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Slough Arm


Richardcn

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Hi All

 

Has anybody been down the Slough Arm in the last couple of weeks and, if so, is it navigable? I've heard that there can be problems with weed (the water-borne kind ;)) and we'd rather not entangle ourselves having seen how dense that stuff gets further up the GU. Also any tips for moorings/water/undesirable locations etc please.

 

Regards

Richard

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Nice one. I worked on Vulcans at Scampton on my first posting so they hold a special place in my memories. A truly awesome aircraft. I sometimes find it hard to believe that I was once sat in the cockpit of these aircraft at barely 18 years old and in charge of filling it with ridiculous amounts of fuel whilst trying not to overbalance it onto its tail! Them were the days.

 

Richard

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I used to follow the Vulcan webcam when it was being restored, couple of hundred views a month for ages until the time got near - then it all crashed when 20,000plus people all wanted to watch it on the runway day!!. I remember it flying over Watford Gap on its first flight from Bruntingford - went on the roof just in case.

I then chased back up there hoping to catch it on its final flight - pulled over into a ditch just on time - police weren't happy but stuff em.

 

Anyhow, Slough Arm - after this Summer its likely to be bad for another month unless crt have been clearing it - I gave up one July a couple of hundred yards short of the park where the festival is held as I had done 300 yards in an hour.

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I can remember a Vulcan landing on the grass strip at RAF Halton years ago, it was a one way trip and used for training purposes.

 

Anyone near Halton - there's a good small museum (Trenchard Museum) about life in the RAF and in another building a section dedicated to powering planes, including a Chipmunk simulator. Both are open On Tuesdays, controlled entry via Main Guardhouse, check details.

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15 hours ago, matty40s said:

Anyhow, Slough Arm - after this Summer its likely to be bad for another month unless crt have been clearing it - I gave up one July a couple of hundred yards short of the park where the festival is held as I had done 300 yards in an hour.

Many thanks Matty. I think we'll take a walk down there with the dog before we commit then. I'll report back for any others hoping to go that way.

 

Richard

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I think CaRT cut t for the festival. We went all the way and stopped at the festival on the way back a number of years ago but about three years later tried a couple of months earlier and it was as good as impassible just after Iver boatyard. The festival was I think a week ago so hopefully it may be OK for a while now. Sorry, no up to date info.

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On 22/09/2018 at 15:49, Richardcn said:

Hi All

 

Has anybody been down the Slough Arm in the last couple of weeks and, if so, is it navigable? I've heard that there can be problems with weed (the water-borne kind ;)) and we'd rather not entangle ourselves having seen how dense that stuff gets further up the GU. Also any tips for moorings/water/undesirable locations etc please.

 

Regards

Richard

The entire slough arm is regarded by many as an undesirable location, with few mooring anywhere bar the area near the marina.

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5 hours ago, BWM said:

The entire slough arm is regarded by many as an undesirable location, with few mooring anywhere bar the area near the marina.

 

10 minutes ago, davem399 said:

The YouTube vloggers Minimal List went down the arm a few weeks ago.  I think the title was some thing like "We did the Slough Arm so you don't have to".  

Oo er. It's not looking like it's really worth the diesel it would seem. But then again, what the heck. Down and back non-stop then moor near the marina just for the hell of it... maybe!

 

Richard

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Use it or lose it, as someone once said. We enjoy the challenge of exploring quieter canals. 

 

We haven’t been down that way since 2010 and sadly didn’t have time to go down the Slough arm. We will certainly go, next time we are darn sarth! My aunt lives nearby and says they see so few boats and it’s a real shame. 

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We are moored at High Line but am still making our way back from St Neots, should be back on the arm late October. There shouldn't be any problems getting to the windy hole by Langley school as boat going to/from the moorings regularly go that far - what's it's like from there onto the basin is another matter. I would think it shouldn't be too bad as the big Hillingdon trip boats tend to help clear the weeds during the festival (3 weeks ago).

