Kensal Green

Here I am Rune

Distance 6.8 miles

Total 1895 Locks 88 Tunnels

Running total mileage 2683.1 miles

Meandered a further 6 miles or so along the Paddington Arm towards Paddington Basin/Little Venice on a pleasant cruise. The weather was OK, occasionally sunny but increasingly windy and we decided to stop for lunch opposite Kensal Green cemetery, and didn’t start off again. I think that we might remain here for a couple of days, probably until Monday or Tuesday. We can run the engine without bothering any neighbours (since they are mostly dead!) and we are within reasonable travelling distance of Paddington itself, and therefore London.

After lunch I put the bike together and took a bit of a ride around the area, into Paddington Basin and around there. It looks reasonably promising to get a mooring in the basin when we head off in that direction since the CRT policy seems to be that narrow-boats should double up two abreast which should give a chance of mooring. The problem seems to be the water-point since as I was passing I overheard a boater coming in to moor on the Riverbus mooring, asking if it was OK if he moored there for an hour and a half waiting for a space on the water-point (his request was refused), it certainly looked busy there, but then it was a Saturday.

One useful piece of information I did pick up however was that winding in the basin should be relatively easy as I assisted a full length 70’ boat to turn (it looked as though he had about 8 feet to spare).

May make Sunday a day for visiting Kensal Green Cemetery since there are a number of famous people buried there.

Crossing the North Circular Road by narrow-boat

The 'Fan' bridge at Paddington Basin