October 2 Leicester to Brentford
We had a difficult journey after leaving the car in Leicester. The
train was late, there was lots of walking on the tube with few lifts,
and the train from Vauxhall was not going to Brentford because of
vandalism on the track. We got off at Richmond and caught a bus to
Brentford. There, we had a McDonalds meal, followed by a half mile
walk to the basin and a quiet night in .... but aren't we lucky to be
having such holidays this year in Australia, New Zealand, Scotland
and England! Woo hoo!
October 3 Brentford to Bulls
Bridge (6 miles, 10 locks)
We squeezed out from behind the widebeam which had breasted up with
Annie, bade farewell to Brentford and set off up the ten locks to
Southall and Bulls Bridge. There was a huge log, 40cm across and 3
metres long in the second lock, plus loads of rubbish, so we flushed
out much rubbish and small branches. John got Annie in beside the big
log, which ended up behind her, blocking the bottom gates. We were
ok, but Liana rang CRT to alert them. The weather was cool but fine,
and we made good time, even though the locks were almost all against
us, and got up the “thick” of six Hanwell locks in three hours,
and had lunch. After, we completed our final two locks and passed
through Southall to the Tesco store moorings at Bulls Bridge, where
John squeezed Annie in between two cruisers. We did a big shop in
Tescos and had their hot roast chicken and bread for tea. It was a
noisy night, with motorbikes, planes, trains and automobiles keeping
us both awake at times ,,,,, odd, as last time John slept fine here.
October 4 Bulls Bridge to
Rickmansworth (13 miles, 8 locks)
The morning was dry but threatening rain, with a cool breeze. The
iconic Nestle factory has been flattened for housing, so there is
little left of the old industries here now. We reached Yiewsley and
passed Morrisons, then left the long pound and ascended Cowley and
Uxbridge locks. At Denham Deep Lock a gentleman came to help us (he
was waiting for his Boat Safety Certificate examiner to finish, and
was bored). Two more locks saw us at the Coy Carp Vintage Inn, but we
didn't stop (no beer October – sob!) until just before
Rickmansworth, above Stocker's Lock.
Saturday October 5 Rickmansworth
to Kings Langley (7 miles, 12 locks)
After a quieter night, John got up
early, made tea and had porridge and banana slices as part of his new
leaner regime (sigh). Setting off about 0800, we passed lines of
moored boats throughout the day, far more than two year,s ago even.
This shows that the (mainly young) people moving onto the water to
live in London cheaply have now spread all the way to Brentford and
up the Grand Union Canal to the M25 and beyond. Watford has the last
station on the Metropolitan Line, so liveaboards can commute easily
from here. Kings Langley and Apsley have rail stations too. We have
to say that we now travel at slightly more than idling speed, but not
enough to move boats. Otherwise, we would take forever, past
continuous boats. As many of these boats are not too well maintained,
the scenery is worsened, and it has made us think twice about coming
down to London again. The boating folk are mainly cheerful and
friendly, thankfully, although many are not too aware of the usual
boating conventions. Anyway, moan over.
Our first lock, Batchworth, has a lock
next to it where the river Chess joins the canal. There are private
moorings just above the lock. The next stretch of our trip was along
the River Colne until we turn up the River Gade valley, up Mead Lock
80. Just past this we saw the Metropolitan Line pass overhead.
We passed a number of boats coming down
the locks, which was a nice change, as we got help to work the stiff
mechanisms and heavy gates, thankfully.
Past more boats and near Croxley
station, we passed up Common Moor and the pretty Cassio Bridge Lock,
the nearest to Watford Metropolitan Line terminus. Cassiobury Park is
still one of the prettier parts of the canal hereabouts, as you pass
up the next three locks. Between Grove Mill and the ornate white
ballustraded bridge 164 is one of our favourite mooring spots. Just
after this the pleasant \lady Capel's lock precedes the M25 link
road. We filled up with reasonably priced diesel at Bridgewater
Boats, just before the two Hunton Bridge locks. The attendant was
both friendly and chatty. A local biking family were delighted for
their two children to help us through one lock: The boy had ridden
into the canal earlier, but was still keen!
Once under the huge high M25 bridge is
a good mooring spot, close by the Kings Langley station, where we
have left the boat before.