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Just as a follow up. We did eventually meander along the Slough Arm, after switching plans several times! It was a gorgeous day (Mon) and I thought why the hell not. I have to say it was pretty shallow, even in the centre, up to the bridge 4 winding hole but we never travel quickly so it suited us. Paula did her first wind there as, not only were there no gongoozlers but there were no boats either! Where else can you say that this close to London. The early autumn wildlife was lovely and the odd walker or cyclist that passed by was jovial. I had forgotten the pleasure to be had from a narrow canal. We really enjoyed the peace and quiet, yes even whilst the DM2 was chugging steadily. However, there was nowhere that I would have felt comfortable mooring and probably nowhere we could have got in on that stretch anyway. You can see and feel the potential but you can also see it is slipping (or has already slipped) away. I fear that, with the location of the travellers camp (and the notoriety of its residents) unlikely to change, the Slough Arm may never achieve its potential. What a crying shame.

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12 hours ago, matty40s said:

It will only achieve its potential if someone has enough gumption to dig out the end down to the Thames, been mooted many times, the proles would accept compensation but probably not the public schools in the way.

But the last set of "plans" I saw did not link to the terminus but some way short. That Public school was to have been bypassed by using the Jubilee River flood "prevention" scheme that is already in place. I think they proposed leaving the canal at the park where the Slough Canal festival is held.

 

Just to show it can be done here we were in 2006 at the terminus where we picked up brother in law because the terminus is not far from the station. The next time we tried with a load of my apprentice friends from the area it was impassible because of weed.

 

image.png.b7e3f6405a27e6ee3ef4dcc50bf1d115.png

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On 24/09/2018 at 15:48, davem399 said:

The YouTube vloggers Minimal List went down the arm a few weeks ago.  I think the title was some thing like "We did the Slough Arm so you don't have to".  

It doesn't get good press. A few years ago one of the boatimags ran an article with a title something like "Bert Bloggs [or whoever] Goes Down The Slough Arm And Wonders Why He Bothered".

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12 minutes ago, Athy said:

It doesn't get good press. A few years ago one of the boatimags ran an article with a title something like "Bert Bloggs [or whoever] Goes Down The Slough Arm And Wonders Why He Bothered".

 

Well the answer is obviously that he went down there because before he went down there, he didn't know what it was like, innit!

 

Its a bit like those posters on here who say if you don't like a post, don't read it....

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We did the whole length of the arm when we were living aboard.  It was in 2015, I think.  It was slow and hard work but it is our duty as dedicated boaters to travel on those parts that the others cannot reach.  We did it because it is there and open and a bit unloved.  There are bits of Brum like that but the BCN challenge helps with those.

 

Son't pass the Slough Arm by or it will become one of the bits that are closed again through lack of support.

 

Nick

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Well it appears that the annual weed cut has encouraged some use of the arm. A pair of widebeams went down yesterday and I found two other boats moored further down (but before the M25) and a third coming back along when I took the dog for his evening walk. A dramatic early splash of autumn along the way as well. I didn't photograph the cr*p in the hedgerows that seems particularly prevalent in this area though. And the cut-through from the towpath to Argos just down from the junction is absolutely appalling, it's like a small landfill site!!!

20181005_174147.jpg

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20181005_173937.jpg

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On ‎22‎/‎09‎/‎2018 at 15:49, Richardcn said:

Hi All

 

Has anybody been down the Slough Arm in the last couple of weeks and, if so, is it navigable? I've heard that there can be problems with weed (the water-borne kind ;)) and we'd rather not entangle ourselves having seen how dense that stuff gets further up the GU. Also any tips for moorings/water/undesirable locations etc please.

 

Regards

Richard

Interesting Video 

 

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

We returned to our mooring at High Line at the weekend but havn't gone past the mooring yet. There were a couple of boats moored up near Packet Boat, 2 wide beams by the first windy hole and 1 boat moored opposite the moorings. No problems with the canal and it all looked pretty nice in autumnal colours. Might go and turn round in the next few weeks but thought best to moor up rather than continue the 45 minutes there and back trip to turn.

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