Cruising
A fleeting glimpse of Watford
Croxley Green is only just over two miles away from Watford town centre so on Monday, after a lazy start, we walked into town and explored the place. It was alright, a busy High Street with a large Intu shopping centre filled with all of the usual retail suspects.
After a wander around we dodged a heavy rain shower by ducking into one of the local Wetherspoons. A couple of drinks over a satisfying lunch let us avoid a drenching and when we emerged on to the High Street we saw that the sky still looked threatening and that there were a number of bus stops just across the road.
It wasn’t too difficult to make the decision to get the bus back to Croxley Green even though we had only had a fleeting glimpse of Watford. I don’t wish to disrespect the town but its centre at least doesn’t seem to hold anything unique for the traveller.
We weren’t too sure of which bus to catch and when we asked the driver of the 420 bus, he didn’t seem too helpful. Luckily enough, a fellow passenger who was sitting near the front of the bus told us that if we got off when he did, he would point us in the right direction. True to his word, he let us know when he was getting off and as promised, pointed us in the direction of the road to the canal. We had only just reached the boat when the rain started again and it continued on and off for the rest of the evening so we just spent our time indoors chatting about nothing in particular and everything in general – as usual!
Short hop to Croxley Green
In the time since I retired I have woken up at any time between 4am and 9am, no idea why but with very little to do each day it doesn’t bother me. On Sunday I awoke at 7.30, just a little hungover from the afternoon spent in the local Wetherspoons. For reasons best known to herself, Sue felt the urge to get up and get going so at eight o’clock she forced me out of bed and made me get the boat moving. The overnight temperature had been quite low so the early morning trip was a little fresh feeling to say the least but it did clear my fuzzy head! We stopped below Batchworth lock and carried out our services again and then set off. We didn’t travel far, three locks and a couple of miles brought us to Croxley Green where we found a good straight mooring with Armco lining the bank and for the first time since we left Kidlington on the Oxford canal, we were able to use our piling pins with a little spring at the stern giving us a really secure mooring.
Croxley Green has a village feel to it with a tube station, a couple of pubs and a few local convenience stores. In reality it is a suburb of either Rickmansworth or Watford although judging by house prices it’s probably still classed as a part of London. We had a wander around and did a bit of shopping after we arrived on Sunday but spent most of the afternoon sitting on the front deck of Caxton in the sunshine.
Journey Resumed
Having toured the north of England for a week or so with a few days at home in the Midlands, we travelled back to Harefield marina and resumed our journey. Caxton was just as we had left it and after we had dumped our luggage back on board, we walked to the nearby Bear on the Barge pub and had dinner.
We had a peaceful final night in the marina and the following morning moved on to the service wharf where we filled with water and diesel and bought gas, we got rid of our rubbish and other waste before settling our mooring fees and paying for our purchases.
Our exit from the marina had been hampered slightly by the boat which had tied on to us as we watered up but once we were free, the first thing to do was to ascend Widewater lock. We completed this task then headed northwards and negotiated another four locks before we reached the visitor moorings near Rickmansworth. Five years ago we spent a day here but this time we were able to devote a bit more time to the area. Rickmansworth has a good shopping area as well as a lovely park which has a couple of lakes where people can sail on one and water-ski on the other.
Using the excuse that we hadn’t had time to shop and replenish the larder, we had lunch in Prezzo on Friday and in Wetherspoons on Saturday.
Trains
Right from the outset we knew that we would have to break this journey in two. My mother’s 80th birthday fell on July 22nd and a family get together had been planned so soon after we left the Ashby canal we made arrangements with Harefield marina to leave our boat with them for two weeks starting on July 20th. We took the opportunity to do some family visiting at the same time and arranged to stay in Leeds and Sheffield after we had been over to Scarborough on the Yorkshire coast.
Much gets written about the state of rail travel in this country but we had no issues at all. We used Chiltern railways from Denham to Marylebone, Virgin East Coast from Kings Cross to York and Trans Pennine from York to Scarborough. Northern Rail carried us from Scarborough to Hunmanby and back a few times before Trans Pennine took us over to Leeds. Northern did most of the short trips around Yorkshire before Cross Country took us back to Hinckley via Birmingham. London Midland eventually carried us back to Euston and after a taxi ride back to Marylebone, Chiltern took us back to Denham. Every train was clean and on time. Every staff member that we encountered was friendly and pleasant. Maybe we were lucky but I suspect that most train journeys are like ours and no-one passes comment. As soon as a train is late or gets cancelled, the smelly stuff hits the fan and everyone jumps on the bandwagon.
