Rediscovery Cruise: Day 17

We set off about 8.15, with Adrian bringing the boat while I walked up to the first lock.  It was empty with both bottom gates open.  Between that lock and the next one, we went under the Piccadilly Line.

When we got to the bottom of the Hanwell Locks, a boat was preparing to go up so we joined them.  There were three people on board, so I was able to go and set the locks ahead.  The thick of the flight is overlooked by the old Victorian mental asylum.

Before the final two locks in the flight, the canal goes over a railway, and both are crossed by a road.  It’s called Three Bridges — but is the railway line on a bridge?

A big plastic boat was going up the next lock, and the pound above was a bit short of water.  Fortunately a boat was coming down the top lock and ran down some extra water.  All this took a little while, so our rapid progress up the main part of the flight was slowed a little.  Our live-aboard lock partners wanted to stop at the water point, but as they were done for the day they said we could go first — so we filled the tank and began washing towels.  Once we were done we set off on the 6 mile pound to the next lock.  There was a lot of duckweed on the water, which turned the canal green.

Before long we were passing Bull’s Bridge Junction, where the Paddington Arm goes off to Central London.

I had heard that the Nescafé coffee factory a bit further along had closed, but I hadn’t realised it had been reduced to a pile of rubble, with just a framework left standing and new flats going up behind.

We passed Cowley Peachey Junction where the Slough Arm goes off, and then arrived at Cowley Lock just as a boat was leaving so we could go straight in.  Some kids with their dads were keen to help with the gates.  The lock cottage alongside is very attractive.

Uxbridge Lock was next, then it was under the A40 and on to Denham Deep Lock, which really is deep. It took a while to empty as only one paddle was working.  Once up the lock we moored in the country park.  We’ve also had a visit from our friend, Paul, so we’ve had a couple of hours catching up on the past few months.  You can tell we’re off the river and back on the canal: it’s the first time we’ve used a windlass since Day 8 of the trip, the first time since Day 3 that locks have exceeded miles, and the highest daily lock total since Day 2.

12 miles, 13 locks.  (246 miles, 126 locks)

Rediscovery Cruise: Day 16

 We set off in more bright sunshine at about 8.45, and saw ourselves through Shepperton Lock.  Rather than take the direct but dull Desborough Cut, we went round the island where there’s much more to look at.  Walton Bridge still feels new, and is quite impressive.

Sunbury Lock was on self service, but was full.  We waited for boats behind us, and soon there were four going down.  Hampton has a very attractive river side, with Garrick’s Temple, and Dave Gilmour’s Astoria floating recording studio.  Once again there was a man washing the windows; I wonder if they’re done every day.

At Molesey Lock, we joined a boat which was delighted to find that we were planning to go to Brentford.  They’d been having trouble getting hold of CRT to book Thames Lock, but knew that because we had a booking there would definitely be someone there to see all of us through.  Hampton Court always looks great from the river.

The next section was very windy, and at times the river was quite choppy.  But we made it through Kingston and moored up at Teddington at about 12.15.  We tried to talk to the lock keeper there to check our timings, but it’s impossible because of Covid measures.  Instead, we went and had a nice lunch at The Anglers (but better than last night’s dinner at Thames Court) and did a bit of top-up shopping at a nearby Sainsbury Local.  We then had a couple of hours to wait until the right tide time for the tidal section.  It was 3.45 when we headed to the lock, with Jan and John that we met earlier, and Gareth on another boat that also wanted to do the journey.  It took ages to get through, in spite of the fact that the difference in water levels was negligible.  We were put in the huge lock, which has gates half way along.

At first it felt as if we were struggling to move forward, then as the tide started to fall we sped along at almost 6mph.  Turning the corner towards Richmond there’s a great view of the Star and Garter home for disabled servicemen.

In Richmond itself, there were signs that it had been a particularly high tide, as roads were covered with water, and pubs were sweeping water from their gardens.  The path along the river was under water, with one guy picking up his bike and carrying it.

As expected, the half tide barrier was up, so we could go straight through the bridge.

When we turned the corner towards Brentford, the wind really got up.  The river is wide here and there were proper waves on the water.

The entrance to the Grand Union is not well marked.  We were looking out for a big silver sculpture and easily spotted it, but we couldn’t remember which side of it we were supposed to aim.  We made the turn and were soon on calmer waters and into Thames Lock.  The rise to the semi-tidal waters above was minimal.

The next section is always longer than I expect, with a few bridges.  Then at the Brentford Gauging Lock Adrian got off to press the buttons.  Once up the lock we were in Brentford Basin.

There were no moorings in the basin, so we carried on round the corner and have stopped opposite the GSK building.  It won’t be the quietest mooring of the trip, but it’s only for one night.  Jan and John have stopped right behind us.

17 miles, 6 locks.  (234 miles, 113 locks)

Rediscovery Cruise: Day 15

We woke to another sunny day, and set off at 8.30 with the sun behind Windsor Castle.

Romney Lock was on self service, and by the time Adrian had filled it two cruisers had turned up.  It’s a big lock, and we all fitted with room to spare.  Windsor Home Park is bookended by Victoria Bridge and Albert Bridge.  The two cruisers had sped past us, but we they were still waiting for Old Windsor Lock to fill when we got there.  This guy was directing traffic below the lock.

