Up the Grand Union and roping through Lock 71

There has been a pause in our blogging because Ian had to go home for a hospital appointment. Such are the downsides of getting older. However we are now back together on Leo and we can bring you up to date. We are moored tonight at Apsley just short of Hemel Hempstead. We have  been concerned about North Grove Lock (lock 71) which is in a sorry state with only one gate that opens and where Canal and River Trust people work your boat through for you on ropes. Had this lock failed altogether, our only way north would have been back to the Thames and round via Oxford. Anyway we came through lock 71 this morning and all is well. So here is an account of the last few days..

Last Thursday (20th August) we left the Slough Arm behind us and this is Cowley Lock, the first of many locks gradually climbing towards the Chiltern Hills. We had not appreciated on previous trips along this canal that it is really a river navigation following first the River Colne and then the River Gade. Quite often there has been a considerable flow of water against us as the rivers and the canal frequently share the same course.

Soon we came to Denham Deep Lock, the deepest on the Grand Union at 11 foot and 1 inch deep.

Below Copper Mill Lock the river comes into the canal from the right and can throw the boat sideways if you are not prepared for it. Two channels of river come in just beyond the bridge you can see.

Here we are moored below the lock having crossed the two streams of water. The foamy water shows where the second flow comes in.

Above Copper Mill Lock a navigable backwater stretches to the left with a terrace of cottages alongside. This photo is taken looking back and the lock is to the right. We moored above the lock and enjoyed a walk back and then along a footpath on the hillside above the canal on a sunny afternoon.

On Friday we carried on, soon passing this fine sailing barge. Getting under the bridges might be tricky, but the mast is hinged so that it can be lowered.

We moored on Friday at Croxley Green. Disappointingly the canal around here is lined by poorly kept (one might reasonably say tatty) residential boats leaving little or no room for boaters passing through. This situation carries on for mile after mile and is pretty dispiriting. We have seen this in central London but were not expecting it out here. Once through Rickmansworth things improved. While we were mooring between two 'crusty' boats the one behind us came loose at the stern and drifted across the canal in the strong wind. Having securely moored Leo we rescued the other boat which had by then turned nearly 180 degrees and was lying at an angle alongside Leo. Helen leapt aboard it and got hold of the mid line and we pulled it back into its own bit of towpath but the other way round. The owner then appeared. He had been asleep down below! From the mooring we walked across Croxley Moor which has strange anthills seen in the photo above. This is a wild tract of land surrounded by suburbia.

On Saturday we tried to get out of Crusty Boat Land and here you see Leo waiting for Cassio Bridge Lock. The blue bridge behind is London Underground whose proximity might explain all the residential boats.

This is one of the Cassiobury Park Locks. The old lock keeper's cottage here is well kept and attractive.

We were looking for a nice safe mooring where Helen could stay on the boat for a few days while Ian went home for a hospital appointment. Round a corner we found just the spot opposite The Grove Mill near Watford. Not a tatty boat in sight and plenty of sunshine to keep the solar panels happy.

This view of the mill is taken from just round the bend from our mooring.

On Sunday we left Leo and went for two trips - on bikes in the morning and on foot in the afternoon. Here we are at Hunton Bridge top lock with another pair of well kept cottages. We cycled up to Lock 71 which is the one with the problems, but more of that in a minute.

In the afternoon we walked the other way along the canal and explored Cassiobury Park which is a wonderful area well used by the people of Watford. Unusually there is a croquet club here and two croquet lawns which were both being used.

And for the kids there is a miniature train with a real steam engine, though we weren't quite sure how it was fuelled, but probably not with coal. We didn't go on this one.

On Monday Ian took the train home from Watford Junction and returned on Wednesday.

Having returned to Leo we decided to move up three locks to moor overnight just below the poorly lock 71. Here is Leo in the top lock of the two Hunton Bridge Locks.

Here is a lovely picture of Leo waiting below Lock 71 taken this morning.

And a couple of teasel heads close to the lock.

This shows the problem with Lock 71. The right hand gate (as you look at it in the photo) is severely damaged and CRT chaps have strapped it firmly in place so that it is immovable. Of course this means that it can only be navigated by narrowboats and not widebeams. That is until a foolish chap with a narrowboat towing two widebeam cruisers decided he would go through, come what may. We are told that CRT are pursuing him for criminal damage. Such thoughtless action may well have put the lock out of action for everyone else but fortunately CRT have restored it safely for use by narrowboats again.

Here is another view showing how the lock beam is supported and the hinge strapped back.

The arrangement at the moment and for another 10 days until the canal is closed to replace the gate, is for CRT employees to pull boats through on ropes at 10 am and 2 pm each weekday. No-one is allowed on the boats while going through the lock. Here we are waiting to follow Tilda through the lock.

John and Elliot from CRT towed the two boats into the lock. John is now towing Leo into the lock to join Tilda.

John (left) and Elliot (right) are securing Leo before closing the single bottom gate that still works and then opening the paddles at the top.

And now the boats are up in the lock and Elliot and Helen are pulling Leo out.

After pulling the boats forward we were allowed to reboard, start the engines and carry on. Many thanks to Elliot and John for making it possible for us to get through the lock.

We shared a few locks with John and Sue on Tilda before reaching this interesting double arched bridge at Apsley.

With heavy rain forecast this afternoon we decided to stop one lock above here on offside moorings convenient for Sainsbury. The rain didn't start properly until after 5 pm so we managed to do the shopping and have a local walk. The area used to have many paper mills, presumably powered originally by the River Gade and there is a working paper mill with a visitor centre nearby. Unfortunately it was closed by the time we got there - it seems to be open on Thursdays from 10am till 4pm.

In the next few days we will be doing a lot of locks as there are another 21 in the 7 miles to the summit level at Tring. At the top we will be considering an excursion onto the Wendover Arm and the narrow canal down to Aylesbury. We will tell you all about that in the next update.