We enjoyed our journey within a journey and it was really good to catch up with everyone. We also had an enjoyable few days back at home where we just took a few days out and visited some friends. Thankfully we were happiest when it was time to return to Harefield marina where Caxton sat waiting for us.
Harefield & Denham
When we were last in these parts, in 2012, we ventured no further than the local pub. With more time at our disposal this time around we took the opportunity to wander around the local communities of Denham, Lower Harefield and Harefield.
Denham is just a twenty minute walk from the canal and when we got there we found a handy parade of shops including a traditional butcher. Lower Harefield is a little closer and has a few shops including a post office, a chip shop and a Chinese takeaway amongst others. Harefield itself has a larger selection of shops but it is a good walk to get there and one that is uphill as well. We did that walk of course and then wandered down the other side to the Old Orchard where we enjoyed a lovely lunch. We continued our walk back down to the canal at copper mill lock and from there we walked back to our mooring above Widewater lock.
On the morning of Thursday 20th of July we turned around, descended back through Widewater lock and pushed Caxton into Harefield marina for a two week break; more of which in the next post.
Uxbridge to Harefield
Our mooring choice at Cowley Peachey had been a good one but on Tuesday it was time to move on again. We set off at eight and headed for Cowley lock which didn’t take too long despite our slow speed past the mile or so of moored boats. The lock was empty when we arrived so it only took a few minutes to get through and on to the service point above. We needed to do everything and the tap wasn’t the quickest that we’ve encountered so we made the most of it by running the washing machine and having our showers while we were there. Everything was complete just after nine so we untied and resumed our journey. Moored boats line the canal all the way through Uxbridge so we made slow progress until we reached the town lock. The weather was nice and we were in no hurry so we didn’t really mind the journey at tickover speed. Boats were moored three abreast below Denham deep lock but we’re narrow and the two boats which were leaving the lock were narrow too so we all had enough space. It made me think though that it might not have been so simple if we had a widebeam and were waiting for a similar size vessel to descend. Denham Deep is a big old lock so Sue took her time with the paddles and kept the water turbulence to a minimum so that I could keep control of the boat.
Once clear of the lock, we started looking for a suitable mooring close to Harefield marina and eventually found a spot just above widewater lock. We were pretty much in the same place that marked the furthest point of our trip in August 2012 on our first boat, Phoenix III. On that occasion we only ventured as far as the local pub, The Horse and Barge. Five years on and the pub has been renamed and is now The Bear on the Barge.
Uxbridge – London?
Uxbridge is classed as being in London despite the fact that it is about 18 miles from Charing Cross and although it has a tube station, the trip to Euston from here would take 50 minutes which is about the same time as a train trip from Rugby in Warwickshire would take.
Uxbridge Tube Station
The trains run overground here.
Traditionally in the East End of London, cockneys were defined as having been born within earshot of Bow Bells, the bells of St Mary-le-Bow in the Cheapside district of the City of London. Today it seems that to qualify as a Londoner one just has to be born within earshot of London’s orbital motorway, the M25 and the residents of Uxbridge would certainly fall into that category.
For the last month we have almost circumnavigated Heathrow airport and now we are probably closer to it than we have been at any point on our journey. Strangely enough, this location is also the quietest one that we have moored in with hardly any aircraft noise at all. This is because we are on a stretch of canal which runs parallel to the runways at Heathrow so arriving and departing aircraft are never passing overhead.
Our mooring lies about two miles away from Uxbridge town centre with its multitude of shops. Closer to hand is a Tesco and an Aldi so pretty much everything is catered for. The buses, as with those in Brentford, Richmond and Kingston are London buses and for those of us who live outside the London area and are unfamiliar with them, let me tell you how good they are. The bus fare is a flat £1.50 regardless of how far you are travelling. The buses are cashless, regular users use an Oyster card but for the casual user or “out of towner”, a contactless debit or credit card is acceptable. There is a daily charge limit of £4.50 so there is plenty of scope for travelling around. It’s impossible to know how much time is saved by the bus driver and admin staff but it does mean that the buses stop for just a minimal period at every stop.
On Saturday we decided to walk into town and explore the central area but we were caught out by an unexpected and un-forecast rain shower along the way. The rain was never very far away as we wandered around so upon finding that there was cinema in the town centre we decided to go in and watch the latest Planet of the Apes film. By the time we left almost three hours later, we had been suitably entertained and better still, the weather had brightened up and the rain had gone for the afternoon. We walked back to our mooring by way of the towpath and made a refreshment stop at the Malt Shovel which is just above Cowley lock. As we settled down, the Jam Butty boat appeared so we said a quick “Hello and Cheerio” as they headed northwards. We last saw them at Thrupp at the beginning of June, since when they have cruised the Thames and then toured the central London waterways.
