Category: Diary

Set off from outskirts of Marsworth and went along the Tring summit which was very beautiful, a bit bleak when the sun went in but it is the highest point before we start descending gradually towards London. Our main concern of the day was finding a mooring that would suit us for lockdown if we are not supposed to move (although James assures us that you can move along to find essential services, such as water and potty facilities). In everyday life we take them for granted. On a narrowboat they obsess your mind unless they are sorted! The first hopeful marina we came to, Cowroast, was closed. The next Elsan was out of order so we entered Berkhamsted not quite sure what we would find. Except that at lock 51, adjacent to yet another Waitrose, there were Matthew and Joanna. Keen narrowboaters, Matthew had lived on one in a previous life, they had come to join us (socially distanced!) to help with a few locks and then go out to supper before returning to their spacious home, with a full length bath and copious hot water and flushing lous! Seriously, I don’t mind the challenge of living with R 58ft x 6ft 10″ for four weeks. I am sure we will learn alot more about each other than we have discovered in 33 years of marriage, with many distractions along the way. Matthew’s aunt lives nearby so she joined the front of the boat cruising through Berkhamsted, a first she said in her long lived life. We found the mooring we wanted with water and potty facilities but yet again the Elsan didnt work. I was later told that this was because when the Canal and River Trust took over from the Waterways, they told the pub that the Elsan was on their land and that it was their responsibility to keep it working. The pub said they had not asked for an Elsan in their garden so the CRT should be responsible. The pub then moored two boats along their waterfront and the CRT objected but the pub said that the CRT had said it was pub land! So the argy bargy goes on and meanwhile us boaters have no potty facility! Anyway, a nice helpful guy on another boat said he thought he and R could mend the Elsan so they have agreed to meet tomorrow. Meanwhile I found myself all alone on one side of the canal with the boat whilst R and guests were on other side. That meant I had to get the water in the tank. Easy, you might think but I have yet to master how to connect the hose to the tap without losing as much water as I am gaining! Added to the fact that the boat sometimes has a mind of its own and you have to really heave on the mid rope to pull it into the side. I am learning a lot of new skills with biceps to match. Eventually all was sorted and we moored for the night. Then we had to find the recommended Italian restaurant at the Apsley marina which was easier said than done. However ‘Calzone’ is really worth a visit. The pizzas were delicious and the risotto large enough to ask for a doggy bag for the leftovers of our two portions.

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The highlight of today was seeing R’s cousin David and having a slap up Sunday roast at a small village called Hardwick. R even managed a Bailey’s cheesecake and icecream in honour of mum! Two of her favourites.

We started back along the Aylesbury Arm at about 2.15 aiming to get halfway along if possible as there was limited option for mooring along the way. There was a young lad who showed an interest in how the locks worked so R invited him to help him work the paddles and open and close the doors. He then rode at the front of the boat, with his mother walking along the towpath ( I think he told her to!) and helped us with the next lock. Even with his help, the journey was fairly slow and we managed to do the final lock as night was falling and were relieved to find a mooring still available. We went for a drink at the Half Moon Pub in Wilstone, were we were given a very kind welcome and a really good strong cup of tea. Food had finished but as we were still full from lunch that was not an issue! R managed some beer and whisky so was quite content by the time we retired to the boat.

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The postman, in the guise of Ben Boat Train arrived promptly at 10am! I was so relieved to be reunited with my credit card which I had managed to lose on the Thursday when we first came up to offload stuff onto the boat. One of the challenges of not having a fixed postal address is finding ways of getting things delivered. The wide brimmed rainhat that R mislaid when having his unscheduled coldwater swim is now being replaced but when we will actually manage to get it to the boat is another story. Especially with lockdown looming! Anyway back to BBT. Our friendship with him and his wife Judith began at a Filling Station meeting but it was not until we met by chance after a midweek service at Rowledge church, that we discovered his love of both canals and trains. And what knowledge he has! He has been so helpful in the planning of our trip and advising us as to the pros and cons of going on a narrowboat. He is also incredibly knowledgeable about the best pubs to frequent along the way! He had offered to come and help us with some locks. Due to my slight miscalculation of how many locks were actually on the Aylesbury Arm, what I thought would take 3hrs with 11 locks, actually took 5hrs with 16 locks. There was no way we could return along the Arm in the same day (which had been my original intention) so R and I decided to stay the night in Aylesbury and R’s very kind cousin who lives nearby became a taxi service and returned BBT to his car in Marsworth. This was after a delicious pizza at the Old Millwright Pub which also served some good ale. The Aylesbury arm is a fairly narrow canal, with blissfully single, rather than double locks so they are easier to manipulate and quicker to fill and empty. However there is a lot of bullrushes along the route that have been trimmed but not removed so great clumps of rushes impeded our way, making progress even slower than normal. In addition R had to bury his arm in the water around the propeller shaft and extract the weeds that had become wrapped around the shaft. Not a pleasant job! My excitement was mooring up right outside Waitrose so I did a very satisfying shop just before it closed and I was almost the only customer!

