Out on the tide and a wet day to Slough

We're back on the canals after 3 weeks on the Thames and we've had some interesting times so this blog brings you up to date.

We'll start off at our mooring on Saturday (15th August) at Hampton Court. The parrot-like birds in the tree by the mooring are green parakeets which have gone wild around the rivers and canals in the south east. They have a distinctive raucous cry and congregate in trees in the evening. Very tropical looking.

It seems to be a good year for acorns as this tree near our mooring shows well.

It is a lovely mooring at Hampton Court and free for 24 hours if you register online but there is no need to book in advance. The passing traffic is interesting - this is Yarmouth Belle passing us.

We had a booking to go through Brentford on Monday and so just pootled down to Kingston on Sunday and used another free 24 hour mooring above the bridge seen in the background. We walked up to the house we owned when we were first married and then carried on for a stroll and a picnic in Richmond Park.

On Monday we went just a couple of miles downstream to Teddington Lock shown here in this view from the footbridge. Beyond Teddington the Thames is tidal and you have to time your trips to coincide with the tide times. High tide on Monday was 14.30 here so we arranged to go through the lock around 14.00. Once we had tied up to wait, it poured with rain but fortunately stopped before our time to leave.

Here we are in Teddington Lock with another narrowboat called 'Neverland'. We only went down about 3 feet and then the gates opened and we were out on the tide with nothing to separate us from the North Sea, though at present Hammersmith Bridge is closed to all river and land traffic so we couldn't go to sea even if we wanted to.

At first there was a slight current against us as the tide reached its full height. Here we are approaching Richmond and you can see the Star and Garter home for ex-servicemen and women on the right at the top of the hill.

Richmond is very attractive from the river and by this point the current was pushing us along towards the sea as the tide had turned. Ahead in the photo is the 18th century Richmond Bridge.

Now when I said that there was nothing between us and the sea, that wasn't quite true. Here we are coming to Richmond Half Tide barrier and lock. For 2 hours before and after high tide this barrier is lifted and you can cruise straight through. Otherwise the barrier is lowered to hold the water above the barrier and boats have to go to the right through the lock. This structure was built in 1894 to hold water in the stretch between here and Teddington.

We passed some colourful boats in a boatyard at Isleworth.

After passing Syon House and Park on the left we needed to keep an eye out ahead for the turn left onto the Grand Union Canal. By this point the tidal current was sweeping us along downstream towards Kew Bridge, so the turn has to be done carefully with plenty of throttle or you can finish up struggling back against the current. In this picture we are pretty well off the river but Neverland following us is being swept sideways downstream to the left as it makes the turn.

Lots of boats line the canal as we approach Thames Lock.

In the distance is Thames Lock which you might think is the end of tidal water. However, the River Brent above the lock is still partially tidal. We learnt from the volunteer lock keepers at the Gauging Locks (see below) that the high tide pushes open the lock gates and increases the level in the river above.

Half a mile beyond Thames Lock we came to the Gauging Locks shown here. Boats were measured here to determine how much cargo they were carrying and thus to determine the price they were charged to continue up the canal. Above these locks (two locks side by side) the water is no longer tidal but we were still on a river - the Brent rather than the Thames.

We moored jjust beyond the railway bridge and went for a walk around Brentford and into Syon Park. This is Syon House which we had also seen from the Thames.

And from the Thames side you can see a lion! Given our fascination with lions we had to find it and take a picture.

Yesterday (18th August) we set off on the Grand Union. Working boats used to take four days to reach Birmingham from here. We are not intending to go that fast. Once through the first lock - Clitheroe's - we passed under this fine cast iron bridge called Gallows Bridge. It was constructed in 1820.

Strictly the first part of the Grand Union is a river navigation along the River Brent and it is only after the bottom lock of the Hanwell flight of 6 locks that the canal climbs away from the Brent. At the top of these locks the canal goes through 'Three Bridges' where a road crosses the canal which simultaneously crosses a railway. Here you can see the view looking down to the railway from the canal. We've not seen anything like this elsewhere.

Two more locks follow the flight of 6, so we climbed a total of 10 locks on Monday. This is the view of Leo coming out of the final lock as Helen closes the gate behind the boat.

Above the locks there was a lot of duckweed. It was like cruising a boat across the lawn.

