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Mooring on the River Lea


Theo

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After the Venice Cavalcade we will be going up the Lee. Could you suggest good mooring places to leave the boat for a day or two?

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

Nick

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Dobbs weir is a pretty safe mooring and well used although it may be a bit noisy if you are too close to the bridge as they are still finishing the bridge replacement works. The station is about 20 minute walk away if you need it. The only pub is located the far side of the bridge, they do good food and get quite busy this time of year

 

Sorry being stupid, Dobbs Weir is on the Stort not the Lea but it only about and hour cruise and you can turn through the bridge

Edited by tommytelford
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Dobbs weir is a pretty safe mooring and well used although it may be a bit noisy if you are too close to the bridge as they are still finishing the bridge replacement works. The station is about 20 minute walk away if you need it. The only pub is located the far side of the bridge, they do good food and get quite busy this time of year

 

Sorry being stupid, Dobbs Weir is on the Stort not the Lea but it only about and hour cruise and you can turn through the bridge

Dobbs weir is still on the Lea as far as I know.
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If you need to be near a station there are plenty, Ponders End, Waltham Abbey, Cheshunt, Rye House, Stanstead Abbots and Hertford are all good.

 

Tim

I'm hardly the oracle, and I know your local knowledge is spot on, but...

 

I stopped a few nights in a place on the Lee that I seen to remember was Cheshunt. Nice towpath cafe with a small marina behind it, B&M Bargains just over the bridge etc...

 

Anyway my point being was that it felt well dodgy, there was another boater walking around warning people that boats had been broken into and there were police posters up appealing for information about a stabbing by the road Bridge. Also the B&M carpark was boy racer central with wheelspinning going into the early hours.

 

Most of the Lee was lovely, and I'd agree with all your other suggestions, but I'd definitely not Want to leave my boat unattended for a few days in Cheshunt.

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I'm hardly the oracle, and I know your local knowledge is spot on, but...

 

I stopped a few nights in a place on the Lee that I seen to remember was Cheshunt. Nice towpath cafe with a small marina behind it, B&M Bargains just over the bridge etc...

 

Anyway my point being was that it felt well dodgy, there was another boater walking around warning people that boats had been broken into and there were police posters up appealing for information about a stabbing by the road Bridge. Also the B&M carpark was boy racer central with wheelspinning going into the early hours.

 

Most of the Lee was lovely, and I'd agree with all your other suggestions, but I'd definitely not Want to leave my boat unattended for a few days in Cheshunt.

That sounds more like Waltham Abbey Junior. The oiks come from Waltham Cross. Was there a pub on the road bridge? called the ''Old English Gentleman'' now closed. The small marina and cafe is behind it.

Dobbs weir is a pretty safe mooring and well used although it may be a bit noisy if you are too close to the bridge as they are still finishing the bridge replacement works. The station is about 20 minute walk away if you need it. The only pub is located the far side of the bridge, they do good food and get quite busy this time of year

 

Sorry being stupid, Dobbs Weir is on the Stort not the Lea but it only about and hour cruise and you can turn through the bridge

Good pub, the ''Fish and Eels at Dobbs weir, river Lea.

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I wouldnt leave the boat unattended for long anywhere much south of Waltham Abbey though Enfield lock is probably OK, if leaving at the Abbey I would moor opposite the boat club and make yourself known.

 

Most of the towpath (but not all) is deep enough to moor in most places, Stansted Abbotts gets crowded as does Hertford but plenty of mooring in Ware.

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I'm hardly the oracle, and I know your local knowledge is spot on, but...

 

I stopped a few nights in a place on the Lee that I seen to remember was Cheshunt. Nice towpath cafe with a small marina behind it, B&M Bargains just over the bridge etc...

 

Anyway my point being was that it felt well dodgy, there was another boater walking around warning people that boats had been broken into and there were police posters up appealing for information about a stabbing by the road Bridge. Also the B&M carpark was boy racer central with wheelspinning going into the early hours.

 

Most of the Lee was lovely, and I'd agree with all your other suggestions, but I'd definitely not Want to leave my boat unattended for a few days in Cheshunt.

