Normally on a day as wet as today we’d have stayed put and stayed dry. But we really needed to move, so thought we might as well get on with it and left our mooring at about 8.30, straight through the junction bridge.
As we made our way towards Cowley Lock, I could see a boat up ahead — which would hopefully mean locking partners. The lock had both bottom gates open, so while the other boat pulled in to the lock landing, we went straight in. It turned out the other boat had been hired from Packet Boat Marina by a couple of Americans, and this was their first lock. While the boats rose, Adrian walked across to the rubbish bins with food waste and recycling, and I went to the Elsan. The next stretch is wall to wall boats, some on permanent moorings and others on the towpath. In Uxbridge, we could see a boat right across the canal; it was impossible to tell at first which side it had come from.
I pulled alongside the big white boat and Adrian walked across it to the towpath. The stray boat was attached to a ring at the bow; Adrian managed to get a centre line and pull the boat in.
There didn’t seem to be a stern line, so Adrian tied the centre rope to a tree stump as best we could. I posted a photo on the Grand Union Boaters Facebook page, and someone replied saying they’d contacted the owner. Uxbridge Lock followed, which also had the gates open. It’s only a shallow one, but has a very disruptive cross flow right below the lock.
Denham Deep Lock is next, and the Pearson’s Guide we have is so old it shows the towpath on the right hand side. Adrian got off at the bridge before, and found the path to be a nightmare — overgrown and with mooring ropes right across. It seems the towpath is the other side these days. The approach looks awful, with thick duckweed, floating pennywort, and sunken and abandoned boats.
This lock is a deep one and was full with the top gates open, so needed a bit of time to set before we could go in.
Above the lock, you get just a brief glimpse of the rather beautiful HS2 viaduct as you approach, but then as you go underneath you can see the way it gently curves across the valley.
At each lock we were getting to know Jen and Justin on the hire boat, teaching them a bit of locking technique, and answering their boating questions. In all honesty, if I was advising anyone about where to boat for a week’s hire, this bit of the Grand Union would be nowhere on my list! Anyway, the locks kept coming, all spaced out and generally now needing to be emptied first. It all seemed a bit of a slog in the rain, so it was great to have nice people to chat to.
Stocker’s Lock was our last before our planned stop of Rickmansworth. The length where we’d stopped on the way down was full but there were several spaces further on so we slotted into one opposite Tesco. We’d been on the move for 5 hours and we were cold and very wet, so lunch was soup and bread. Only now at about 4pm has the rain stopped and the sun has come out.
Some good news on the boating front had come out while we travelled. The Wolverhampton 21 locks are being re-opened next week, albeit only on Saturdays and Sundays and with booking required. One the other hand, CRT say Atherstone can’t be re-opened yet (although the review date is the end of the month). Atherstone would be by far our easiest route north, but at least if we have to go through Birmingham there is now a better option than having to go down Farmer’s Bridge, Aston, Minworth, and Curdworth.
9 miles, 8 locks. (114 miles, 54 locks)