Five weeks to the Thames.

[John Orentas]

Well we're back 5 weeks away, Peak Forest Canal to Limehouse, 242 engine hours and only 3 days off. In the event we took the easier route via the Macclesfield, Trent & Mersey, Coventry, North and South Oxford and joined the Thames by the Dukes Cut north of Oxford. A few more days and onto the tideway at Teddington and one very exiting lumpy trip to Limehouse Basin, the true highlight of the trip.

 

We had planned to return via the Grand Union but having enjoyed the river so much we decided to return by the same route though we also took the trip (one day each way) to the limit of navigation at Lechlade so at least we can claim to have 'done the Thames'.

 

Had a few little adventures on route including falling into my front well deck from the lock-side, banging my head on the gas locker on the way down, suffered from a bit of concussion for a few hours and a bad back made things uncomfortable which is still with me but it didn't spoil the trip.

 

The cost of fuel is significant these days I used the best part of £200 worth of the stuff, the Thames license which you buy at the first lock cost nearly £80 for a 15 day job, I thought that was a bit steep at first but with hindsight given the delights of the river and the great service given by all the lock-keepers is good value.

 

The only real irritation was with the mooring situation, in places miles and miles of excellent banking often with mooring rings all with 'No Mooring' signs, only when the banking finished was mooring permitted usually against a high bank with shallow water even then there was a good chance a chap with a money bag would turn up and demand a fiver, I only paid twice. This situation wasn't limited to the private land either, lengths controlled by the Environment Agency and local councils have the same strange attitude, some of the waterside pubs make an effort offering good free mooring but there aren't that many of them.

 

Don't be persuaded to leave the river at Brentford as so many narrowboats do, the trip to the East End of London is not to be missed, passing all those familiar landmarks of the capital is almost a surreal experience, you can bow deferentially as you pass by Parliament and sound your horn urgently as you approach Tower Bridge, they didn't open it for me but you never know.

 

I hesitate to mention the next bit, but my trip down the tideway was with during a high tide with a strong opposing wind, any of you who have done any sailing will know this is the recipe for some very lumpy water this combined with a very macho attitude by many of the trip-boat skippers who delight in cutting across your bows without warning put Squeers at some angles it has not experienced since leaving the rolling mill but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. I was told later by one of the lockies at Limehouse that the conditions were 'as bad as it gets' and he complimented me on getting into the dock without hitting anything a feat that no-one else had managed that day, that same chap told me about the 'canteen culture' of the skippers who for some reason are very anti-narrowboat but he added we haven't lost one yet.

Edited July 12, 2006 by John Orentas

[charles123]

Excellent report John, thanks for sharing it, you cetainly covered some miles in 5 weeks, I think I would have taken longer had I the time, would like to do the central London part of your trip some day but the hazards you describe which I was aware of would put me off, however should I go one day I would endevour to do that part in company with a couple of other boats

 

Charles

[stuart]

Sounds a lovely trip, I'm planning on going to Oxford in a few weeks time. What was the Oxford Canal like?

[GUMPY]

Don't be persuaded to leave the river at Brentford as so many narrowboats do, the trip to the East End of London is not to be missed, passing all those familiar landmarks of the capital is almost a surreal experience, you can bow deferentially as you pass by Parliament and sound your horn urgently as you approach Tower Bridge, they didn't open it for me but you never know.

 

 

Having done this trip on many occasions, the advice I would offer if its your first time is to leave the Thames at Brentford and go round by canal to Limehouse then do the return by river.

It is much safer coming out of Limehouse than going in.

 

Julian

[David Schweizer]

We had planned to return via the Grand Union but having enjoyed the river so much we decided to return by the same route .....

That's a shame John. we are off down the Grand Union on Sunday, we would have probaobly passed each other, now our only chance is if we pass in the booring bit between Napton and Braunston. Still we are still planning to come up to Buxworth later this summer so maybe we can meet for a pint.

[John Orentas]

I did give it a lot of thought David but at the end of the day the Grand Union is just another canal but the river is something else - Well we wanted to do the upper reaches anyway, and I had paid for 15 days. I don't think we would have crossed paths, I began my return trip from Limehouse on the 23rd of June and got home on the 9th July.

 

Make sure you let me know of your trip up here when you have firm dates I will look forward to meeting at Bugsworth, could perhaps give you a few tips for the route and stopping places. The basin is still Bugsworth by the way, that do-gooder vicar only managed to change the name of the village.

 

Julian I don't really see the safety issue as all that relevent, if we always took the safest option in life things would get a bit boring. Taking advice from the lock-keepers is as responsible as you need to be, I would have gone as far as the barrage if I had the opportunity, was told the tides were wrong or something.

[John Orentas]

As we had a day to spend in Limehouse Basin I thought I would take a little trip (keep me out of those east end pubs for a while).

 

The Docklands Light Railway is only yards away from the mooring so I took a trip to Greenwich, quite an impressive thing in itself though for those of you who are jittery about cruising the tideway a driver-less train below the river should concentrate the mind. I have 'done' the Cutty Sark a few years ago and a great few hours it was. I thought I would take a look at the National Maritime Museum for obvious reasons and visit the National Observatory, I have an amateurish interest in astronomy and I also knew that John Harrison's famous chronometers are housed there.

 

To be honest the maritime museum was a big disappointment aimed mainly at children with very few exhibits of any interest. The observatory was better, Harrison's clocks are displayed in a small room, badly lit and not running, I have read the book about his life and seen the very good TV series. Though a brilliant engineer and clockmaker John Harrison was a poor designer spending a lifetime with the principles of pendulums and their requirement for a million corrective gadgets lodged in his mind, only towards the end of his life was he converted to the idea of a ballance wheel but his dedication and perseverance cannot be matched.

 

Flamsteed the first Astronomer Royal and many of his successors where brilliant men too dedicating their lives to compiling star charts and developing instruments for studying the night sky and all that went with it. There was no fame in their lifetimes and very little fortune but between them they made sailing the world into a science and saved the lives of thousands of seafarers they would never know. Hero's of the new world.

[NB Willawaw]

Yes fully agree with you. Greenwich is one of my favourite places because of its nautical connections.

There is a foot tunnel under the Thames that links the Cutty Sark to the north bank.

Is Gypsy Moth still there as I heard they were refitting her to go back to sea ?

There is a nice clubhouse at Limehouse Lock and I always enjoyed watching the boats come in on the tide.

 

Another good place to visit if you take the Regents Canal route, is the London Canal Museum - they normally have a free visitors mooring to enable you to visit by boat.

 

London is well worth a visit.

 

There are also visitors moorings in Paddington Basin if you want to do the theatres.

Edited July 14, 2006 by NB Willawaw

[mykaskin]

Julian I don't really see the safety issue as all that relevent, if we always took the safest option in life things would get a bit boring. Taking advice from the lock-keepers is as responsible as you need to be, I would have gone as far as the barrage if I had the opportunity, was told the tides were wrong or something.

 

The tides are always suitable, but of course, unless you want to spend some time pushing it, then you may need to continue further out than your insurance lets you. You could probably have timed leaving Teddington to arrive at the barrage if you know what your speed was likely to be. Last time we did this, we continued out with the tide to Tilbury before the tide turned and we then came back in with it.

 

If it was wind against tide, then I would not recomend going to far down, as it starts to get a bit more open after the Isle of Dogs.

 

Worth doing if you get the chance, I have several cruises to the barrier (and beyond) on my website.

 

Mike