Excellent timing Junior. I just moored up there to get supplies. Checked the forum and found this thread. Have moved on a couple of locks into beautiful open countryside.

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I'm hardly the oracle, and I know your local knowledge is spot on, but...

 

I stopped a few nights in a place on the Lee that I seen to remember was Cheshunt. Nice towpath cafe with a small marina behind it, B&M Bargains just over the bridge etc...

 

Anyway my point being was that it felt well dodgy, there was another boater walking around warning people that boats had been broken into and there were police posters up appealing for information about a stabbing by the road Bridge. Also the B&M carpark was boy racer central with wheelspinning going into the early hours.

 

Most of the Lee was lovely, and I'd agree with all your other suggestions, but I'd definitely not Want to leave my boat unattended for a few days in Cheshunt.

S'funny as I am currently sitting in a pub with a continuous cruiser who regularly moors at Cheshunt, including the last two weeks, who says that it is her favourite mooring on the the Lea with many nice walks in the adjacent nature reserves. She is seriously considering taking a winter mooring there this year. The station is very handy and there is a convenient Tesco's in the town.

 

Tim

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S'funny as I am currently sitting in a pub with a continuous cruiser who regularly moors at Cheshunt, including the last two weeks, who says that it is her favourite mooring on the the Lea with many nice walks in the adjacent nature reserves. She is seriously considering taking a winter mooring there this year. The station is very handy and there is a convenient Tesco's in the town.

 

Tim

 

I think the actual spot he was referring to was at Waltham Abbey just below lock 11. I have moved on a couple of miles and am now moored between locks 9 and 10. As your friend says, it is indeed very pretty and also very popular with several boats moored here.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Most of the Lea is fine nowadays even if it doesn't look it some of the time - loads of ccers and the resultant spreading out since CRT introduced the current process has peppered a few boats in places which might have been solo mooring in the past so you'll be able to use them as a guide. I'd probably avoid the bit around the point where the North Circular crosses the canal but that would be for the smell from the north London waste plant as much as security, other than that can't think of anywhere we've moored which didn't feel safe.

 

We did the Lea & Stort extensively this time last year - Hertford was really nice but yes a bit busy and too narrow to sensibly breast up if it's rammed when you get there so a bit of a toss up whether you end up having to turn around (under the very low end of navigation bridge) and return to the countryside on the edge of the town. Would maybe avoid Rye House too but again because of the go-kart track noise rather than security.

 

Actually the only incident we had which was a one off guy from a stag party in Stortford peeing on the boat in the middle of the night from the towpath. By the time we'd worked out what the odd noise was it was too late to go out and shout at the bloke. When I did got up in the morning and assessed the issue I was actually impressed as much as annoyed - the towpath was about 10ft away from the boat through thick grass... Despite that incident the moorings there were quiet and well positioned in the town.

 

I've found a lot of the areas on the upper Lee & Stort fluctuate rather wildly between full and empty - Broxbourne for example is lovely and half the time the boats stretch off down the towpath but the last time we turned up there we were on our own, Hertford and Stortford the same.

 

Further south of course Three Mills, Hackney Marshes etc are lovely too though it's busy so you might have to breast up if you can't find a spot.

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We cruised the Lee & Stort from the 10th of May to the 1st week of June last year and found many nice mooring spots, both in the middle of nowhere and in/near towns and villages. I remember both Ware & Hertford being lovely places to moor and both having easy access to shops, Ware has a quaint little museum well worth a visit as well.

 

We struggled "a wee bit" finding good mooring on the Stort, but that was just becasue we are a little wider than the skinny boats...also ckeck the water levels as there are a couple of quite low bridges we "just" cleared on the Stort...we litterly had about 1 & 1/2 inches to spare on one of them. Oh; and don't be shocked that it's the "norm" to leave the gates open when leaving locks regardless of which direction your going smile.png

 

As somone has already mentioned the Fish & Eels is indeed a nice pub with good mooring.

 

Hope you enjoy the rivers as much as we did cheers.gifboat.gif

Edited by Bettie Boo
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