Aylesbury Duck anyone ?

Tonight we’re tied up at the end of the very rural seven mile Aylesbury Canal Arm, which drops down from just below the summit of the Grand Union Canal. It was opened in 1815, and was a well used commercial waterway for around 150 years, until trade finally petered out in the 1960s.

A very quiet waterway (with the first narrow locks we’ve come across for seven months)

One particular canal carrier, Harvey-Taylor, operated from a wharf in the town, and one of their wooden boats still exists – currently used to teach school kids about the history of working canal boats ……

Harvey-Taylor’s boat ‘Roger’

Aylesbury is also well known for ducks.

An Aylesbury Duck

The Aylesbury duck is a large duck with pure white plumage. White ducks became popular in the 18th century owing to the demand for white feathers as a filler for quilts. Over the 19th century selective breeding for size, shape and colour led to the Aylesbury duck.

Duck rearing became a major industry in the town in the 19th century and the opening of a railway to the town in 1839 enabled cheap and quick transport to the markets of London. By the 1860s the duck rearing industry began to move out of Aylesbury into the surrounding towns and villages, and the industry in the town itself began to decline. It has all now all gone.

What else is the town famous for ? – well, Ronnie Barker first took to the stage here as a 19 year old in 1948…..

This is Ronnie Barker looking at the the Waterside Theatre in the town – architecturally very impressive.

Aylesbury Waterside Theatre

Bank branches in many market towns occupy some quite impressive buildings formerly used for something else, however this one in the town looks to be a bit of a ‘hand me down’ !

 

The Summit

As most of our readers will know, canals (generally) have locks interspersed along their lengths, the purpose being to help a boat go up hills (or down).

Now, bearing in mind that almost all canals round the country are linked, once you get to the top of a hill, then what ?  Well, you go down again, the other side. The top level is called the canal summit. Filling a lock requires 50,000 gallons of water to be run into it, and the same amount run out to go down the other side – total of 100,000 gallons of water each time a boat goes over the summit; that’s one million gallons of water for just ten boats, but where does it all come from ?

A river would seem an obvious source, but remember we’re at the top of a hill. Pumped maybe ? – most canals were built before steam became widely used, so no. Waterwheel driven pumps again need a river, so a bit restricted there too.  The solution was to build reservoirs at the summit level, holding sufficient water to allow for even the busiest boating activity when the canals were the the main freight routes up and down the country.

We’re at the ‘Tring Summit’, the highest point on the Grand Union Canal (opened 1805) as it passes over the Chilterns, and up here there are four large reservoirs, dug out and with dams built using nothing more than shovels !

Here’s one of them –

The drawing below, shows the four reservoirs. The main line of the Grand Union runs from the right of the map, to the top. The arm going to the bottom is the Wendover Arm, and is the main ‘feeder’ receiving water from two of the reservoirs, the other two feed the main line directly.  The arm going off to the left is the Aylesbury Arm – more on that in the next post.

The four summit reservoirs

We see a few herons on our travels, but they usually fly away as soon as you get anywhere near them, this one at a lock didn’t though, presenting an opportunity for a photo for you.

A very tame heron

Cricket bats and Robert Snooks

Rain, rain, (and wind). Boating should not be about masochism, so we’ve decided to stay put moored in Boxmoor (near Hemel Hemstead) for the day.

We were enjoying breakfast earlier when the sound of a chain saw shattered the silence – it seemed to be moving slowly along the canal. On taking the dogs out for a walk shortly afterwards it was clear what they were doing…

….. felling a number of willows

We later came across a notice which explained all –

Turns out that a particular variety of willow (Salix Alba v. Caerulea) is ideal for the manufacture of cricket bats. They are harvested at an age of between 15 and 20 years, and are considered a bit of a business opportunity – each felled tree fetches around £250.

Boxmoor

Boxmoor is a chestnut-shaded meadowland/heath which retains ancient grazing rights, and by a particular clump of trees we came across a small ‘memorial’ stone engraved with the name Robert Snooks, and the date 1802.

A bit of research revealed that he was the last highwayman to be be executed in England, having being caught following his attack on a young post-boy whilst crossing the heath, and ‘relieving’ him of £500 in a post bag – worth some £40,000 in today’s money.

He was hung from a chestnut tree near to the place the robbery took place, and was buried on the spot…..

 

 

 

Boat….Car….Boat…Car ?

Tonight we’re in ‘lovely’ Hemel Hempstead. However, again in a green ‘corridor’……

The Grand Union is one of those canals you can’t really rush. The number and frequency of large locks tends to slow things a little, however its rich history as a major working waterway almost makes it irreverent just to speed along regardless.

