Journey to the Medway

I am enjoying my slower than usual progress down the Grand Union as it means that I can explore beyond the towpath. I had a good walk around the Ashridge Estate where the deer are not at all shy and there are some fabulous views across the Chilterns. When I reached Berkhamsted the Queen had come to visit. However I missed her by about ten minutes. The town shops had all dressed their windows appropriately and i was given a glass of bubbly at one of the art galleries. All very nice. I had been recommended to visit the Rex cinema and I ended up going twice. The first time I went to see Dheepan, a very good film and with a happy ending for a change. Later I went to see Miles Ahead, which I also enjoyed, mainly due to Don Cheadle acting as Miles(he also co-wrote the screenplay and directed the film) and the music which featured quite heavily.

On the Thursday I went to join Heather on her boat at Little Venice and we cruised up to St Pancras Cruising Club where she was able to moor. On the Friday morning Sylvia came to join us and we made our way to Limehouse where we met up with all the skippers and crewmates who were making the trip to the Medway. The evening briefing was excellent, some very good planning had gone into the trip. Sarah and Andy came to join Heather as we were to be a crew of four on the trip. After our meal and a couple of drinks we turned in as it was to be an early start.

At 7.30 on the chilly Saturday morning we were ready to go and the convoy made its way along Limehouse Cut, through Bow Locks and on to Bow Creek mouth where we were joined by another narrowboat. We made our way downstream, through the Thames Barrier, past Woolwich Ferry and past Barking Creek where our final member of the convoy joined us, a huge Humber Keel. The Thames was calm and the journey went smoothly. Sarah did a lot of the helming, I did about an hour and Heather did the rest including a ferry glide onto Gravesend Pontoon, where we were to stay the night. As we had arrived about 2pm there was plenty of time for a wander around the town which I'd never been to before. The fort was worth a visit as it has several guns sited there and there are good views over the estuary. We had a lovely meal at the Three Daws - mine was a smoked haddock and black pudding lasagne. Different and really tasty. The next morning Heather and I had a quick visit to the Sikh Temple. I would have liked to stay longer to have a good look around but it was getting close to cast off time. Sunday was a much more pleasant day and we seemed to be heading out to sea!!

We moored at Queenborough on a concrete pontoon from where we had to be picked up by Sheppey 1 to reach the shore:

Four of us went for a walk around the headland where we found:

The following day we had a short trip to Rochester.

This was another place that I had never been to and it has a delightful High Street where most of the shops have the traditional, old fashioned shop fronts. We visited the cathedral and walked around the historical landmarks in the place where Dickens lived and featured in many of his novels. Christine, Heather and I decided to visit the Chatham Historic Dockyard and there was plenty of interest. We all wanted to see the ropewalk in operation and we had a tour of Ocelot, the 1962 submarine, in addition to all the other exhibits and vehicles.

I was soon back on board Olivia and I had another couple of nice days cruising with an interlude when I went to the Rickmansworth Festival. They had some good bands playing in the Owlsworld tent. I particularly liked Red Haven and Caution Horses. Rose came to join me for my last day of cruising and we ended up having a nice meal and bottle of Italian red wine in the Feathers pub, Rickmansworth.

I am enjoying making slow progress in a southerly direction. It is good to not be in a hurry so when I have moved for an hour or so I find somewhere to moor and go for an exploration of the new area. I am amazed by the speed of change on the canals over the last two or three years. There are many more boats around and, of these, many are widebeams. I do wonder how this can progress from here. Luckily I am getting quite good at squeezing Olivia into the smallest space! While I was moored below Milton Keynes I went to visit Bletchley Park. I had been there before in about 2000/2001 when it had not really geared itself up for hoards of visitors. Now it can compete with many other museums and I spent 4 hours there. I still think there is room for improvement and I would love to see vignettes in the huts with sound effects of the machines and any hubbub. There are some great interactive displays where you can try to solve ciphers, etc.

In February Olivia was broken into and a few bits and pieces stolen: food, sleeping bags, a coat, a saucepan. Anyway nothing of much value was taken but the perpetrator weakened my entrance hatch. Today the vertical part feel off completely so I had to have a go at fixing it back on using super strength brackets. It works okay but is not perfect so I will need to get a professional on the job sometime.

I got the train down to Little Venice, IWA Cavalcade where Heather and Christine were moored for the weekend. Some good stalls there including vintage clothing and different crafts to the usual suspects. Particularly liked the rag knitting and the WRGs (Waterways recovery group) were selling some really tasty chocolate fudge (vanilla also available). Heather and Christine raised a smile when they entered an inflatable dinghy into the illuminated boat parade (sorry no photos as I hadn't charged camera). Anyway it is amazing what you can do with a few sets of pound shop lights. I must get some. On the Monday I accompanied Heather on her journey to Bull's Bridge. I have noticed that it is always cold or wet or both when I cruise with Heather. This does not augur well for our trip to the Medway!!

IWA Cavalcade

I was going to cruise up to Aylesbury basin but in the end the thought of 32 extra locks put me off so I decided to walk most of it instead. I walked the Wendover Arm as well. When I left Marsworth I shared with another boat heading to London to join the "shuffle". This boat was unusual as it was a really nice boat with a middle aged couple on it as opposed to the usual barely floating boats with youngsters on that generally make their way to the metropolis.

On Saturday I visited Waddesdon Manor - I am trying to get the most out of my Art Pass. It is a huge estate with a nice woodland playground for children, a rather special wine shop and the enormous house itself, which is decorated in French rococo style, so not my "thing". There is an aviary with a variety of unusual small birds.