We went past Runnymede, where we’ve enjoyed the moorings on previous visits (while the last time we did the upper and middle Thames was way back in 2011, we did this lower section in 2014).  After Bell Weir Lock we went under the M25, which always feels more significant than it is.  The lock keeper there didn’t want to sell us an extra couple of days on our licence.

The riverside at Staines is quite attractive.  There are also decent moorings if you need them.

At Penton Hook Lock, the lockie was on his phone the whole time, so we couldn’t ask him about the licence either.  Chertsey Lock was on self service, so Adrian went to push the buttons, and ended up bringing up five boats.

We wanted water, and the water point is below the lock.  A widebeam who was already there said he’d be ten minutes or so, so we drifted about in the weir stream while he finished up.  It has to be said that once his tank was full, he didn’t make much of an effort to get his boat out of the way quickly.  We eventually got onto the water point, which is a bit on the short side for a narrowboat, so half the boat was hanging off the end.  Chertsey Bridge is immediately below the lock.

We started the washing machine while the tank filled, and then carried on to Shepperton.  There are a few places to moor here, and all had space, so we’re immediately above the lock, by the Thames Court pub (where we have a table booked for later).  We arrived about 2, and one of Adrian’s former colleagues, Tessa, came to see us as she lives nearby.  She brought three month old Thea with her, and we sat outside in the sunshine chatting and watching a steady stream of boats to and from the lock.  Later in the afternoon I re-set the loo as there’s a handy sanitary station at the lock.

14 miles, 5 locks.  (217 miles, 107 locks)

Rediscovery Cruise: Day 14

It’s a busy stretch of river at Bourne End.  Little boats were buzzing up and down all evening last night, and this morning the rowers were out pretty early.  We set off around 8.30, putting the stern out into the river in reverse to start with, waving goodbye to Vic on the way.  There are some lovely houses in Bourne End.

We went under Cookham’s cast iron bridge, where the channel is right over to one side, and the marker is a bit skew whiff.

A widebeam was going down Cookham Lock so we joined them.  Below the lock is Cliveden Reach, a very special part of the river, where you can moor in the trees or on islands.  Going this way, you have to look behind you to get a glimpse of Cliveden itself.

We had a bit of a wait at Boulter’s Lock, because the lock keeper wasn’t quite on duty and a lovely Dutch barge style boat was coming up.  We moored up below the lock, where you have to tie up to railings above your head, and had a visit from my colleagues Rebecca and Katharine.  We took them on a short trip through Maidenhead’s two bridges, the 1772 road bridge, and Brunel’s rail bridge, which has the widest and flattest brick arch, dropping them off on the far side.  There are then more lovely houses, including one which is for sale for a mere £7.25 million.

We had another wait at Bray Lock, because we had two narrowboats in front of us and the lock keeper didn’t think we’d all fit all.  I think we could easily have gone behind one of the others.  By the time it was our turn to go down, a widebeam had arrived — and was definitely too wide to fit in with us, so a narrowboat took their place.  There’s a lot of work going on at the M4 bridge, although I’m not sure what.

The Oakley Court hotel had tables set out on the lawn for a socially distanced and Covid-secure lunch.

Boveney Lock was on self service, and we went down with the two narrowboats in front of us.  We were all looking for moorings in Windsor, and we all got them.  We stopped in the first available one, on the end of Baths Island.  Once we were secure, we took a walk into town, which wasn’t busy at all; it’s normally swarming with tourists, and must be missing the Americans and Chinese.

We walked across the bridge to the Elton side, and continued along the High Street to Elton College.

One of the boats moored further along in Windsor is called Lockdown.  The owners were sitting out as we walked back, so I asked them if it had been a lockdown purchase.  It had been, so they said the name seemed obvious.

10 miles, 4 locks.  (203 miles, 102 locks)

Rediscovery Cruise: Day 13

The mooring at Caversham was good — really surprisingly quiet once the kids had gone home from the playground.  When we moored up yesterday, we noticed that the fuel boat, Merchant, was moored on the other side, and arranged for a diesel delivery this morning.  Stanley the dog appears to be in charge, and under his direction we took on board 121 litres.

We set off down Caversham Lock and found plenty of space on the Tesco mooring, so we could do a big restock.  It was 10.30 before we set off again, heading for Sonning.  Below the lock there was some tree surgery going on, so we had to wait briefly before we could go through the bridge.

Shiplake Church looks great high up on the hill.  Then Lower Shiplake, below the lock, has some fantastic houses.

At Marsh Lock we were fourth in the queue, but all got in the lock.  Going through Henley is also exciting, with plenty going on.

There’s a lovely Mill at Hambledon Lock.

Medmenham Abbey looked fantastic in the sunshine, and then there’s Dansefield Hotel high up on the hill.

We passed Bisham Abbey, and went into Marlow where we’d hoped to stop for the night.  However, the moorings by the park were completely full, so we had to go down the lock.  Marlow is still a very pretty town.

We had a couple of abortive attempts at finding moorings, including getting stuck for a bit, when a very helpful boater gave us a pull to get free.  We ended up at Bourne End, where we asked a cruiser if he would move up a bit to create a space big enough for us.  We are right in front of No Problem XL — so we’ve had a nice socially distanced outdoor chat and drink with Sue and Vic, catching up on the four years or so since we last saw them.

20 miles, 8 locks.  (193 miles, 98 locks)