The internet in Rickmansworth was sometimes ok and sometimes completely non-existent. This morning is was bad, so by 8.30 we had crossed over to the other side of the canal and moored on the Tesco moorings to do a shop.
The store was nice and quiet at that time, so by 9 we were moving onto the water point which is on the lock landing for Batchworth Lock. Here you can see the lock on the mainline and the one up to the River Chess.
The tank was down to about half and the tap isn’t the best (and the flow stopped completely when someone came to fill up some containers from the second tap) so it took a while. The rubbish point is a little walk away, so at least there was time to do that. It was nearly 10 when we went into the lock to start our journey properly for the day. There are loads of permanent moorings here so it’s pretty slow going. The boat that has the VW welded onto the back now also has a very significant solar array.
Lot Moor Lock was full, mainly because it had new bottom gates last year so doesn’t leak. The cottage alongside is a typical design, but then you realise there’s a lower level.
All the other locks were empty, which was good. Most of them are deep, at around 9ft each. At the boat yard at Watford there was a huge Dutch barge up on the hard standing, which shows how hefty their crane must be.
Just beyond the boat yard is the high Metropolitan Line bridge, just before Casio Bridge Lock.
By the next lock, Macc had woken up and asked to go out. As we approached the lock, Iron Bridge Lock, two boats were coming out, so they left a gate for us. In the moments we were waiting, Adrian got Macc out, he did his business, and got out back on the well deck. This lock is in Cassiobury Park, so there are always a few people about. Some who watched us come out of the lock were waving at Macc.
We decided to see how Macc would be in his smaller bed on the rear slide. When he was tiny, he got quite distressed when one of us got off the boat to work locks, which is why he tends to sleep in his crate as we boat. But today he seemed very content to watch the scenery pass, and took it all in his stride when Adrian went to work the lock.
The two Cassiobury Park locks are the only ones that are close together, and the short pound between them always seems to be lacking in water. As two boats had not long come down, we hoped it might be ok — but in fact it was about 2ft down. Having come up the first lock, we slowly made our way forward to make sure we could get over the cill, and then I stuck to the middle in the hopes of getting across. We bumped and scraped over all sorts of things before coming to a halt; Adrian had to run some water down to lift us off, and even then it was a struggle to get into the top lock.
Macc seemed unconcerned about the difficulties, but he always seems more content when we’re both back on board.
Above the locks the water level was fine, probably because this is another bit that’s river fed; there’s a former mill just round the corner. Our aim was to stop somewhere near The Grove Bridge, but this is a popular area and some people seem to stay here pretty much permanently. But just before the bridge a nice space was waiting, with views across a field on the towpath side too, so we moored up.
It was gone 1pm by the time we stopped, so we all had lunch. For his walk, I took Macc into the field alongside the boat, as it has various footpaths running across it. It meant he could have a good run off the lead, which he always loves. We returned via the bridge, where it’s possible to get a photo that doesn’t show all the graffiti.
The bridge carries the driveway to The Grove, which is a luxury hotel. Consequently there’s quite a lot of traffic, including a lot of taxis. The bridge and the neighbouring tree appear to have floodlights, so I’ll be quite interested to see if they’re actually illuminated this evening.
4 miles, 7 locks. (118 miles, 61 locks)