For example, today we’ve passed (the sites of) the old Ovaltine factory, Dickinson’s paper mill (a Sainsbury supermarket), and Roses lime juice factory (now a B&Q). In each case the importance of the former waterborne transport links to each, is evidenced by the wharves that front the canal. Coal and raw products had to come in, and finished goods despatched for markets around the world – via London’s canals to the docks for example.

We’ve got used to odd looking boats this trip, however there was one today that seemed to be suffering a bit of an identity crisis …..

It looked like the helmsman sat in the drivers seat and steered with the car’s steering wheel – perhaps another of those DILLIGAF moments ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is that a log ?

Sometimes you see something in the canal floating by just above the surface, and the cry goes out “Look – a crocodile!”.

More often than not it’s a log – until today that is……..

A little further on we came across this sign at a lock ……

Now we’re not so sure !

 

DILLIGAF

Tonight we’re moored on the Grand Union Canal just north of Uxbridge (see the gold star)

Apart from the first stretch past a lot of industry (including what looked like a closed Nestle factory), the Grand Union Canal is looking promising.

The canal is sometimes referred to as the London-Birmingham ‘motorway’ of canals, as it was the main freight route up the country for 150 years, however there are no working boats now and it has become much ‘softer’ round the edges.

On the way we passed a boat we just had to take a photo of to share with you. The guy steering it was really cheerful and didn’t seem bothered in the least as to what it looked like …….

It’s name ? – DILLIGAF

Short for :

Does It Look Like I Give A F*** !

Blow Up Bridge

Tonight we’re moored near Perivale, roughly half way between Greenford and Wembley

Our London visit over, we’re now on the way west and then north up the Grand Union Canal.  Before heading out of London though,  from Paddington we ventured on to the Regents Canal.  This passes round London Zoo, and in fact through the zoo at one stage as the aviary section is on the other side of the canal. Our friend Gill joined us for the trip which included going through Camden. Now for some reason I thought Camden was one of those trendy ‘must be seen in’ parts of London, and whilst some has been regenerated, a lot hasn’t, and you get an idea what the natives might be like from the fact the four Camden locks are fenced off with locked gates. This might be to keep the locals safe from dodgy boat crews of course.

London is an expensive place to live, and many have found living on a boat, moored in the city to be a more affordable way to live. Mostly they are double moored, however some were three boats wide, and in one place we saw four boats tied up side by side ……

The canal ‘rules’ say that you have to move your boat every 7 days as part of a progressive journey – not sure many of these do so.

On the way today we found a Sainsbury’s next to the canal, where there was nothing stopping you wheeling the trolley right up to the boat – the closest we’ve got a trolley so far this trip !

We passed over the North Circular again – this time with stationary traffic …..

Glad we’re not down there !

…….and passed under ‘Blow Up Bridge’ –

2nd October 1874 – as reported at the time :

“At about 3 a.m., the steam-tug Ready drew away from City Road Wharf, Islington, pulling behind her, the fly-boat Jane steered by Mr. Boswell, the barge Dee steered by Mr. Edwards, the barge Tilbury steered by Mr. Baxton; On board Tilbury were also Mr. Taylor, a labourer, another man, and a boy.

The steamer towed her train of vessels westwards through the night, without event, for nearly two hours, turning into the cut behind the Zoological Gardens of Regent’s Park, and passing under Macclesfield Bridge at the North Gate a few minutes before five o’clock.  

As Tilbury went under the Bridge, a most terrible explosion occurred. The barge was shattered and all on board were killed. Another of the barges was also damaged and sank.

The Macclesfield Bridge was totally destroyed and the supporting columns thrown down, asTilbury had been directly beneath it when her cargo blew up.

Such was the force of the blast that surrounding houses were severely damaged, their roofs and walls blown down, and some were near ruins. For a mile to east and west, windows and fragile articles were broken”.

The bridge was eventually rebuilt using the original cast iron uprights which were largely undamaged apparently. However to minimise the effects of towing ropes cutting ever deeper grooves into them, each was placed the opposite way round. Looking at them today, the grooves could be seen on both sides.

London tourists

Tourists in London; that’s what we’ve been for the last three days, although we’re not sure if we’ve slowed down in life, or everyone else in London just does things at breakneck speed, but the pace of everything seems relentless ! However, interspersing jostling with the throngs, and sitting quietly on the boat in the evenings at Little Venice has brought a bit of balance though.

Little Venice basin at night

The regeneration around the Paddington Basin area reminds us a bit of the centre of Birmingham and ‘Brindley Place’ – new waterside apartments and bars. Some traditionalists might decry the loss of the derelict old warehouses and wharves, but at least the waterside is accessible to all, and in the main a safe and pleasant place to be.

