BarryAylesbury2006

At precisely 08:36 the boat loosed its Harefield bonds and started north. Overcast skies, but the temperature was pleasant for early January inasmuch as I didn't feel the need to don a jacket for sometime and indeed never donned gloves all day! Batchworth Lock was the scene of water-tank replenishment as we slowly ticked off the lines of latitude on our northern journey. By the time Cassiobury Park was reached the sun was shining and it felt very warm.

Hunton Bridge saw us repair to 'The King's Head' for a roast dinner and a welcome pint of IPA. Just prior to the lunch stop the sensation of something around the prop made itself manifest, but later delves into the weedhatch drew a blank. Another mysterious happening was the apparent failure of the ignition switch, causing all the gauges to fail to register. This was solved by isolating the system by removal of the isolator key and several turns of the ignition key clockwise and anti clockwise. Perhaps the contacts were a little 'dry' from lack of use? Anyway, the problem never reared its ugly head again and was soon forgotten. The wind got up a little as the day drew to a close but died down again once we were safely moored for the night above King's Langley Lock at 16:55 in almost total darkness, a satisfactory first day.

I've concluded that tops have good sleeps and I enjoyed one last night 'til 07:30! The drip-fed diesel stove kept us snug as bugs in rugs. A leisurely listen to Nick Ferrari followed by a Barry special full-house brekky set us up for a good day's boating. If all went to plan we'd be at Cow Roast tonight and Thai-mealing it up! We set off, replete at 10:36 in very mild, calm conditions and steadily made our northern way, after meeting Terry Streeter on Arun for a chinwag at Boxmoor, to 'The Three Horseshoes' at Winkwell where I deliberately moored right outside, ready for another argument that didn't come [see Pisces' Peripatetic Peregrinations, Sunday June 5th] So, a welcome pint of Adnam's Broadside later, we resumed our jouney in incredibly mild conditions. So much for the 'coldest winter in recent memory.'

views of " The Three Horseshoes" , above Winkwell swing bridge

All of a sudden the rain came heavy and hard with me fearing for the umbrella's life. Temporarily lying up below Lock 58 we coffee'd then continued in lighter skies and marginally colder temperatures. The next few locks were with us and we managed to reach Berko by 16:52 and moored just above 'The Rising Sun' but ate in 'The Boat' as the former didn't do food!

Like a well-oiled machine,my body clock awoke me at 07:30 for the second day in a row, adequately refreshed after another good kip. The radio this morning was as good as the T.V. reception last night--crap! A shame really because Berko has a lot to offer--good pubs in abundance, decent shops, some lovely old buildings and a library with lots of computers and E-mail facilities, of which we took full advantage. Naturally today the library didn't open until 10:30, whereas every other day it's 09:30!

Having written and read our electronic communiques we returned to the boat and affixed three fenders on the starboard side. These were the tyres rescued from the go-kart track in Rye Meads on the Lee and Stort [see 'Leisurely sojourn on the Lee and Stort.'] They appear to work O.K. but suffer on lock entry with distortion as they're squashed between lock gate and boat or boat and wall etc. We'll have to see how well they last. As we were attaching the fenders around 12:30, a BW working boat came past us and stole all the next few locks-typical! It was the only boat we saw moving all day!

Lock 55 and "The Rising Sun" Gas Lock 51

At Gas Lock 51 some other BW bods were putting a new chamfer on some oak edging of the bottom gates and politely asked if we'd mind waiting. We had no choice as the boat they were working from was halfway in the open bottom gates, but were more than happy to wait whilst the task was completed. We were then escorted through with one of their number doing the honours with the paddles etc.---well done BW!

In cold wind we watered up at Cow Roast and thankfully entered the calm of the summit-level cutting for a peaceful glide to Bulbourne, spotting a Little Grebe on the way. Little Grebe is capitalised as it's a separate species from the normal grebe not merely a young grebe. They are not too common so it was a treat to see one. I have to say though that I've seen some on several occasions just up from H.N.A near to Springwell Lock.