We moored about 2pm above Home Park
Mill lock 70, Kings Langley, so we could eat a late tuna sandwich and
crisps lunch. Then John watched Liverpool beat Leicester City with a
goal in the 95th minute – a close thing!
Monday October 6 Kings Langley,
Apsley and Hemel Hempstead to Bourne End (5 miles, 10 locks)
After a wet night, the forecast was better than expected. John
checked the prop shaft, plus engine and gearbox oil, changed the air
filter. The engine has been vibrating at low revs, plus the revs have
kept varying when the throttle is increased – odd. He has tried to
alter the throttle cable to adjust the idling speed, and checked the
two sedimentation filters for water and blockages, to no avail. He
has also added diesel bug killer plus Redex to clear carbon from the
engine. The next thing is to change the cartridge fuel filter
attached to the engine block, plus try Redex particulate fuel filter
cleaner and more Redex to clean out the engine. John's back is not
too good, so this will have to wait a few days.
Tuesday October 7 Bourne End to
Berkhamsted (3 miles, 8 locks)
Wednesday October 9 Marsworth
bridge 129 through Leighton Buzzard to Old Linslade church (9 miles,
12 locks, 1 swing bridge)
John's back is still fragile, so he has to move carefully. The short
pound between locks 38 and 37 was empty, so we opened the lock 38 top
and bottom paddles and waited half an hour for it to fill the pound
below from the mile long pound above. There seemed no obvious reason
for this, so we guessed someone had left paddles open, then someone
else had closed them, too late. We passed lots of moored boats after
lock 37, a boat club and marina before the three Seabrook locks, set
in scenic countryside near Cheddington and Ivinghoe. The day
improved steadily, blue sky appeared and the sun came out. A tractor
scared a small deer into breaking cover and racing across a grass
field beside Annie. The locks are more spaced out as you approach
Leighton Buzzard, so Liana could rest. A CRT chap helped us through
one lock, as he waited for a widebeam CRT workboat which was
following us. We had sandwiches and tea on the move.
In Leighton Buzzard we visited Tesco and Aldi, where we managed to
spend more than we should! We decided to move on past the three
abreast Wyvern Shipping hireboats , through Leighton Lock and moor in
the country near Old Linslade Church, away from the railway. Chicken,
Ham and Leek pie, mashed potato, peas and gravy went down well. TV
reception was poor, so we watched a dvd and read.
Thursday October 10 through
Soulbury and Stoke Hammond and Milton Keynes to Cosgrove (17 miles, 6
locks)
It's good to reach open countryside after all the towns. John felt
the engine still hunted at higher revs, but was ok otherwise, so
determined to change all the fuel filters at the first opportunity,
to make sure fuel flow wasn't restricted by sludge or diesel bug: It
shouldn't be, as we have put diesel bug treatment in recently. John
also put in more Redex to clear carbon from the engine, plus Redex
particulate additive, and checked gearbox and engine oil levels.
After a late 1000 start, we travelled down the River Ouzel valley to
the three Soulbury locks, Liana catching up on boat cleaning.
Liana began setting the top Soulbury lock when two volunteers
appeared. They hadn't seen us, and we were their first boats of the
day. They helped us through, Liana getting on board before we left
the bottom lock and waved farewell. They were the first volunteers we
have seen since the Thames, so we had assumed theyn finished in
October. At Stoke Hammond lock we met a Wyvern Shipping hireboat
(the first of five today) returning to Leighton Buzzard and helped
them up the lock. We saw more boats coming towards us today than we
have seen in a week! We also saw two Kingfishers!
The weather was cool, breezy but dry, so we kept going through the
tidy parkland and urban sprawl of Milton Keynes, through the scenic
Fenny Stratford lock to reach the newly refurbished railway painting
and derelict railway works at Wolverley. The weather stayed pleasant,
so we continued across the Great Ouse Aqueduct and embankment to
Cosgrove lock, ascended it and moored a few hundred yards beyond it,
in the village. We ate in and watched England play badly and lose to
the Czech Republic: Only Raheem Sterling and goalkeeper Pickford
played well.
Friday October 11 Cosgrove to
Stoke Bruerne (7 miles, 7 locks)
Happy Birthday, Sarah!
It rained all night but was dry this morning, so we set off. Liana
caught up with our written log. John nearly crashed the boat while
trying to photograph a kingfisher which stayed on a branch as Annie
motored past! It was very windy, so this made steering more
difficult, too.