A few miles above the locks we came to Bulls Bridge Junction. If you turn right under the white bridge the Paddington Arm leads into London to Paddington Basin where the canal joins the Regents Canal and thence to junctions with the Thames at Limehouse and the River Lee heading to Ware and Bishops Stortford. But our way was to go straight on on the main line of the Grand Union towards the Midlands.

The clouds gathered and encouraged us to stop for lunch. This proved to be a wise decision as the rain poured down and then stopped allowing us to continue in the dry. We turned left onto the Slough Arm, a five mile canal to a basin at Slough. The Slough Arm was one of the last canals built in the UK having opened in 1882. It was built to connect several brick works so that the bricks could be transported into London. We moored just round the corner and decided today (Wednesday 19th), despite the rain, that we would go down the Arm to the end. Last time we came this way the Arm was very silted and difficult to navigate but we had heard that it was dredged recently so we thought we'd give it another try. And the Inland Waterways Association offers Silver Propellor points for visitors. This scheme is designed to encourage boaters to use less frequented waterways. The Arm begins with three aqueducts this one being over the River Colne.

The first part of the Arm was well covered by duckweed but this didn't inhibit us. Later there was a combination of blanket weed and plastic litter which wasn't so easy to get through.

At the end of the Arm was a small basin and space to turn a full sized narrowboat. Here Helen is celebrating our wet arrival.

This picture is taken from the end of the Arm and shows Leo on her own in this unfrequented spot on the waterways. The basin is not a very attractive destination and is not provided with mooring rings. Given the rain, we were not tempted to explore Slough and stopped just long enough to dry out and have a hot drink and then set off back towards the main line.

Here is the debris taken off the propellor on our arrival, a mixture of blanket weed and plastic bags. Ian went down the weed hatch three times on the way down and only once on the way back. So if you are going to Slough be prepared to go down the weed hatch! The canal itself is a lot more rural than we expected and we saw several herons and at least one kingfisher.

The canal has certainly improved since we last came this way in 2012 with the basin cleared of the rubbish we saw then. The Friends of the Slough Arm must be thanked for helping keep the towpath tidy no doubt. We were also pleased to see these mileposts recording the distance to the basin on one side and the distance back to the junction on the other.

So tonight we are moored where we were last night near the junction and will carry on tomorrow up the Grand Union towards the midlands. Hopefully the weather will be better than today.

Down to Hampton Court

We are moored tonight near Kingston Bridge and tomorrow we are booked to go out on the tidal Thames from Teddington to Brentford where we will say goodbye to the Thames which has been our companion for the last 3 weeks or so. Here is an account of our journey from Reading to Kingston.

This is just one of many huge houses next to the Thames. We'd hesitate to speculate how much this might be if it came on the market, but many millions. The house is at Wargrave soon after we set off on Wednesday (12th August).

At Marsh Lock we met this superb barge coming out. She is a Humber Keel built at Thorne to carry 100 tons of grain between the docks in Hull and Doncaster. She was the last vessel built in the UK to carry cargo under sail. Have a look at https://hkdaybreak.wordpress.com/ if you would like to know more.

Here we are below Marsh Lock coming through Henley towards the church and the bridge.

Below Henley we passed Temple Island shown here. There seems to be a new convention of going to the right of the island here whereas our Nicholson's guide said keep to the west - which we did. We seemed to offend one rower.

This unusual building is St Mary's Abbey at Medmenham.

Wednesday was another roasting hot day so when we spotted a mooring under horse chestnut trees below Hurley Lock it was too good to miss, even if it did cost us £7 to the local farmer for overnight mooring.

After cooling down with our now customary swim and waiting for the heat to abate towards evening, we went for a walk around Hurley and found this large tithe barn.

Thursday was not quite so hot and we started the day by passing through Temple Lock which is approximately half way between Oxford and London. Below the lock is Bisham Church and Abbey.

Marlow is every bit as scenic as Henley with its church right by the suspension bridge.

When we visited Budapest we discovered that the Elizabeth bridge there over the Danube was built by the same chap who built the bridge at Marlow. His name was William Tierney Clark.

Just below the mooring pontoon for Marlow Lock we found this coot's nest with two young birds being fed by their parents.

Here is the view looking back from the lock towards the bridge. Notice the long weir on the left. This could be a real problem if the river was running high but fortunately it wasn't.

Now contrast this modest house beside the river at Bourne End with the huge pile at Wargrave shown above. Not nearly so ostentatious and much more our style. Cheaper too.

