Barry Holland's Log.

re: Returning the N.B. "Spirit of 57" to HNA Boathouse, Harefield,  14th March 2003 from the Paddington Arm.

The call came from Tim,

Was I available on Friday 14 March to bring "Spirit of '57" back home? , from Harlesden or Alperton to Coppermill lock in Harefield (home base?) Deep joy! I was off duty & able to indulge (they can't touch you for it!) on the Paddington Arm for a few hours. Essentially,the Paddington Arm is my home beat,living a twenty minute bike ride from the mosque bridge in Northolt. Keeping a close eye on the weather forecast I was pleased to see that a fine day was predicted. My next move was to phone my younger brother, Philip, in Shepherd's Bush to see if he fancied crewing with me & assist in ascending the six locks between Cowley & Coppermill. He enthusiastically said yes and happily Di,his wife,had a day off as well & would love to do it. 

Late on Thursday night Tim rang from City Road Lock to say that the boat was still moving & that it looked increasingly likely that Camden would be the overnight stop. A couple of hours later still, a very tired Tim revealed that I would find "Spirit" at Little Venice just past the Toll House. She had been hired by the makers of "Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels" & "Snatch." they wished to check out some suitably grim, East End canal locations for their next film and, consequently, Tim had taken them down to Limehouse Basin & back again as far as Little Venice where "Spirit" was tucked into bed. Camden had been populated by some stone-throwing yobs who, while posing no direct threat, caused Tim to keep moving on to the more leafy environs of W9. 

This suited me to a "t" because I was able to catch a bus from the end of my road to Kenton station on the Bakerloo line, where I caught a train direct to Judy Voets' favourite station, Warwick Avenue. Intriguingly, I passed through several stations that I'd never been to in my life & they left me wondering just where they were located in the maze of streets that is West London. Emerging,blinking in the now strong sunlight it was but a two minute stroll to Little Venice & Spirit. Five minutes later saw Spirit ready for sea & I cast off onto a mirror-like surface passing "Jason's Trip" & the pub until recently called "Paddington Stop" but now, trendily, goes under the name of "The Waterway." Barely an hour later I tied to the railings opposite "The Grand Junction Arms" & prepared to greet my "crew." In fact, Emmet, a friend of Philip's that had phoned him the previous evening out of the blue was first to arrive by a good two minutes. Philip had told him that he & Di were acting as crew for me today & Philip then phoned to ask if it was O.K. if Emmet came too (for those of you wondering Emmet is an Irish name with no equivalent in English) as he also was enthusiastic about watery peregrinations.

Within minutes of Emmet's arrival, Phil & Di appeared on the far bank and cars safely parked up, all came aboard. Following a brief but vital safety lecture Spirit was untied & resumed her measured journey westward, ever westward. The first gasps of amazement came as we traversed the North Circular Road observing that the Hangar Lane Gyratory System was flowing well with a couple of hours yet to go before the traffic slowed down to its customary 2 mph. Phil, who knows well my predilection for canals & canal travel started to appreciate just why it holds such an attraction for me. Emmet, who is known by the nickname "Inspector Gadget" wasted no time in getting a digital camera to work in between marvelling at the secret world we boaters all know so well.

My enthusiasm always is heightened when a "Johnny-come-lately" is present because you can see it in their eyes. Lovely! One by one the crew were introduced to the wonders of tiller steering where everything is a**e about face & nothing happens immediately but eventually. The wildlife, encouraged by the warming rays of the sun, played to the gallery with coots, moorhens, herons & even a cormorant taking centre stage. Squabbles over mating rights, nest sites & food being much in evidence. All very familiar to us regular users but riveting to the first timers.

I was able to show the crew "Ampersand," my old boat, tied up at West London Motor Cruising Club, followed by the scenic delights of Sudbury Hill golf course & the bosky Horsenden Hill.

Just gone 13:00 it was time to get outside some lunch at "The Hamborough Tavern" along with a pint of "London Pride." Lunch done it was a case of pushing on, me knowing that it would probably be another five hours before Coppermill lock hove into site, the crew marvelling at the fact that three hours into their journey we had barely covered a distance that would take only minutes by car.

The T junction at Bull's Bridge was the next landmark-complete with the battered blue signpost that announces Brentford, Paddington and Birmingham as though all places were equidistant! There now followed the grottiest part of the canal-namely the stretch from Hayes to the Slough arm at Cowley Peachey. Then, with the residential moorings just below Cowley Lock the canal becomes countrified & takes on a rural aspect. With a slight hiccup in the rurality through Uxbridge the countryside takes firm command over the scenery as the main line makes its eventual way towards Tring at the top of the Chiltern escarpment.

Phil,Di and Emmet knew the delights of Denham Country Park with its attendant Denham Deep lock, Widewater, Black Jacks & finally Coppermill Lock before calling it a day at 18:15.

As a finale the canal had one more delight to throw at us. We climbed Black Jacks & Coppermill in company with the old working boat, "Greyhound" complete with its evocatively-sounding Bolinder engine. Phil's orgasm was complete, I didn't know that his special interest is old engines, he watches programmes on this subject as avidly as I watch waterway-related ones!

 

What a perfect end to a perfect day!

Barry Holland, Volunteer Hillingdon Narrowboats Association steerer and raconteur extraordinaire