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After the disappointment of finding the Carpenters Arms pub closed last night we decided to make our destination today the Red Lion pub in Marsworth. The weather was kind to us, but the locks were not! Most of them were full and needed emptying and the gates were such hard work. The few people we met in the opposite direction just depressed us more by telling us there were stiffer doors to come and we would be hard pushed to open them alone. Luckily as we were going up and they were coming down we had the advantage of Richard being able to nudge the doors gently open when my pulling power was just not enough. I made a rookie error, not noticing that the upper lock doors were open as I was opening the paddles on the lower doors. Will try not to do that again as it is an awful waste of precious water. There seems to be a lot of water in the form of muddy tow paths and at one point R had to jump quite a big hole under a bridge – luckily his stride is much bigger than mine and I was safely helming at the time. Arriving at Marsworth in time for a late lunch was a delight especially as the rain had held off all morning so for once we were not sodden. After a walk round the delightful village we arrived back at the boat and awaited the arrival of our secondhand ‘fold up’ bikes which James was due to deliver and then fix snags, such as our tiller, which has been annoying me being a couple of inches too long – the risk of pinching my fingers has been of serious concern! And the toggle which you pull to open up below our bed where all the storage is – R has been using a pair of pliers. Such simple things which can be incredibly irritating. I was delighted to see the bikes were made by a company called ‘Bickerton’, whose son I had the pleasure of knowing many years ago. Indeed I remember at a lunch just after R and I had got engaged and done the ‘wedding list’ thing, that I remarked our dinner service was by Royal Doulton. ‘Really’ said our friend. ‘Our toilets made by Royal Doulton’. What a put down!!

So now the rain is gently pattering outside and we are so warm inside that R has retreated to the far end of the boat. A gin and a film is on the cards before we tackle the Aylesbury Arm tomorrow.

At last, I am up to date with my Blog entries although I still need to add some pictures! We haven’t travelled far today at all. I think we have gone through one lock and are moored up near a pub called The Carpenters Arms. However R is really disappointed because he has just found them online and they are permanently closed! So he’s going to have to settle for a glass of red wine and I, my delicious Blood Orange Beefeater gin with ice. A very thoughtful present from a friend before we set off! We’re moored here because we are waiting for James. I don’t think I have mentioned him yet, but he works for Alex, who we have our boat from. Alex is in another part of the country so we have yet to meet. Meanwhile James showed us on board, taught us all we know and has left us to our own devices up until now. However there are one or two snags to get sorted and he also has some foldable bikes for us so that we can venture further afield if we want to. We thought he was coming to see us yesterday, which would have beenvery convenient for him as we were in Leighton Buzzard. Then we thought he was coming today so we have moored up by an easily accessible road. However it is now dark and late so no doubt we will hear from him tomorrow. Nothing is that urgent that it can’t wait!

