Up the Chilterns and down the other side

May I just start this blog with an apology. We seem to have upset some residential boaters by our comments in the last update. Our chief concern with long lines of residential boats is that boats passing through have a problem finding anywhere to moor. This could be overcome by Canal and River Trust designating some of the mooring for use for 24 or 48 hours thus ensuring it becomes vacant frequently. I might well suggest this.

We are now moored in the basin at Aylesbury and this update covers the last few days from Apsley near Hemel Hempstead.

This is a view of Apsley Lock 66 from the footbridge nearby. I liked the symmetry of construction with the neat steps on both sides.

Friday (August 28th) was a very wet day and we joined John and Sue on narrowboat Tilda going up eight locks together. Above Fishery Lock we found this narrowboat off its mooring and right across the canal. We rescued it to the surprise of the owner who had been asleep down below. The boat finished up facing the other way with no winding hole required!

Here is Tilda following us through the heavy rain at Winkwell.

We moored on Friday afternoon very close the main line railway on the edge of Berkhamsted. It was a bit noisy when the express trains went past but amazingly quiet when there were no trains.

We walked up the canal to the next locks, Rising Sun and Ravens Lane, where the bridge over the canal is decorated beautifully and there are lovely flowers in baskets above the towpath at The Boat. Certainly Berkhamsted is a town that loves its canal.

Berkhamsted castle hides behind the railway embankment so can't be seen from the canal but it is pretty impressive with huge earth ramparts and flint walls. You can see the mound of the Motte behind the lifebelt.

We didn't know before that hippos are found in Berkhamsted.

On Saturday we carried on up the locks which now come thick and fast on the climb up to the summit level through the Chilterns. Here we are back at the pretty bridge with Ravens Lane lock beyond.

A totem pole beside the canal in the town. It was carved in British Columbia as a special commission and sits on the site of a wood yard. It was erected in 2008.

Most herons fly off as the boat passes but a few are braver. This statuesque fellow just stood his ground on the towpath ignoring pedestrians and boats, intent on his fishing business.

Locking with Tilda went very smoothly and before lunchtime we came to Cowroast Lock which opens onto the summit level of the Grand Union as it crosses the Chilterns.

In the afternoon on Saturday we went for a good walk up the Chilterns and passed these fungi. They are giant puff balls and they were really huge - about the size of a football.

From the top of the hills we looked down on the pretty village of Aldbury.

Our objective was the Bridgewater Monument over 700 feet above sea level. The Duke of Bridgewater, Francis Egerton, lived on the Ashridge Estate where the monument is erected. He is of course famous for his pioneering part in the development of the canals and chiefly for building the Bridgewater Canal to take coal from his mines in Worsley near Manchester to markets in the city.

On our way back to Leo we dropped down to the village of Aldbury seen here with stocks by the pond.

We spent Saturday evening just above Cowroast Lock and went across the summit pound on Sunday morning. The route lies through the two mile Tring Cutting which is a deep and, on a dull day, rather dismal straight which must have cost many man hours and possibly lives to have dug at the end of the 18th century. At the other end of the cutting we came to Bulbourne where the locks start down on the north side of the Chilterns. Before that however we turned off at Bulbourne Junction which you can see by the house in the distance on this picture. Here the Wendover Arm leads off to the left.

And here we are at the end of the navigable section of the Wendover Arm about a mile and a half from the junction. The Wendover Arm is being restored largely by enthusiastic volunteers and one day may carrry on for 6 miles to Wendover. The Arm was built as a feeder to supply water to the summit level of the Grand Union and only later was it enlarged to become navigable.

Our son, David, and his partner, Ash, joined us for the day and we returned along the Wendover Arm with them and came down the 7 Marsworth Locks to Marsworth Junction where another arm - the Aylesbury Arm - leaves the main line.

We decided to go to Aylesbury which has 16 narrow locks to descend in 6 miles of canal. The top two locks form a staircase and the picture shows Leo coming into the top lock of the staircase with David holding the gate.

After the staircase, we came down another two locks before mooring for the night. Here is a picture of the entire crew of the day taken by a kindly next door boater. So we have (left to right) Helen, David and Ash with Ian crouching down and trying not to fall off.

Today (Bank Holiday Monday, 31st August) we have come down the remaining 12 narrow locks and moored in the basin at Aylesbury. For the early part of the flight the water is very clean and this lock had freshwater sponges on the sides. Pulling some rushes out of the canal we also found an American signal crayfish which are quite a menace and are pushing out the native crayfish.

There was plenty of water coming down the locks as this waterfall over the top gates shows. It was also a morning of picking autumn produce so we are now well supplied with lots of damsons, sloes and blackberries.

The reeds grow well down here, barely leaving sufficient water for the boats to travel. Passing other boats would be difficult but fortunately we didn't meet any where the reeds were really thick.

Looking back we could see the Chilterns in the distance.

Once we had arrived in Aylesbury and had lunch, we went for a walk around the older parts of town. This memorial to David Bowie commemorates some of the different characters he portrayed. Many of his early works were first performed in a nightclub in the town.

You know how we always go for lions, well we found this one in the Market Square with a fellow lion who looked rather sleepy. This one looks as if he would like to eat the photographer.

The old part of the town near the church is really attractive with a fine mix of old properties of different styles and ages. This is Church Street with St Mary's Church in the distance.

So tomorrow we shall be going back up the locks because this is a dead end but perhaps we'll stop before we get back to the main line. Once we are back on the main canal our way will be north to Milton Keynes and Braunston.

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.