Tednambury Lock

Here I am Rune

Distance 3.9 miles

Total 1939 Locks  90 Tunnels

Running total mileage 2733.2 miles

After the weekend in Bishops Stortford, meeting up with relatives, we are now back on the move but, due to one or two housekeeping tasks, we haven’t gone too far. Firstly we needed to refill with water at one of the few water points on this bit of canal that has a reasonable pressure. Emptied the Elsan cassette and, at Hallingbury Marina, took on some more diesel. We weren’t desperately short of fuel but since we will be heading off down towards the Thames (after we’ve been to Hertford) I wanted to avoid having to get too much fuel there as the price will probably be at a premium. The last housekeeping task was to get rid of the waste oil from the last engine service at the local recycling centre. Whilst in Bishops Stortford I also managed to finish the task of servicing the engine by replacing the fuel filter. That is always a task I’m a bit wary of since if either dirt or air gets into the system it can cause considerable problems. I usually like to carry out that part of a service somewhere near a boatyard with repair facilities, just in case!

Not sure how far we’ll get tomorrow, I would expect to be back onto the Lee Navigation (mainly because the mooring opportunities are a bit limited here on the Stort. 

RUNE at the end of the navigaton

The bridge marking the end of the navigation

Bishops Stortford

Here I am Rune

Distance 7 miles

Total 1936 Locks  90 Tunnels

Running total mileage 2729.3 miles

We’ve now reached the Head of the Navigation of the River Stort, at Bishops Stortford. The current plan will be to stay here until Monday before heading back down towards Hertford. I’ve had a preliminary look at Bishops Stortford, looks like we’ll be fine for shopping but there didn’t seem much else here.

Once again the weather has held up quite well, a brief shower before we set off this morning and a few spots of rain as we arrived in Bishops Stortford, but between time the weather held up OK. Didn’t come across much other traffic as we came up, a dutch barge at one lock, a wide beam at another and a narrow boat between locks, that is about it. It is a very pleasant piece of river so I’m surprised that we haven’t come across more people taking advantage of the current weather to enjoy it.

Harlow Mill

Here I am Rune

Distance 8.3 miles

Total 1929Locks  90 Tunnels

Running total mileage 2722.3 miles

The original plan of getting to Harlow was somewhat exceeded but this was mainly due to the fact that we couldn’t find anywhere to moor! We are now a couple of miles beyond Harlow Town where my map showed 7 day moorings, what it didn’t show was that there is only one mooring there. We tried to moor at the next lock but the area shown as available for mooring on my map was far too shallow for us to get even within gangplank reach of the shore. Where we have eventually managed to moor it was necessary for me to ask the boat already moored to move along a few feet which has enabled us to tuck onto the end of the mooring area, almost under the road bridge.

We have had the first encounter with local ‘yoof’ presumably since school is pretty near to breaking up. A gaggle of young lads were using Parndon Lock as an impromptu swimming pool, as we arrived from the bottom to travel up I told them to look on it that we’d come to change the water in their swimming pool. They seemed a reasonably harmless bunch (famous last words!).

I was quite surprised just how far we had come today when I calculated it all out, 8.3 miles and 11 locks, not a bad days work. The weather is still good and not as roastingly hot that it has been over the past couple of days.

I would hope that  we can get to Bishop Stortford for tomorrow for a weekend stop

Broxbourne

Here I am Rune

Distance 5.6 miles

Total 1918Locks 90 Tunnels

Running total mileage 2714 miles

The weather was slightly cooler today (but only slightly!) with a few hours of cloud cover but still good enough to enjoy the cruising on the Lea Navigation. We have now made it as far as Broxbourne and tomorrow we should reach the split in the navigation where the Lea goes off to Hertford and the Stort heads off towards Harlow, Sawbridgeworth and Bishop Stortford. 

Have made contact with one of my First cousins, once removed, to arrange for a meeting and pub lunch somewhere. The current plan will be for it to be in Bishop Stortford but that remains flexible.

Current plan for tomorrow will be to reach Harlow if possible.

Enfield Lock

Here I am Rune

Distance 10.2 miles

Total 1913Locks 90 Tunnels

Running total mileage 2708.4 miles

Didn’t quite make it to Waltham Abbey but Enfield Lock is probably as good as, missed it by only 2 miles. Once again it has been a stonkingly hot day today with very little wind, I’ll be interested as to what the Met Office say the temperature has been but it has definitely been in the high 20’s. Covered ourselves with sun cream and it seem to have worked as I don’t seem to have any areas of sunburn.

I have to say that the trip through Tottenham and Walthamstow wasn’t as bad as anticipated, but that seems to be the case on the canals, we’ve passed through a number of areas that have poor reputations and found them to be quite pleasant. From here on however we start to re-enter the countryside proper (pass under the M25 first thing tomorrow) so it wont be an illusion of countryside, it’ll be the real  thing!

Hackney Wick

Here I am Rune

Distance 3.6 miles

Total 1908Locks 90 Tunnels

Running total mileage 2698.2 miles

On what has clearly been the hottest day of the year we have moved from Limehouse Basin to the outskirts of the Olympic Park (if I stand on the nearby bridge I can see the ArcelorMittal Orbit Sculpture). I have to say that I got a similar feeling travelling through the Olympic Park as I got when I visited the Barcelona Olympic area, it was built for a specific purpose and that purpose has now passed, I didn’t get that ‘legacy’ feeling that they all talk about.

We tried to go into the Bow Back Waters around the old Olympic Park but, 4 years after the event, they are still closed off. I was a bit miffed that the level of closure wasn’t made particularly clear, either on boards in the area of the CRT website. We travelled about 300 metres up to City Mills lock where it is all closed off without any winding hole to turn in, so I then had to reverse 300 metres back out again. They aren’t keeping the canals very weed free in there and we repeatedly got weed around the propeller whilst we were reversing. Not a success story really.

Tomorrow it will a  further press along the Lea Navigation in the hope of reaching Waltham Abbey, if failing in that, any reasonable mooring will do.

The limit of navigation in Bow Back river (without booking)