Nick sitting next to someone in Paddington Basin that makes him look taller for a change

As a tourist in London, you have to do touristy things – we managed the Victoria & Albert Museum (fashion and glass sections); the Portrait Gallery; National Gallery; a walk along the Embankment, and a visit to the Science Museum.

A beautiful glass sculpture at the V & A

 

JMW Turner’s ‘The Fighting Temeraire’ at the National

 

Main hall of the Science Museum

John Harrison’s Marine Chronometer No 4 in the Science Museum

The last one was of particular interest having just finished a book looking at the work of John Harrison and his part in solving the Royal Navy’s navigation longitude problem in the 1700s. The need to be able to calculate longitude at sea became so acute by 1714, that the British Government offered a prize of £20,000 for a solution.

Mariners had no means of finding their longitude at sea, resulting in frequent disasterous ship losses. In theory if a clock is set to local time at a home port, and maintains accuracy , a navigator simply has to check his time locally (by observing the heavens – sun/stars etc), and by comparing to the time at home, establish how far East or West the ship had travelled using the time difference. However the best land-based time keeping mechanism at the time (the pendulum) wouldn’t work on rolling ship at sea. Changes in motion, temperature, and humidity all impacted on accurate time keeping. John Harrison eventually won the prize with his Chronometer No 4 using a clever ‘escape’ mechanism, and temperature compensating clock movements, after a lifetime of attempts.

 

 

 

London or Venice ?

The orange star shows where we’re moored tonight (in fact for the next four nights)

Brutus is not sure if he’s in London or not, as we’ve moored for the next four nights in Little Venice.  We managed to book one of just two bookable moorings near the centre of London, which is jammed full of boats moored two deep all along the Paddington Branch of the Grand Union Canal – leaving no space for casual visiting boaters.  If you look at where we’re moored though it doesn’t look very busy…….

Little Venice basin, Paddington – Brutus on his mooring

The journey into the city was interesting, with scenery of all colours (various graffiti and the M4 elevated section).

Our introduction to West London

A highlight (if you could call it that !) was passing OVER the North Circular – a road I’ve crawled along on many an occasion ! So pleased I was not to be on it I took a video to share with you …….

Most of the hundreds of boats we passed on the way in to London were normal canal boats – housing is just so expensive in the city that many live on boats ‘by the seat of their pants’ in many respects, as they need to move on at least every fourteen days or less, and in the whole of London there are just seven places you can connect a tap to fill with water (a job needing doing every week or so).

We did pass some rather unconventional boats too though……

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made it !

I confess to having been a bit apprehensive of our trip down the tidal River Thames (or part of it anyway). The run down to Teddington Lock from Weybridge before the tidal section was pretty straight forward, apart from the pouring rain.  We had to be at Teddington by 1:00 pm to catch the high tide, however you’re allowed through the lock half an hour beforehand so as to make the most of the ‘slack water’. 

It stopped raining and we were off, passing Hampton Court Palace on the way.

 

The tidal Thames is like the rest (whilst at high tide !)

Nice old barge on the way

 

….and a floating waterside home

The trip was only down to Brentford where we would turn up into the River Brent, then join the Grand Union Canal. Trouble is the turning into the River Brent almost doubles back from the direction we were travelling down the Thames, and with Brutus’ reluctance to turn when going down stream, I was hoping to get there before the tidal ebb started. However half way there we went under Richmond Bridge, and I noticed the ebb starting to run at about 2 knots or so.

Richmond Bridge

Others had told us that the Brentford turn should be done in a big sweep round. I knew that Brutus may well struggle to make it round, and had premonitions of us speeding sideways off down through central London. So as an alternative I decided to try a technique we used to use when running rivers and rapids in our canoe – an ‘eddy turn’. It would only work if the river we were turning into was running very slowly compared to the Thames. However it might not work as well on a 20 tonne boat !

We sped on down to the turn, and …… horray, the River Brent was almost still, so with the bow pointed right at the concrete wall at the narrow entrance the boat ‘eddied’ out just as we’d hoped ! The ‘Welcome to Thames Lock’ sign at Brentford really was welcome. Never thought I’d say that about the place !  My only other visit to Brentford was years ago on business, and all I can recollect was derelict factory buildings. Of course I’m sure some of you might recall bedsheets and pyjamas back in the ’70s made by ‘Brentford Nylons’.

Thames Lock – first on the River Brent (Grand Union Canal)

We moored in an area part derelict factory and part new apartment blocks, and the afternoon walk with the dogs took us under the western end of the Chiswick Flyover – lovely !