A late awakening at 08:10 to a dull, grey day. The radio being a waste of time, we both showered and set off on foot to the Marsworth Flight to ascertain the exact position re the stoppages on it. At Lock 43 the BW men were in evidence and they gave us the good news that they had finished their initial work and the flight was now open again until next Monday at 8:00! They advised us to be clear by Sunday evening to be on the safe side, great! That meant that Aylesbury was now attainable as per plan 'A.' I decided to 'do' Aylesbury first and leave the delights of the Wendover Arm for a few days' time. 10:55 saw us set off and at Lock 40 we had the privilege of being the first boat through the new gates. During our descent of the flight we met Hazel Lloyd, the mooring warden and she advised me of the waterpoint location at Marsworth Junction--we took full advantage of it before dropping down the Aylesbury arm in glorious sunshine--yet again I cite the 'coldest winter for a decade'----scaremongers--I s**t 'em!

Lock 8 on the Aylesbury arm Tring Bridge

Checking the map, it was obvious that Wilstone Bridge by Lock 8 was the most convenient spot to foray into the village for milk, our only necessity. Wilstone itself was dead--'The Half Moon' was shut at 14:30, we got to its portals at 14:50. The landlady said that the village shop was shut [half day Wednesday] but, deep joy, the farm shop was open just through the village.

After buying milk that I thought included the cow, owing to its price, Barry bought us two coffees and a slice of cake each, he only had to sell his soul in payment, we returned to the boat by 16:15. It was so calm and warm that I got out the rod and to my surprise caught a gudgeon and a reasonable roach on bread before the darkness fell, Barry cooked a stonking fry-up then a decent T.V.picture rounded off a successful day.

A very peaceful night, so quiet out this way and it wasn't until the hands on the clock had crept round to 08:20 that I opened my eyes. After morning tea I thought I'd try fishing again and three or four fish ensued but only one roach of any size--and that chased the hook as I was reeling in. 11:15 saw us make the final push to Aylesbury in strong winds which caused us to travel crabwise for long periods! In the wild, open stretches between Puttenham and Broughton we were lucky enough to see a stunningly handsome red-brown fox with black-tipped tail as he broke cover from the offside hedge and ran straight across the field, the noise of the boat's engine being enough to spook him thoroughly. He was in plain view for a good thirty seconds, it makes a change from the usual fleeting glimpse of Reynard one gets.

narrow and windy! Aylesbury Basin

We reached the basin and turned about, mooring by the waterpoint at 15:00. A foray into town to the library for internet purposes came to nought when we were told it would cost £2 an hour! Instead we had a pint of 'London Pride' at 'The Ship' on the edge of the basin and returned to catch the end of 'Deal or no deal.'

We watched telly until 21:00 and then walked into town for an excellent curry at the 'Kashmir Gardens,' returning to the boat for coffee and a natter at 23:10. Because we stopped at 15:00 today, the Eberspacher has been set up for the morning in order to ensure copious supplies of hot water, I'll keep you posted on the success or otherwise.

Well folks, the Eberspacher tried three times and failed so a manual override was necessary and that took two attempts but, once it had the idea,it was plenty of heat in bucketloads! This enabled Barry and I to both have showers in Mount Etna temperatures besides making the interior of the boat resemble Regulo 9. Bill Chapple, an ex fire brigade colleague, was able to meet me in the canal basin just before 09:00, but, being deputy leader of Bucks County Council, could only spare twenty minutes of his very busy day, however, it was good to meet again and catch up.

Mooring by the waterpoint meant we could fill the tank before moving for the day. That happened at 09:50 and a mere five hours bar five minutes later, we turned right onto the main line and faced, wouldn't you know it, the Marsworth Flight of seven locks, all against us--often with the top gates open as well! Keith Gray phoned and arranged to meet us on the Wendover Arm.

The 2 Barry's and Keith Gray Wendover Terminus

This we did and cruised to its new terminus in the middle of nowhere by 17:00. The cold wind had chilled me to the bone, and I gratefully tied up and ducked inside the boat, giving Keith, who had resolutely stayed on the counter with me until we stopped, the two minute tour. We had negotiated twenty three locks today--a good hard slog. One cup of coffee and a natter later, Keith set off for home in the now pitch black night. Barry produced a mega fry-up--seeing as the wind and cold had given me an appetite that could have cheerfully dealt with a scabby horse between two bread vans, this went down a treat--I think we'll have no trouble sleeping tonight!!

