Lovely weather today - while it lasts

Footbridge over the Grand Union canal at Apsley

We are busy catching up on chores before heading south to Devon for the weekend. Weather forecast is not good with heavy rain and winds but the company will be good.

Day of rest.

Now moored at Apsley Marina

First of all I must thank everybody for their birthday wishes. Another year older and wiser.

Today has been cold and fine but it didn't stop half a dozen fisherman from setting up between us and the lock. They were all togged up as if they were going to the arctic circle which they certainly needed to be with the ice cold breeze blowing through here today. For all their efforts we only saw one tiddler landed.

Early this afternoon we wandered into the village as Dot wanted to buy some new bedding from Dunelm Mill which she found very conveniently in the mark down bin. Jammy beggar, talk about luck of the Irish.

Rather than go straight back to the boat we meandered further along the road where we found that the White Lion pub offering Roast Sunday lunch for £6.95. It only took a split second to decide on what we were going to do for lunch and a sound decision it was with 2 very filling meals.  Last time we were here the local pub's had stopped serving food due to the competition from the Paper Mill taking away all their clientele but I think the latter might be pricing themselves off the market or falling out of favour with the local's.

830 locks, 1140.5 miles, 33 Tunnels, 39 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006

Birthday Boy

 

Jack Frost's about.

5 locks, and 3 miles . Now moored at Apsley Marina

We awoke this morning to something close to a winter wonderland, everything was glistening white with frost. Overnight the temperature had dropped to -5.4deg C, any wonder we got a frost. Needless to say we were in no hurry to go up on deck to start moving until very late morning.

We only crossed path's with 1 community trust boat which wasn't surprising as it's only silly beggars like us that cruise this time of year, but hey, its all part of the fun. At Nash Mills we filled the water tank so we are all set for the next week.

Goodbye to the M25 for sometime

We are now moored outside the Apsley Mills marina where we plan to stay for the next 14 days.We have been up to Sainsbury's and Homebase for some shopping and walking along the towpath between locks 66 & 67 we were amazed to find only 2 boats moored in this pound. Last November the place was full with at least 12 boats constantly moored up. We had heard that BW had been through here and had a clean out and this proved to be correct.

Didn't know we had dinasaurs here!

Another Lock cottage sold - Home Park Lock on the Grand Union

830 locks, 1140.5 miles, 33 Tunnels, 39 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006

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