We took another trip into town on Sunday and we were surprised at how busy it was for a Sunday morning, Uxbridge certainly seems to be a thriving commercial centre. After shopping for a few items we caught the bus back to the Tesco store near our mooring, shopped for some lunch ingredients and then returned to the boat where we settled down and watch the men’s singles final at Wimbledon.
Monday was yet another hot and sunny day but nevertheless we walked into town again, we didn’t need to do much but I wanted to get my hair cut. It was mid afternoon by the time we got back to Caxton and there we took shelter in the shade of the front cratch until the heat of the day began to subside.
Brentford to Uxbridge
On Friday morning we awoke to grey skies again, warm enough but dull and rain didn’t seem too far away. Our next destination was going to be somewhere near Uxbridge with a bit of luck so we got going at eight and reversed back to the service area where we filled the water tank before setting off on the beginning of our journey north. We knew that we would need to pass through at least ten locks and that would include the seven of the Hanwell flight. The flight is manned by volunteers and we had been given their phone number when we had reached Brentford on Sunday. The lock nearest to Brentford was no problem but the next, Osterley lock was terrible. Compounding the heavily silted waterway which was thick with litter, the lock chamber was full of all sorts of crap including a car wheel with tyre, three leather footballs and countless plastic bottles. Both gates had to be opened by Sue to allow Caxton to enter because both were blocked by the detritus behind them. Once we had risen to the upper level, we had to swap places because the top gates were almost impossible to shift. Eventually we escaped the clutches of this horrible lock and Sue made the call to the volunteer lock keepers to ask them for assistance through the Hanwell locks. We could see someone with the tell-tale trademark blue sweatshirt and red life jacket of a CaRT lock keeper as we approached the bottom of the flight. There are three lockies here and they have been volunteering for the last six years, we were very grateful for their help through this series of closely spaced deep locks. We were the only boat working through the locks but with our helpers it was a straightforward ascent. Eventually we left Norwood Top lock and started on the long pound between there and Cowley lock. The waterway below the Hanwell flight had been shallow and silted up as well as being troubled with a lot of litter. The canal above the flight was deeper and clearer but much of it covered in a carpet of green weed. Apparently this weed is causing trouble all over the London area, however we weren’t inconvenienced by it as we made our journey.
Since we embarked on this trip at the beginning of May we haven’t been travelling every day and when we have moved, we haven’t travelled for more than a couple of hours or so. Today was always going to be different because we had no intention of mooring anywhere south of the junction with the Slough arm of the canal. Admittedly we haven’t been this way before and we had made our decision based on hearsay, something that we usually try to avoid. There are many tales of boaters having trouble in certain locations which are very often just a case of the same story being repeated over and over. The story changing slightly with each iteration, giving the impression that the area concerned is really problematic. We decided that we would rather commit to a five and a half hour trip and take no risk of mooring in an undesirable spot. As we made our journey we saw nothing that suggested that we were being over cautious; the whole stretch, including the Bull’s bridge area, seemed a bit grim and uninviting.
At half past two we reached the moorings opposite Packet Boat marina which looked to be just the sort of area that we were looking for so we pulled up and hammered the pins in and then had a well needed late lunch.
Brentford Dock
Admittedly, especially after some of the places that we have recently visited, the sound of spending almost a week in Brentford dock doesn’t sound like a very exciting prospect. We stayed on our mooring from Sunday afternoon until Friday morning and it was a really good experience. As described in the previous post we spent Monday visiting Kew Gardens. The forecast for Tuesday was for heavy rain so we decided to stay put and wait for it to arrive. It came eventually but not until late in the afternoon, meaning that we had squandered most of the day; not that we had given up any plans to do anything. In the evening we noticed that the boat was listing, despite being at the bottom of the Grand Union, this stretch is still a river, the Brent. When we had tied up two days earlier, we had noticed that the water level was quite low and that with the amount of silt, we were actually sitting on the bottom. As we moved around the boat, strange noises came from underneath the baseplate, no doubt as the suction between it and the mud broke allowing water to bubble through. The heavy rain had quickly caused the water level to rise by around 9 inches and by eight o’clock, the ropes had tightened and created the listing to the port side. It only took a few minutes to slacken the ropes and rectify the problem and when I checked again a few hours later, the level had stabilised and we were able to go to bed in peace.
