Cold cruising

6 locks, and 2 miles . Now moored at Abbots Langley 

As we set off this morning going through the first lock I was accosted by a guy who told me not to leave the lock gates open when we left. It appears that he was a member of the Watford fishing club and they had just spent £20,000 restocking the pound above lock 77 which is members only and they didn't want fish going through the lock into the lower pound  which is open to day ticket holders. Couldn't have them catching the prize fish now could we (chuckle!). I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, didn't they tell the fish not to go into the lock!

The other bit of news that he imparted was that the club had sold the nearby Rousebarn lake which I have fished many times as a member of that self same club. Apparently it was to be turned into a marina along with some of the old water cress beds which adjoin the lake. In the next breath he was complaining about the amount of boats, especially commercial boats, on the canal which had interfered with a recent fishing competition leaving no places for the fisherman to fish. He gave me the impression that he thought the canals were for fisherman not boats. Yer right!

We have now moved up to Abbots Langley just above bridge 162. We are sandwiched between the A41, M25 and the main trunk railway line but its not too noisy. After mooring up we went for a walk up into the village of Abbots Langley where my grandparents on Dads side of the family used to live. The place hasn't changed much where they lived but the village has grown.

Going back to yesterdays blog, I should explain that the picture of a new white coloured building with railway lines going into it is in fact an unloading shed for London Concrete. They bring the various aggregates in by rail using a new set of sidings and the pictured building. Once the wagon is inside the building it is unloaded into a deep pit and a conveyor belt then carries the aggregate into storage bays in another part of the plant. It is good to see another company using alternative transport other than road transport.

The other thing I forgot to mention yesterday was that there was a market in full swing in St Albans but with a big difference. All the stall holders were from Holland and France selling cheese, salami's, bratwurst, soap, hand crafted toys and very fresh vegetables from Brittany. Probably the freshest vegetables we have seen since we arrived in the UK 13 months ago.

 825 locks, 1137.5 miles, 33 Tunnels, 39 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006

Sentimental Journey.

Still moored below Ironbridge lock no 77 Watford

Another fine day for exploring saw us head off to BW Head Office in Church road to renew our licence for next year. There is only a small staff still operating out of Willow Grange now and they are due to move into their new offices in Clarendon road opposite Watford Junction on the 14th December, then the developers move in. Apparently this is only a temporary measure for 2 - 3 years whilst new premises are built somewhere in Watford.

From BW we headed off to Watford Junction to catch the "Bricketwood Flyer" to St Albans Abbey. The "Bricketwood Flyer" was the nickname affectionately given to the local branch line service train between Watford and St Albans via Bricketwood. These days it appears to be known as the "Abbey Flyer". The last time I took this trip the train consisted of a BR standard 2-6-4 tank loco and 2 carriages.

Back in the early 1960's the branch line was expected to close under Dr Beechings axe which saw many lines closed all over Britain. Surprisingly it survived and has actually been expanded with a new station being built at Garston between the Garston and Meridan housing estates. Even the Bricketwood area has grown with new housing being built over the last 40 or so years which is probably why the line is still in existence today.

The last rolling stock I saw being used on the line were early model DMU's but these days the line has been electrified and a 4 car Silverlink unit is in operation.

Whilst in St Albans we looked for an interesting pub for lunch and we found one called "The Goat" in Sopwell Lane off the main road just above the Abbey railway station. The meals were reasonably priced and so big it was hard to eat it all, so very good value for money. If you are in the town we would recommend this pub and they also do B&B.

819 locks, 1135.5 miles, 33 Tunnels, 39 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006

"If you go down in the woods today...."

0 locks, and .5 mile . Now moored below Ironbridge lock no 77 Watford

"You'll be sure of a big surprise................" Well in Whippendell woods you wouldn't have found a picnic, not the right weather for it, the table was there and the weather was lovely and fresh but cold.

On Tuesday we were expecting Barney on the fuel boats Archimedes and Ari but by night fall which was only 4.45pm there was no sign of him. We thought that perhaps he had been delayed and we would see him next morning. About 5.30pm I happened to look out of the window to see a headlight approaching from the North, could this be Barney I thought? A quick dash out onto the stern deck just as Barney was preparing to hove to alongside. Now this is what I call service and dedication. We made his call worthwhile by taking onboard 117 litres of diesel @ 64p per litre, Ouch it's gone up 10p since his last delivery.

After 2 days of rain which kept us indoors catching up on emails, reading and doing some cross stitch the sun and clear skies re-appeared. Before we left our present location we reversed back to the water point and filled up the water tank whilst doing a load of washing, help keep the tank full longer.

After moving the short distance from one end of Cassiobury park to the other where we found a nice sunny mooring it was time to explore some more of Watford. My mother had always talked about Sunday walks through Whippendell Woods which I knew where they were but had never actually walked through them myself. They are part of the huge Cassio estate and intermingled through the woods is the West Herts golf club. At various places along the way the paths cross the golf greens and signs warn walkers of golfers approaching from left or right and to be aware of flying objects.

After following several paths we ended up back on the towpath which we followed to Grove Mill lane which took us back to Hempstead road and civilisation. Turning down Langley Way we eventually arrived back at Cassiobury Park and the canal.

While writing this blog I received a phone call from Stephen Kearney from N/b Gefion. This beautiful narrowboat is a 70 footer with a traditional back cabin and all mod cons. Steven has advertised the boat for sale but contacted us to see if we could spread the word in NZ for anybody that may be interested in leasing the boat long term, 6 months, 12 months whatever? Any takers contact Stephen on +447970830644 or email us to pass your details on to Stephen. Come on Kiwi's this is an opportunity not to be missed.