The toll on R’s back from doing all the locks has become evident as he has been groaning away and happy to swallow anti-inflammatries, so it must be bad. So I decided it was my turn to stop being such a wimp and get going on moving those lock gates. My first lock was after the Globe Pub but before mooring up in Leighton Buzzard proper, outside of Tesco’s where they have shoppers mooring. It wasn’t too bad an experience except I just don’t know where people find the energy to open the gates on their own. Brute force is needed. Luckily there were a couple of nice young lads who helped me! We called in at a marina to buy a canal map for Guildford, hoping that we will be able to get near to home for a while. All depends on the Thames water flow. I jumped off the boat and grabbed the mid robe to pull the boat in and move it along from a red cone saying “don’t park here”. However the rope was caught and my lassooing skills are not great so by the time I had tried to free the rope from the obstacle on top of the boat, a very irate man came and berated me for stopping at the red cone. In fairness to him he did then sort my rope out and explained that the redcone indicated an outflow into the canal that could rock a boat considerably and dump water onto the engine compartment thus flooding the engine. Another lesson learned! So on to Tesco, where we moored up and R started talking to a fisherman right next to our boat. Infact he originally talked to us because he wanted R to rescue his ‘float’ that had caught in a tree on the opposite bank. R thought he said ‘coat’ and just couldn’t understand what he was on about. As he was trying to reverse the boat at the time into this tight space that we had overshot, it wasn’t the best time to distract him! However R and the fisherman got on famously. We even made him a cup of tea and I left the two of them to it as I went off to the laundrette to pick up all the lovely clean washing. Amazing how a laundrette becomes such a welcome sight!

My second lock was fairly eventful. We needed to moor up in a place where there was internet as we had booked to have a video call with some friends but the edges of the bank were not suitable for mooring. They were too stony so we had to plough on. The weather was becoming a bit inclement and we knew there was a lock coming up. Just as we arrived at it thunder, lightening, hail and rain all intermingled. I got a proper soaking and it was quite hairy walking across the lock gates to open and shut the paddles. However I feel if I could manage a lock in those conditions, hopefully subsequent ones will appear easier! Eventually, after yet another lock, but by then the weather had considerably improved, we found a mooring with internet and settled down for a nice warm bath, a gin and tonic and a good natter with friends. We managed to stay awake until 9.30pm, an improvement on the night before!

Well, what an eventful day today turned out to be. It started well enough, with us stopping to fill up with water just before the first of the three locks. As we were doing this so two boats left the lock and we decided it would be a good idea to quickly finish filling the water tank and get into the lock before either someone else did or another boat wanted to come down and therefore started to fill the lock with water.

I started to move the boat towards the lock and then realised that Richard needed to get off it to open the lock gates because unfortunately they had not been left open by the boats coming out. I don’t think they saw us as they probably thought we were just moored alongside. As R edged towards the middle of the boat along the outer edge he found that the ledge he was holding onto disappeared (where we have a side opening) and so he slipped into the water. Managing to swim to the side of the lock he then did not have the energy to actually get out as he was wearing heavy boots and warm clothing. Thankfully for us there was a boat very close by and two strapping men heaved R our of the canal. Meanwhile I tried unsuccessfully to rescue his favourite Aussie hat (now lost and gone forever) and then ran him a bath. We had to secure the boat to the side before he could strip off his sodden clothing and get warmed up. Not liking to think what is in canal water, i dosed him up with neat whisky followed by whisky, cider apple vinegar and hot water. Sounds disgusting but i am hoping it will have helped clean his stomach. Next we sanitized all the clothes as best we could and continued our journey to Leighton Buzzard which was only a short distance away (after of course, going up the three locks) and mooring outside a pub called The Globe. We found a laundrette and then found a really lovely cafe called The Pantry to fortify ourselves with a hearty lunch. We also had to find a phone shop to see if the sim card could be removed from R’s phone and we are still drying it out in rice, hoping that it will work once all the moisture is removed! The highlight was finding a Millets store – I really didnt think they existed anymore and buying R a really good raincoat, which he has since exclaimed over as being super waterproof and light! Supper in the evening was at The Globe where the staff gave us a very warm welcome but I have to say I don’t think I choose well from the menu. Or perhaps we were just tired from the days events because we were in bed by 8.30pm and slept through till nearly 8am! What did we learn from this escapade? More haste less speed and the importance of having a sabbath. I think we were both just over tired and that’s when accidents are more likely to happen. Getting the measure of living more slowly is quite an art.

