TRIP REPORTS

EASTER WEEKEND 2003

The Regent's Canal and the East London Ring

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In 2002 we had done almost no boating because of various family illnesses and the death of my father. So this was our first trip in Felis Catus II for nearly a year.

A much later start from home than we had hoped saw us leaving our mooring in Uxbridge at 12:47 with fine sunny weather with lots of bluebells and cormorants and a few heron. There were noisy groups of coots who made it hard to guess whether what was going on was a love-in or a punch-up. The May-blossom was well-scented. Just after turning into the Paddington Branch, the engine boiled. After filling it up with water, it seemed to give no more trouble.

By 18:12 we reached the Little Venice visitor moorings. We had given up hope of reaching Battlebridge Basin tonight, which had been our original plan, so we moored by Formosa Street footbridge outboard of Rosina Emma, a hire-boat from Burghfield, with which we were planning to cruise for the weekend, including the tideway. The people on board were Brian and Pat Phillips. Having introduced ourselves to them, we set off to the IWA London Region AGM, and thence home for the night.

We set off at 8:08, about half an hour later than planned, because we overslept. The engine needed quite a bit of water again, so we began to suspect something was wrong. We didn't have time to take on drinking water or to get rid of rubbish at Little Venice, so they would both have to be done later. It was slow running because of all the moorings and building works, and we were rather tossed about by gusty winds. One of the pair of locks at Camden top (a.k.a. Hampstead Road) was set for us, so we went straight in. The other two in the flight were against us, so while the middle one (Hawley lock) was filling I walked down and started filling the bottom one (Kentish Town lock). As we came out of Hawley lock, a passer-by on the towpath opened a gate for us at Kentish Town. He turned out to be Kevin, the son of the late Ray, who will be remembered by some of my readers.

At 10:10 we tied up at the London Canal Museum moorings in Battlebridge Basin, a few minutes late for me to open the Museum. I was working there all day, while Wendy started spring-cleaning the boat and provisioned us for the weekend. Islington Sainsbury's is to be avoided - too much like the one in Clapham, which Wendy has always found disappointing. Brian and Pat in Rosina Emma joined us during the afternoon, and Allan Scott just after 17:00. We'd invited him for the weekend, as Wendy had a broken finger and wanted to avoid doing much with ropes etc.

We set off on the first leg of the journey to Limehouse and the tideway, planning to moor part-way, possibly alongside Victoria Park, which was exactly what we did at 19:40. The weather had been very windy again, although still sunny. The combination of this wind with a Spring Tide tomorrow was beginning to make me apprehensive about going out on the tideway.

All did not seem well with our new calorifier. The hot water system was only running at a fraction of the usual rate & the pump runs unexpectedly. We were also losing quite a bit of engine cooling water, which could be caused by a leaky connection to the calorifier. We ate on board - some excellent fresh trout from Sainsbury's.

After a hearty breakfast, we set off for Limehouse at 08:50. Today was even windier, and now also cloudy and bitterly cold. So we were now all rather concerned about the tideway. We tied up almost next to the tidal lock at Limehouse and I went to consult the lock-keeper about going out on the tideway. She advised us very strongly not to, as conditions were expected to get very nasty once the flood tide started. Teddington wasn't letting anyone out today, and Brentford only with a disclaimer form.

However she felt there was some prospect that things might be better next day, so Brian & Pat wondered whether to hang around until then and see whether (a) condition would be any better and (b) there was anybody else going up-river for them to accompany. Two or three boats did lock out - one narrowboat heading up-river, having signed a disclaimer, and a yacht and a big sea-going cruiser, both heading down-river, but built for those conditions.

We decided to go back via Duckett's for a change, and Brian and Pat decided to come with us to Old Ford, where they could decide next morning what to do. We set off again at 13:58. It was very pleasant to see the Limehouse Cut properly dredged nowadays, and strange to feel that it's no longer semi-tidal. Allan and I had a lot of Plan/Nav-Committee-type conversations about some of the new developments, and the prospect for others.

After passing Bow Locks we reached Three Mills and noticed that the Clock Mill was surrounded by scaffolding. We'd thought for some time that it was in need of external refurbishment. A large poster on one of the old Bonded Warehouses talked of the development of new flats, and we wondered where they were going to be, hoping that wasn't what was happening to the Clock Mill.

We went up Old Ford lock and turned into the Hertford Union Canal and thence into the Regent's, where we stopped at the top of the other Old Ford lock to take on water at a slow tap, and had a long chat with Jim from the Pirate Club boats, who were waiting to pick up a party of kids. Then we moved just a few yards to tie up at 17:15 by Bonner Hall Bridge, almost exactly where we were the previous night, and still in company with Rosina Emma. We had supper on board again - this time chicken pieces.

A milder day with noticeably less wind caused Brian & Pat to decide to head back to Limehouse in the hope of doing the tideway after all. We later learnt that they had indeed been able to do so, and had found other boats to join for the trip. We decided not to, in part because of our engine water problem. Wendy suggested we "got a couple of locks under our belt" before breakfast, so we set off at 08:18. I felt the route was too interrupted by locks to be able to cook on the mover, and suggested we stop at the Camden visitor moorings, but these were full, so we went on to Little Venice.

By the time we got there it was 12:10 and the pubs were open, so Allan's suggestion of as pub lunch rather than cooking on board was gratefully accepted. We tried the re-furbished Bridge House, which we found a bit young & trendy for our taste, not to mention expensive. Allan had planned to travel home from here, so we decided to leave the boat here and move it back to Uxbridge next week. Wendy finished spring-cleaning and thought she had at last got rid of all traces of the mouse who invaded us in the winter. Our good friends Alex & Jenny Nunes came along in Helix and I had a chat with them.

We came up from home a few days later with me in a zombie-like state, having not had much sleep in the previous 48 hours. We set off at 10:08 on what proved to be a very sunny day. The "squatter" moorings west of Kensal Green get more and more all the time. We stopped at the Black Horse, Greenford, for a pleasant pub lunch, and later at Willow Tree Marina for a pump-out and a chat with our friend Graeme who works there. We passed onto the Grand Union main line at Bulls Bridge and had a quick chat in passing with Rick Vessey, on Maev'n'Rick who was moored on the Cowley North visitor mooring. Rick and Mavis bring their boat down from Derby each year to Canalway Cavalcade. Back at our Uxbridge mooring at 17:57, I rang Roger Alsop about the plumbing. He'd come at 08:30 next morning, so Wendy stayed over to see him. We made Canalway Cavalcade leaflet drops at the General Elliott & the Dolphin then ate at the new Turkish restaurant, Sofra, before spending the rest of the evening in the Clubhouse. I got a cab home.

Our next trip was an uneventful one to Canalway Cavalcade and back. In the early Summer I did a couple of days on the trip-boat Water Buffalo to give the commentary. I also went on a friend's boat on a day cruise up Deptford Creek (Trip report here.). Then came our long summer & autumn cruise, (Trip report here).