Sounds Of The Sixties had been running for twenty minutes before I attempted to tune in whilst waiting for the kettle to boil. The sun, as it rose on the starboard side, gradually warmed the boat, it had been a relatively clear night and we felt the cold even with the Refleks stove on tickover. After some cornflakes and ablutions, we studied Barry's A-Z and discovered a library in Tring about one miles' walk away. We duly set out and found it and got down to some serious e-mailing [I had 183 to get through] before the system crashed and didn't come up again before we left. Wandering along the High Street, having bought a paper,we entered a pub, the barman of which had just turned away some people because they had a dog. I asked if they had any real ales, having spotted the dreaded metal 'T' tree of brewers' marques--no, they hadn't. So, we turned about and got back on the street--no wonder the place was empty!

A portion of chips each on the way back to the boat was very welcome and at 13:30 the homeward trek began. I resisted the temptation to increase the revs above tickover and the Wendover Arm and Summit Level of the Main Line took us until 17:00 to complete--a very peaceful antidote to yesterday's twenty three lock marathon.

Wendover Junction Mist, below the summit pound, Cowroast

Whilst travelling back along the Wendover Arm a moorhen landed on the roof of the boat and walked down to within six feet of Barry and myself on the stern counter. I was amazed at its seeming indifference to us, but a woman walking by was gobsmacked when Barry told her, "We always let the pets regularly stretch their legs!!" Her face was a picture as she saw that the bird was real! We topped up the water tank at Cow Roast and watched TV and read 'til 21:00 when we walked to the Thai pub [Cow Roast Inn] across the nearby road from the lock. A superb meal, great beer and ambience, I highly recommend it.

A very cold night--despite the Refleks being on low we had ice inside the boat on the window frame. We were snug as usual though. After ablutions the sun was shining directly into the boat through the stained-glass front windows and chasing the frost into the atmosphere. It was very warm on the front of the boat and ideal for fishing, so I indulged, using bread as before and was pleasantly surprised to catch four or five decent roach by noon. We then repaired to the Cow Roast Inn for a farewell pint.

46 locks to Cowley Lock 57

Back on the boat 12:50 was showing on the clock face as we puttered southwards. Steady progress down the Chiltern Escarpment was punctuated by occasional gongoozlers especially thick on the ground as we passed through Berko. Indeed at one stage we had four kids and one adult besides yours truly in the front well deck, with three additional adults walking alongside the boat, taking photos of the proceedings for all they were worth.

In the penultimate lock of the day a mysterious incident occurred. Barry somehow managed to flick the centre line under the boat hook lying on the roof, pitching it into the lock, even though he thought the two items were not adjacent to each other. I started to prepare my new "Seasearch" magnet for an early bath, but suddenly spotted the handle floating vertically in the water. Barry knelt down on the counter and retrieved the hook, unfortunately, the handle had snapped as the boat descended on to it in the lock. So, one broom-handle down we entered lock 57, noting all the BW paraphernalia already in position ready for the four day closure starting tomorrow. This meant the lock bollards were occupied with BW's boats and for the first time this trip, the mallet and mooring pins were employed.

I thought I'd hear BW starting work bang on 08:00 because they always state in their information sheets that stoppages start[?] at that time. However, it was more like 09:15 before I could see yellow HiVis jackets moving around Lock 57.

More views of the work at lock 57

As we walked off into Berko, via the delightfully named "Bullbeggars Lane," there was a hive of activity in the lock chamber. The BW man i/c also informed us that Lock 58 was due to close for an indeterminate time tomorrow and it "might be prudent" to move on early on the 24th.

In Berko we strolled down the High Street, window-shopping our way to the library in King's Road. Although the logging-on system crashed several times while we were there, luckily, we managed to get our electronic business concluded. A chemist shop was visited on the way back simply because the fixtures and fittings within and without dated back over 100 years and it looked great! The lady behind the counter was quite happy to let us look round--she said it was a regular occurrence.

