We left Denham on a beautiful morning and R says he heard the raucous chirrup of some parakeets. I have to say that went totally over my head. I heard nothing! As we neared Uxbridge the canalside was noticeably more cluttered with longterm mooring boats of all shapes and sizes, some distinctly luxurious alongside some that looked barely habitable. We found a space to moor up so that we could walk the towpath to find a suitable overnight mooring. We slightly misjudged our distances on the map (pinpointing exactly where we were) and our eventual walk totalled about 5 miles of towpath trotting, as we had a vague idea of where we wanted to get too! Along the way we met a very chatty seasoned boatman who had many a story to tell about the beaurocracy of the canal network, especially the ‘mafia’ who patrolled the London moorings and had no time for the canalfolk who had lived their whole lives on the canal. There is much resentment towards the Londoners who use live on boats as cheap living accommodation and pal up together to ‘swop’ moorings every 14 days. This practice makes it almost impossible for a visitor passing through London to find anywhere to moor. Most boats are double or triple parked. It does not make our prospect of heading to London after Christmas a happy one. It feels rather stressful especially coupled with the risk of theft. However our options are limited as turning around and going back up the GUC will only take us as far as Berkhamsted where there is now a winter stoppage so we would be stuck there until March! Going on the Thames at this time of year is not recommended as it is tidal and the hazard risk is high. So going along the canal is the choice left to us and I really would like to do it in order to get to the River Lee, very near to where I grew up.
We found a mooring just before the turning onto the Slough Arm and decided that, weather permitting, we would travel along there tomorrow. It is a short detour and reputed to be very pretty. As it ends at Slough and you just turn around and come back it is not very popular in the winter with those who live aboard, so I am told!
The evening started with my weekly Zoom chatter followed by a short carol service organised by the Filling Station. It was a joy to hear some carols and be reminded of the good news message of Christmas, needed more than ever this year amongst the gloom of our usual news bulletins.
NarrowboatTLC 