Today's weather was very mixed. We awoke just after some very heavy rain but by the time we were out and about this had cleared and was replaced by some very bright sunshine. There were a couple of short showers later on but mostly sunny spells with some grey cloud/
Our overnight mooring proved reasonably quiet, the only disturbance came once the planes started coming in the Heathrow, we were again right under the flight path.
The A4 did not seem at all busy and when we took a look 'uptop' there were times with no traffic at all!
Just after we set off we passed a towpath closure for works to a footbridge. The structure that was here last time we came by, in 2021 has now disappeared. Presumably the work still continuing will lead to its replacement.
The approach to our first lock was complicated by a boat seemingly abandoned on the lock landing. It appeared to be full of refuse and wholly uninhabitable. There was also another boat on the upper landing but there were some signs that this might just still be a 'project' boat. But it will need a lot of work before it is even weatherproof.
The graffiti artists have kept busy with a constant replacement of their tags on the M4 bridge. Sadly we are so not tuned in that we could barely decipher a meaning in any of them!
This sign has worn as well as the piling to which it relates. We wonder whether today's crews are still as proud of their handiwork as they obviously were in 1959. This section of the Grand Union used a more substantial type of piling than is now favoured but it has generally lasted well.
After the two individual locks we next arrived at the six locks in the Hanwell flight. They have received quite a bit of attention in the last couple of years and are now mostly in good condition, if sometimes quite heavy.
A young Australian chap asked if we wanted help - he was keen to find out what was involved in working locks. He was a quick learner and stayed with us for the first four locks - a great help.
We also had a group of three (two children and a slightly older lady) who asked a lot of (sensible) questions about canals and their history. It seems that although they live nearby this was the first time they had explored the towpath and were quite surprised at what they found.
There were at least three lock houses/cottages on the flight although all seem now to be in private hands. This one probably feels quite isolated but commands an imperious position overlooking the flight. Perhaps this was for an overseer, unlike the smaller buildings next to a lock where the keeper would be on call 24 hours a day to help any boat wanting to be sped on its way.
At the same time were also joined by two official volunteers - the Monday crew, one of whom has clocked up over ten years in the same role. After the Hanwell flight there are two Norwood locks with only a slight gap in between. Here we are already at the top - 10 locks in half a day, more than we have done for some months.
At the top lock we pulled on to the services mooring and whilst we were 'waiting; for our water tank to fill er had our lunch, extended a little to wait for a passing shower to pass.
We only needed to go just far enough to find a reasonable mooring (we could not stay where we were) The Grand Union, like all canals passing through urban areas, gradually acquired a lot of short arms, only some of which can still be seen. This is either called the Havelock Road Arm or the Maypole Basin. It ran for about half a mile and mainly served a Quaker Oats factory as well as the Maypole Dairy. Today the arm provides moorings for a small community of permanent residents.
A small parcel of land alongside a large allotment site had become a bit of an eyesore until the local community, helped by the their council and specialist consultants decided to clean it up and make it a useful recreational area. They named it The Bixley Triangle.
This bridge gives access to Adelaide Dock, possibly to serve a flour mill. It is now a small basin used by CaRT as a maintenance base. It seems that at the moment it is the focus for a lot of rubbish collection boats - which, alas, the canal constantly needs in urban settings.
About 0.75 of a mile short of Bulls Bridge we found a reasonably quiet mooring.
4.3 Miles - 10 Locks
No comments:
Post a Comment