The engine was still imperfect, so we stopped at Baxter Boatyard
(Kingfisher?) at The Wharf, Yardley Gobion, where the friendly lady
and excellent engineer sorted out three fuel filters (we have an
extra water separator filter (added before we crossed The Wash), a
sedimentation filter plus the usual cartridge filter on the engine).
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| the standard fuel filter has a smaller bottom pan |
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| Diesel fuel filter (water separator collects H2O at the bottom |
He had a look in our engine compartment to make sure we got the right
ones – impressive. John made sure no diesel would be spilt into the canal. A white cotton woolly bilge sausage absorbs fuel and oil, but not water.
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| Stoke Bottom L:ock with services on right |
Arriving at Stoke locks, a boater descending helped Liana with the
bottom lock. A single hander arrived going our way, so we ascended
the first five locks together, but didn't really get into a routine.
He moored in the longer pound before the penultimate lock, where
water was pouring over the bottom gates as a boat entered from above.
Liana and this boater worked together. Once Annie was in and this
lock filling, Liana went on to the top lock, to find two boats
descending. We swapped with them and ascended the top lock in heavy
rain.
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| Stoke Top Lock |
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| posted at Stoke Bruerne |
Once up the locks, we moored not far beyond the museum and the Boat
pub, and had a well deserved cheap meal in the Navigation pub.
Liana's pie very tasty, with lots of meat and pastry, although this
suffered a little from being microwaved, not heated in an oven.
John's soup starter, burger and chips and Liana's apple pie pudding
were good, also, for the princely sum of £21. We visited the museum
shop, where John admired the barrel and horse feeding trough,
decorated by our friend who gave us one of his pictures at Worsley
(his name will come back to me!!). Work by our other favourite
painter, Terence, was also on display. The books for sale are ok, but
the best ones for John are on the large secondhand bookshelf: He
bought two canal books, “Hold on a minute” by Tim Wilkinson and
“Journeys of the Swan” by John Liley.
John fitted the filters and checked one or two fuel pipes for
blockages, getting soaked by a cloudburst when half way through!
Saturday 12 October Stoke Bruerne
to the New Inn, Long Buckby (16.5 miles, 7 locks)
After breakfast, John could smell diesel, then found one of the
filters was dripping fuel. He dismantled it and fitted the rubber
seal correctly, but quite a few litres of fuel had been wasted. He
used our supply of nappies and rubble sacks to soak it up and Liana
disposed of them in nearby skips. He deployed a white “sausage”
in the bilge, which soaks up oil and fuel but not water, to avoid
polluting the waterway.
Thankfully, the new filters seem to have worked. The engine sounds
and works much better, so the old filters must have been blocked.
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| Blisworth Tunnel |
We passed NB Scruffy Fox in Blisworth Tunnel. The poor chap asked us
to switch off our tunnel light, which was dazzling him, which we did:
First time we have ever been asked to do that! The light is still the
old fashioned type, which I was thinking of replacing, but it is
obviously bright enough! Liana had adjusted the lamp so it was aimed
forward at the ceiling, so we were surprised the gentleman had a
problem. We have been dazzled by bright new lamps shining
horizontally in tunnels, so we know the problem, however.
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| Blisworth |
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| Blisworth Marina, Gayton |
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| NB Hawk at Nether Heyford, an idyllic spot |
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| the new road bridge North of Weedon. It has a memorial bench to one of its engineers beneath |
After passing through Blisworth and emptying loo holding tanks at
Gayton Junction services, we continued along the quiet, scenic
fifteen mile pound to Whilton Marina. We spotted a boat entering the
bottom lock, so Liana managed to get off and have a chat, and they
waited for us at the second lock. This boater had his elderly mum
with him, so he was essentially single handed, but we worked well
together to get up all seven Buckby locks very efficiently: Liana
opened the bottom gates, started one top paddle filling once we were
in, then walked up to set the next one. Our companion nimbly use the
lock ladder, helped and then closed the top gates before catching up
with Annie at the next lock up.
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| there are some lovely houses and gardens at long Buckby |
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| Liana operating the Top Lock, Long Buckby, by the New Inn, where we ate |
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| skilled boater we ascended Buckby Locks with (sorry I didn't get your name) |
We all moored up for the night near
Norton Junction. We chose to eat pies at the New Inn, after which we
had a quiet night in.
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| ready for tea at the New Inn! |