Leaving Milton Keynes behind us we continued on our journey to Fenny Stratford where they have a swing bridge over the lock which complicates things slightly. The swing bridge must be moved to allow the boat into the lock as it straddles it and then must be returned to its original position so that people can safely cross the canal. We parked the boat just before the lock as it was midday and i had read that the lock side put, the Red Lion, had a great array of beers. I was slightly surprised that R only had a guiness and the landlady decided a lime and soda wasn’t worth paying for, so that was on the house. It was an unusual pub in that it was decorated with sayings and wittisms on the walls and it was obviously loved by the locals because it was very busy for a Monday lunchtime. The lock also was unusual in that the water difference is only a foot! It hardly seems worth all the effort! We had to call in at Willowbridge Marina – we have some metal stakes on board for mooring purposes and you really need 4 of them. R thinks he may have left 2 behind somewhere as we could only find one bent one on the boat! So armed now with 4 once again we are reassured that we have alternative options for keeping the boat moored safely.

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The afternoon light was so beautiful as we cruised along the canal, and the fact that it looked more like a river because of its width, I decided to take some video footage. I was explaining how relaxing it is but how also you need to be alert for boats suddenly appearing or locks and low and behold we turned a corner and a lock was surprisingly there, right in front of us! I think i hadn’t quite read the map right because the locks are all marked! I find them a bit spooky when unexpected because you cannot see further than the imposing lock gates which are dark and heavy. I don’t know that all lock gates are so intimidating. I do vaguely remember some advice from a seasoned boater who suggested that when we first went on the canals we stuck to the waterways with single locks. However that was also when we thought we were going to head north rather than South. I don’t think we have so much option if we want to come South and the Oxford canal is not a viable option at present. It transpired that that lock was at Stoke Hammond with a further three locks close together a short distance ahead. We decided to moor up and tackle the three locks in the morning.

The morning was beautiful and sunny which we were grateful for because the plan of the day was to take our friends on the boat from where we are moored, up to the next winding hole, which is about an hour’s journey. We then had a pub in mind for lunch but it was fully booked, unsurprisingly given the weather and the fact that it is halfterm. So we made wraps and ate them at a distance from each other on the boat! Luckily this boat has a sofa, then a longish galley kitchen and then a dinnette so it is relatively simple to keep 6ft from each other when necessary. We turned the boat and headed back to our original mooring next to the previous winding circle, where we turned the boat againb before our friends jumped off and returned to their car. Luckily for us, they turned to wave and saw R’s hat floating in the water. It had blown off suddenly. Using the boat’s pole they managed to rescue the hat and we continued on our journey.

As I mentioned previously, I really am quite impressed seeing MK from the water’s edge and some of the canalside buildings are attractive to look at. As we travelled along I noticed that we were passing close by to the Peace Pagoda, a six minute walk from bridge 81 in Willen Park. It was erected in 1980 by the nuns and monks of Nipponzan Myohoji and is surrounded by a thousand specially planted cherry and cedar trees that enshrine the memory of victims of all war. It stands in the specific hope that the earth will be spared from nucleur annihilation. It was worth the walk in the pouring rain to see this pagoda and sobering to think what it stands for.

Our drenching continued as we advanced further on our journey, stopping just after bridge 85 in a place called Woolstone.

Visiting Wolverton took me back in time as it was probably our nearest town when we lived in Deanshanger. It seemed busy enough and I was intrigued to see a large queue of people, even in the rain, waiting patiently outside Tesco. It became evident however that the queue was not to go into Tesco – there was a small outside market selling bread, vegetables, teas and coffees etc, under Tesco’s covered walkway. It obviously has a loyal following, which is good to see.

Leaving Wolverton behind we deliberately went and moored up by a winding hole at bridge 77. A winding hole is where you can turn a narrowboat around. There is quite an art to doing this and I am very grateful that R knows what he is doing. All I have to do is follow instructions. Not that we want to turn around today but tomorrow is a different story.

Our great excitement today is meeting up with friends who we first got to know when I was expecting our first child, nearly 33 years ago. As they live relatively close to the canal they very kindly said they would collect us for the night (they are in a low risk area so allowed to do so), give us food and lodging, get a load of washing sorted (they even have a drying room so we didnt need a tumble dryer – i had images of all my socks shrinking!) and we could have as long a bath as we wanted! We had such a happy evening. Old friends can be like old slippers. You just continue on from where you last left off. Topped the evening off by watching ‘Yesterday’, which gave us some light hearted entertainment. We even had the luxury of an extra hour in an extremely comfy bed!