It’s in Rickmansworth, next to Batchworth Lock. Good grub. Try the fish finger sandwich, it’s just right! Those are my parents, wife and friends in the picture and they all loved it. The guy ordering at the counter is Egon Ronay, seriously.
This vibrant outdoor space, complete with comfy seating, overlooks the River Lee Navigation near where it meets the short canal called Duckett’s Cut. This whole area is graffitied more than any canal I’ve seen before.
I’d heard about the terrapins that get dumped in the canals but never seen one before. Saw this one on the Grand Union Canal near Kensal Rise. Still looking out for an alligator.
The galley is what boaters call their kitchen. We have a 240 volt fridge and freezer, gas oven and hob, and a noisy but effective extractor fan that comes on when the galley lights switch on. To the front of the galley is the lounge, with a hatch that opens onto the canal, and beyond it you can see the bedroom. The quality of the interior fittings is good and this is a cosy place to live.
Photo taken on our second day of owning Narrowboat Audrey Too we headed towards Blisworth Tunnel. It was too late to go through so we moored up for the night.
Once I’d got used to the tiller this new boat seemed responsive and easy to drive, and it had been an enjoyable trip with just a few locks to go through back at Stoke Bruerne in the morning.
Just drive like the clappers and the wash of your boat will ensure that she stays exactly in the middle of the tunnel.
That was the advice I was given. Didn’t work. There seems to be a kink in the middle of the tunnel, or maybe that was my imagination. Your imagination does seem a bit overactive when you’re in the pitch dark surrounded by water.
Glad we fixed the problem with the headlamp; last time I drove through Islington Tunnel it was with three battery operated torches strapped to the front of the boat.
A few tips: open all your curtains and put all your lights on: then you can see the sides of the tunnel better and avoid bumping into them; make sure your headlamp is pointed upwards a bit so you don’t blind oncoming boats; and sing “What shall we do with the drunken sailor?” very loudly as you drive through the tunnel.
Coots build floating nests out of twigs and frankly any old rubbish they can pull out of the canal. They usually attach their nest to something like a branch to prevent it from floating away. Coots seem quite happy to make use of anything they find and this bird has made her home on polystryene packaging attached to the side of a narrowboat.
But last time I drove past I’d swear this coot’s nest didn’t have a staircase out front.
A few months ago my wife Alisha and I bought a narrowboat. We’d been living in Australia together but had to return to the UK for a couple of years, so we decided to live on the water while we’re here.
Alisha has had to conquer her fear of water but she’s taken to this new lifestyle very well. It’s wonderful to be moored in the countryside and wake up to the sound of coots’ babies waiting outside the hatch wanting to be fed.
Audrey Too is a 60 foot long cruiser style narrowboat. It’s quite a change from my last boat, a Dutch barge style narrowboat. No cabin to sit in: we stand outside to drive. No steering wheel: this boat has a tiller. Audrey Too is only five years old and is well fitted out, whereas my old boat was built in the 80s and falling to bits inside. She doesn’t have the graceful lines of Bristol Fashion – she’s a long blue tube – but I really appreciate having a newer, less troublesome boat to live in.
We bought the boat in Northamptonshire and brought her down the Grand Union Canal to London. We’re currently moored in Kensal Rise and tomorrow we head to Camden for a week. After that, maybe a couple of weeks in Islington, then we head slowly up the Thames towards Oxford and on to Manchester and Yorkshire.
It’s so good to be afloat again.
I sold my narrowboat Bristol Fashion two years ago and moved to Australia. Not many canals here so these days I live in a house.
Happened to see Bristol Fashion up for sale on the Apollo Duck website and it looks like she’s had quite a bit of work done to her.
I’ve been living on land for the last couple of months while Bristol Fashion is at Whilton Marina, lined up with dozens of other boats for sale. What with all the rain we’ve had lately I thought I should check on the boat so I travelled up to Whilton.
As it happens she was fine, there wasn’t much water in the bilge and nothing leaking anywhere. It was strange to stay on an empty boat with no pictures on the walls, empty cupboards, no food in the fridge.
I miss my boat. Not knowing where I’d be mooring at night, life used to be so delightfully random, just heading in one direction until dusk then staking the boat to the towpath.