Beyond Cookham and its lock is a long straight wooded reach with islands where you can moor. The land belongs to the National Trust who also own Cliveden, the house on the top of the hill shown here. This house has a certain notoriety being the site of much of the goings on in the Profumo affair in the 1960s.

Boulters Lock follows Cliveden and, as you can see, it was well packed with boats. 'Gay Lady' to our left is heading to Gravesend, a lot further down the tide than we would consider going with Leo.

We spied a long queue ahead of us at Bray Lock and fortuitously noticed a gap in the trees with a bit of shade. So we contrived a mooring in the gap, tied to trees at both ends. It proved to be a good spot on the towpath so allowing a short walk when it got cooler. On our walk we followed part of the Jubilee River which was built to run parallel with the Thames to avoid flooding Windsor.

We'd love to show you a picture of Windsor in brilliant sunshine but sadly that wasn't possible on Friday. So this photo won't make the calendar this year. It still remains impressive coming through Windsor and beneath the famous castle.

At Old Windsor Lock we waited for the lock (we do a lot of that on the Thames) and when it emptied out came 9 of these little day boats. Never seen so many all together.

We found some good free moorings at Runnymede and went for a walk in the evening to explore all the memorials on the hill and below. This is the first we came to - the Air Forces Memorial. Unfortunately it closes at 4pm we were too late, so this photo is of the back of the memorial as seen from the locked gate. This is the one memorial that you can see from the river and is on the top of the hill above.

Further on and lower down the hill we found the J F Kennedy Memorial on an acre of land that we have given to the United States. The text at the bottom of the memorial was part of JFK's inaugural address and reads "Let every nation know whether it wishes us well or ill that we shall pay any price bear any burden meet any hardship support any friend or oppose any foe in order to assure the survival and success of liberty." Can you imagine the present incumbent saying anything quite so profound?

Continuing the American theme this memorial was built by the American Bar Association. However it is to commemorate the signing of Magna Carta by King John and his barons in 1215. There is widespread recognition that this forms the basis of legal justice in jurisdictions all over the world.

On our walk back to Leo at the foot of the hill we came across this uninspiring concrete cylinder. It is called 'Writ in Water' and you have to venture through a passage into the inside to learn why.

In the middle of the cylinder is a second smaller cylinder which you walk round until, on the opposite side, is a passage to the centre and a circular pond with  a clear roof above it and with upside down writing around the rim which reflects in the water the right way up. We hope you can get an idea of this from the picture. The text is from the introduction of the Magna Carta document.

Yesterday we had quite a long cruise primarily because we couldn't find anywhere to stop where we wanted to. Here we are about to go under Chertsey Bridge with more heavy grey skies.

In this photo we are looking back to Shepperton Lock. Had we turned right here we could have gone up the River Wey Navigation. Had it been earlier in the year we might well have done so and we still hold an ambition to take Leo the whole way up the Basingstoke Canal. However we don't have sufficient time this year what with Covid delays, so that will have to wait for another time.

The pub where we were hoping to moor (The Weir at Sunbury) had poor moorings and loud music playing so we carried on. The reach between Sunbury and Molesey Locks has gained a reputation for 'gypsy' boats moored all over the place and refusing to move on when challenged. Here are two examples of rubbish tips on the water. The Environment Agency really needs to get a grip on this issue because this part of the river is quite spoiled by these people flouting the rules. Where these boats are not obstructing short term moorings, the shore of the river is too shallow to allow boats to get close as we tried several times. We had arranged to meet Helen's cousin, Nina, on this stretch but because of the problems we finished up having a conversation with Leo wallowing just off the shallows and Nina standing on the bank!

And here, complete with grey murky drizzle, is the splendid Hampton Court Palace where we spent last night after coming down Molesey Lock and under Hampton Court bridge. This and the mooring by Kingston Bridge where we are now have an online system for registering your boat on the mooring where the first 24 hours is free.

So tomorrow afternoon we aim to go through Teddington Lock (just a couple of miles downstream) and out onto the tidal river. On the tide we'll pass through Richmond and down to Brentford where the Grand Union Canal meets the Thames. Travelling further down through London is usually an option but at present Hammersmith bridge is closed to land and water traffic. Apparently it expanded in the recent heatwave and now has big cracks in the suspension supports. Anyway our next posting will be from the canal heading north.