819 locks, 1135.5 miles, 33 Tunnels, 39 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006

Happy Birthday

We're not allowed to disclose any more.
Your secret is safe with us Tracey.

Chilling out

Still moored at Bridge 168 Watford

After several days of some real serious walking it was time to give the muscle's a rest so Sunday was a lazy day spent on the boat. We are still having Internet problems even though we have been told we are in a good location.

Today we have been taking it easy again firstly because of the wet weather and secondly because Tracey was coming to have a birthday lunch with us. Happy **th birthday dearest. Tracey's friend Mark also joined us as he is over here on holiday from Holland.

The diesel coal boat, Archimedes and Ari went past this morning on his way to pick up fresh supplies and will return tomorrow to refill our diesel tank. Now the weather has turned decidedly wintry the diesel consumption has risen with the central heating unit working hard to keep us warm.

Whilst walking through Bushey (thats the name of the town) on Saturday I spotted what looked like an old school being converted into apartments and the 100 acre grounds into luxury housing. After searching Google for some info; on Royal Connaught Park I came up with the following. The building is Gothic/Victorian and was originally the Royal Masonic school for boys. It has been used by film makers to make the original St Trinians series and part of the current Harry Potter series.

819 locks, 1135.5 miles, 33 Tunnels, 39 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006

GWR, LMS, LNWR, it was all there.

After an hours walk I arrived at the Watford model railway clubs exhibition in Aldenham road. The doors had barely been open an hour but the place was shoulder to shoulder with fellow modellers. Taking video and still shot pictures my camera soon ran out of memory but I got the best of what was on offer.

There was only one very good 'N' gauge layout which caught and held my attention for a while. Another 'OO' layout that was attracting a lot of attention was unusual in that it was of an engine shed and engine storage sidings. No rolling stock, station buildings or passengers, just a dirty smoke covered engine shed with coaling facilities and various other loco servicing activities being carried out. The real clever part of it all was that there was smoke and steam billowing about every time a loco was moved. Apparently this was being achieved by a smoke making unit under the layout which pumped the smoke to various places around the layout where ever a loco was stopped in predetermined places. It is probably the most realistic layout I have ever seen.

The next best layout was nothing special as far as what the public saw out the front but what was around the back in the fiddle yards. There were 24 holding tracks with full size trains made up of 10 and 12 carriage sets and goods trains with 30 or 40 wagons. The layout was purpose built as an exhibition layout with non stop trains to keep the punters glued to the floor awaiting the next train to see what surprises would emerge from the tunnel portals.

It was amazing to see that 'O' gauge is really making a come back after being spurned for years in favour of the smaller gauges. The best layout in this gauge was a scene depicting a railway/canal/warehouse interchange with 2 very accurate barges in the canal basin. The only problem with 'O' gauge of course is the cost with loco's costing £300 and upwards. On one trade stand was a 2 car Southern electric unit selling at a mere £1279.00, yes, that is not a typing error.

Another model that I could have been tempted with was a 'OO' reproduction of a 4 car London Transport underground set at just over £120. It's good to see that the underground is finally being modelled seriously as it is a big part of the railway scene and has been totally neglected in the past.

Brrr it's frosty

Still moored at Bridge 168 Watford

Last night we had the heaviest frost so far with a -4deg centigrade temperature. Needless to say we were not in too much of a hurry to leave our nice warm bed.

Eventually we got ourselves motivated to walk into town again to visit the old Benskins brewery site which now houses the town museum. The museum is in the old breweries main office block but the rest of the brewery has been demolished.

We spent the best part of 3 hours wandering through the museum which to me was a real learning curve having been born and raised in the town. The theme of the museum was not just about breweries and pubs and the temperance movement from which this very poignant poem came.

The building shown below was the free school for the poor and disadvantaged children of the town to be able to read and write. This school was set up by a Mrs Fuller in 1704 at the cost of £20 per annum. It's predecessor has been set up by a Francis Coombe at the cost of £10 per annum. A secondary school which I attended on the Woodside estate was named after Francis as a tribute to his contribution to the town.
One good thing that came out of Watford from the second world war was the TV programme's "Dad's Army"and "It Ain't arf hot Mum". These were written by Jimmy Perry and another guy but they stem from Jimmy's personal experience in the Home Guard in Watford during the war and his military service in India in 1947.

To see and read about so many things that I heard about as a child but never actually saw or experienced was brilliant. I got a better understanding of my Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles lives as we had all lived and worked in Watford until 1961 when a distrastrous fire closed an uncles model and hobby shop in lower High St after which the family moved away far and wide. I got a better insight into my old home town which sort of put different things into perspective for me.

My Grandparents worked at Watford Central school as caretaker and head cook for many years. It transpires that the school started life as a the Grammar school. The school outgrew the buildings so 2 new schools had to be built, Boys Grammar and Girls Grammar. After this the school was taken over by the county council as a mixed junior school which is still in existence today.

Of course Watford is known for it's football team which my grandfather used to follow every Saturday during the season which was salvaged from oblivion by Elton John. The whole history of the club is recorded in the museum and is quite enlightening. The statue in High St of a Hornet on a honey pot dipper celebrates the success of the team which I have since learn't is the name of the team.While in the Harlequin centre I took this photo of the Xmas decorations.

819 locks, 1135.5 miles, 33 Tunnels, 39 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006