of putting Inca in to reverse and giving it a bit of a rev every so often to clear the prop.
The last time we came past here the bins were full just like this. Luckily we had very little rubbish to dispose of so we didn’t add to the pile.
This has to be one of the smallest Narrowboats we have ever seen . I said it would be good to have one as it would be ideal for Curly our Granddaughter to sleep in when she visits .Needless to say Carolyn was not impressed with my idea.
We both just love this building and always cruise past on tick over . It’s the Parexel building in art deco liner style and was built for the pharmaceutical manufacturer in 1991. It is on the site of a former rail station and before that, Sedgewicks Brewery.
The next lock up is Carolyn’s least favourite lock which is called Denham deep. I think it’s just the word deep as we have done plenty of locks that are a lot deeper than this one which is 11 feet and 1 inch deep.
It’s not that often that we see a Jay and I think this is the closest we have ever got to one. Although they are the most colourful members of the crow family, jays are actually quite difficult to see. They are shy woodland birds, rarely moving far from cover. The screaming call usually lets you know a jay is about and it is usually given when a bird is on the move, so watch for a bird flying between the trees with its distinctive flash of white on the rump. Jays are famous for their acorn feeding habits and in the autumn you may see them burying acorns for retrieving later in the winter which we think this one was doing.
Although we see plenty of these Tree Rats ,with this one fattening up on Berries for the Winter. The grey squirrel is a very familiar animal in the United Kingdom, despite not being native. It was introduced from North America during the late 19th Century and since then has displaced the native red squirrel across most of England and Wales, though not Scotland and Ireland.
Just up from Springwell and we came across this wide beam trying to steer in a straight line. In fact he was all over the canal and we thought that the guy steering was drunk. But it turned out it was a brand new boat and it had no ballast, so was near impossible to steer. We ended up passing him on the wrong side as his mate went up to the bow and pushed off from the bank with his pole.
We still cant pass this farm without humming the tune from the TV series which was made here back in the 70s. The series Black Beauty, which was filmed mainly at Stockers Farm, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, was widely acclaimed for its high production values and quality of writing and acting, and at times had remarkable English gothic overtones for a children's series.
You will no doubt remember this if you are as old as me, click on this link of Beauty saving the day and then galloping home https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Flvxbw8YYM8 !!!!!
We will now have a day in Rickmansworth and resupply the cupboards and wine cellar from Tesco which has a mooring right outside for boaters to do their shopping.
Happy Days
Luckily we were in Leighton Buzzard for their Christmas fayre weekend where the centre of the town is taken over by Fair rides and a market.
Carolyn said that she would treat me to a ride on this contraption . Her money was safe as there is no way in this World would you catch me on anything like that. I did say I would pay for her, but she declined my offer as I did hers.
It even goes on in to the evening and ended up being a very enjoyable evening out .
The ride looks even worse at night.
With Carol singing and even a family of Reindeer what more could you want.
One thing Carolyn enjoys doing is looking in the charity shops for a bargain. Well she struck gold in Buzzard with a brand new pair of genuine UGG boots and a new Sheepskin waistcoat all for under 20 quid. Just the ticket !!