Wednesday was spent locally; a grocery trip to Morrisons, boat cleaning inside and out, chatting with other boaters and rounding the early evening off with a drink on the balcony of the Time Café Bar which overlooks the Brentford gauging locks.
When we had travelled from Teddington, one of the boats in the lock with us was a widebeam called “Miss T Morning”. We had moored near this boat on a couple of occasions as we had travelled down the Thames although hadn’t actually spoken to the crew. After leaving the lock, MTM zoomed off and had soon left the rest of us behind but as we reached Richmond, saw that they had pulled over on to a grassy mooring. We hadn’t factored in the possibility of mooring in Richmond with it being on the tidal section so we assumed that they knew the area, knew that there would be little mooring and had made sure that they were getting whatever there was for themselves. Nothing could have been further from the truth as I found out when I was approached by the owner whose name was Dave. He told me that they had in fact broken down and that was why they had pulled over. Their “mooring”, as nice as it had looked to us as we passed was an enforced one and they had spent the next 48 hours adjusting their lines as the tide came in and out. Eventually, they had managed to get a tug to pull them off the river and through the Thames lock and they were now sitting between that and Brentford gauging locks, still suffering with the movements of the tides although I suspect to a lesser extent than when on the Thames. RCR had been to inspect the engine but their analysis was inconclusive so a marine engineer was due to visit next. Dave said that all parties: RCR who had recently carried out the service, Betamarine who had supplied the engine and the boat builder were all trying to wash their hands of the problem. Very frustrating for the owners considering that the boat was just over a year old. As for the outcome, we’ll probably never know unless we bump into them later on our trip.
Thursday dawned bright and sunny so we walked to Richmond, some two and a bit miles away. The walk took us through Syon Park and passed by Syon house, the ancestral home of the Dukes of Northumberland and very nice it was too. It took us less than an hour to reach Richmond where we took a closer look at the weir that we had passed over just a few days earlier. As the tide goes out, the weir is created by dropping barriers from the bridge and this maintains a navigable level between Richmond and Teddington by holding water upstream; during this time, through traffic must use Richmond lock. When the tide comes in and the levels equalise, the weir gates are lifted allowing normal navigation.
Richmond Weir bridge.
Richmond itself has a bit of a seaside town feel to it, possibly because the streets slope down to the river and there is evidence of flooding near the water’s edge. It didn’t take us long to walk around the town and as it was still quite early, we jumped on a bus and visited Kingston again. The town was quieter than it had been the previous weekend so we were able to do a bit of shopping and have some lunch down by the waterside. After lunch we caught the bus back to Brentford High Street and walked back to the Docks.
The area around the dock is and has been redeveloped and although there is still building work going on, by this time next year it will be fully surrounded by apartment blocks. These are luxury apartments and the cheapest are over £400k for one bedroom accommodation! The area is well lit and quiet at night, pedestrians pass by during the day between the nearby Holiday Inn and the railway station so it’s all relatively peaceful save the noise from the railway and the ever present planes in and out of Heathrow. Full services are available including a pump out for those who need that facility. All in all it is a good mooring for anyone waiting to get on to the Thames or having just left it.
Braunston is only 93 miles away!
Braunston 93.
Kew Gardens
No complaints about our mooring in Brentford at all so after a peaceful night’s sleep we awoke and made plans to visit Kew Gardens situated just a couple of miles away. Neither of us had been there before so armed with no more than cameras, enthusiasm and a bit of cash in our pockets, we locked Caxton up and started walking.
Brentford High Street is like many of the greater London towns that have been absorbed into the metropolis. Somewhere between Staines and Hampton Court we had ventured into the enlarged London; the buses are red and carry the tfl logo and the businesses advertise 0208 phone numbers. Where the border actually is, I’m not certain but we had definitely crossed it.
By the time we had reached Kew Bridge we could see the tide was well and truly out leaving boats beached on the riverbed. When we returned four hours later, the tide was in and the scene had changed.
The view from Kew Bridge at 10.45
Narrowboats sitting on the riverbed.
Four hours later.
We weren’t disappointed with our visit to Kew, there is much to see in this huge park so once again I’ll let some pictures give the reader a flavour of the place.
Kew Palace.
The Palace back garden.
The Hive.
Davies Alpine House.
Princess of Wales Conservatory.
The watercolourist.
Gardeners hard at work in the sunshine.
The Palm House
A Chinese Lion.