"The Crown" knew our custom for lunch and pints of "Director's Bitter" and "Side Pocket," a very acceptable local brew from Tring. Back at the boat by 15:30 I caught a solitary roach before running the engine for a couple of hours and wrestling with the Refleks stove for over ninety minutes.

At least we now know that,with the engine taking the lion's share of the red diesel, there seems to be no feed to the drip-fed stove. As soon as the engine was stopped then the "flood chamber" of the stove filled quite happily and spilled in a controlled manner into the base of the stove, awaiting only a healthy ignition in the shape of a match to efficiently heat up the boat interior! Perhaps it's a safety feature?!

07:55, I thought I'll get up and catch the 8 o'clock news then get ready to move on below Lock 58 before BW get working on it. However,when I looked out of the lounge window I saw, not gently rippling water but static triangles of ice across the frozen surface of the canal. Needless to say the windows were frosty on the inside once more. I showered up and the BW guys knocked on the roof to tell Barry that they wouldn't be working on Lock 58 today and that we could stay put as long as we liked! When we did leave at 11:30 we Earnest Shackleton'd our way through the ice up to the lock, slowly, so as to hopefully preserve the paintwork on the prow. Oddly, the ice was only present between Locks 57 and 58, the stretch below being only polluted with with foam rather than frozen H2O.

At "The Three Horseshoes" we got the bum's rush re mooring outside again, I was spitting blood, there was no problem going upstream last week!! In disgust we continued on to Boxmoor Lock and then forayed into Hemel Hempstead and the library but blew out 'coz the computers were being upgraded. A stroll through the pedestrianised High Street brought us to Robert Dyas where I purchased a new kettle for home, £19:99, 3KV, fancy lights when boiling and a keep-warm feature--excellent!

Barry disappeared back into town, having grabbed his mobile phone on return to the boat--there was an O2 shop that he hoped would solve a couple of problems that he had. If I'd known he would be gone long enough for me to grow a new beard, I'd have moved the boat in daylight to our final mooring of the day--just before Lock 65 in Apsley. We walked down Durrant's Hill Road onto the London Road and found RAJA, an Indian restaurant where I had my first "Phal" for ages--it was enough to melt the frost! Afterwards, a swift half in 'The White Lion' before returning to the boat at 23:00.

The 8 o'clock news greeted us today and thankfully, no ice did. the boat felt accordingly more cosy as a result. Ablutions out of the way and with no rush in mind we got out the Scrabble for a game and listened to the radio--a relaxing morning.

With the sun out I gave the boat a mop off on the starboard side, the sun steaming it dry almost immediately. Eventually we started moving at 12:40, topping up the water at BW's Apsley Yard, mopping off the port side whilst the tank was filling. We had a pint at "The Paper Mill," a new Fuller's pub built opposite Apsley Marina.

" The Paper Mill", Apsley Apsley Marina Bridge

Very reminiscent of "The Grove" further north past Slapton. Pushing on, the skies darkened and we felt a few spots of rain. I revised my decision to moor at Hunton Bridge and called it a day at King's Langley Lock instead. I trudged into the village to seek out sustenance and found "The Rose and Crown" on the outskirts served food 'all day and every day' and indeed Barry and I went there for our last evening meal and pint, most acceptable. Back to the boat with the Eberspacher and the Refleks both up and running--lovely. We settled in for a night of telly.

A lovely kip for the last night aboard ended at 07:45 when I awoke to another frosty morning. After tea and ablutions were done and dusted, I untied the boat and, for the last time this trip,moved off from the moorings. For the first time this trip I was forced to wear gloves as the wind was bitterly cold. As we passed under the road bridge immediately in front of the boat I was checking that all was well by looking behind me at the bollards we'd just left. A kingfisher chose that moment to fly past the boat back towards the lock. The sun being so low and bright, and the underside of the bridge being comparatively dark, the iridescentcy of the bird had to be seen to be believed! If iridescentcy isn't a word then it deserves to be--no other description comes close!

A steady chug through Cassiobury Park, Common Moor, Croxley,Batchworth, Ricky and Springwell brought us back to base by 16:50. 17:30 saw 'Caie Two' snuggled down on her mooring and Barry and I winging our way home in his car.