london – Narrowboat Firecrest

Moving on

We really do love the colours of early autumn, and whilst we were enjoying a leisurely breakfast we noticed an artist had set up their easel to capture the scene. We walked over to say hello, and were so taken with the work, we were tempted to ask to buy it. Sadly Firecrest was just out of view and the artist, Melissa Scott-Miller said it was part of an exhibition for a gallery so not yet for sale.

We were so lucky with the weather this week, Sunday morning was crisp and clear, so we decided to go to morning service at Westminster Abbey, which was heavenly, then on to explore Borough Market, which was food heavenly. A real treat for the senses.

Borough Market in Southwark on the south bank of the Thames, which gave us an opportunity to see skyline from a different angle. (We had watched the reflections flotilla from where the orange barriers are)

We also got the chance to see the seaworthy replica of Sir Francis Drake’s galleon, the Golden Hind. Although his mission was to explore and circumnavigate the globe, he turned “privateer”.
“…..On 1 March 1579, now in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Ecuador, Golden Hind challenged and captured the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de la Concepción. This galleon had the largest treasure captured to that date: over 360,000 pesos (equivalent to around £480m in 2017).[7] The treasure took six days to transship and included 26 tons of silver, half a ton of gold, porcelain, jewellery, coins, and jewels.[8][9] On 26 September 1580, Francis Drake sailed his ship into Plymouth Harbour with 56 of the original crew of 80 left aboard. The ship was unloaded at Trematon Castle nearby, supervised by the Queen’s guards.[10] The final treasure also included six tons of cloves from the Spice Islands, at the time worth their weight in gold.[9] Elizabeth herself went aboard Golden Hind, which was then permanently at Deptford on the south bank of the Thames, where she had requested it be placed on permanent display as the first ‘museum ship’. There, she shrewdly asked the French ambassador to bestow a knighthood on Drake.[11] Over half of the proceeds went to the crown – her share of the treasure came to at least £160,000: “enough to pay off her entire government debt and still have £40,000 left over to invest in a new trading company for the Levant. Her return, and that of other investors, was more than £47 for every £1 invested, or 4,700%.”[8]…….”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Hind

Not a bad investment, Firecrest contains quite a few tonnes of ballast, but its not silver or gold and unlike the Golden Hind, we doubled our crew for the last leg of our journey. Family, Diana and Chris came to join us for the day, as we sailed out of Islington, much laughing was done, despite the weather turning against us.

Chris Diana Eric and me on the bottom step

And I was very grateful to have a helping hand through the locks at Camden

We had booked ourselves a night on the pontoons in Paddington Basin

Which just so happens to be right next door to an M&S food hall

Now thats what I call a Convenient Store

So we enjoyed the evening together as well.

I am sure next time we come into London, we will book ourselves a few more nights here, that view is surely worth £12 a night.

London, a week of reflections

We arrived at our Islington Eco Mooring whilst Her Majesty was being driven to Windsor, her final place of rest, we were so glad that we had had the opportunity to visit St Georges chapel in July, and that we had enjoyed choral evensong there.

St Georges Chapel, Windsor Castle, in July

On the Tuesday we went to pay our respects outside Buckingham Palace, (which I shared at the time)

Buckingham Palace at the end of the Mall the day after Her Majesty’s funeral

And as we wandered around the royal parks, absorbing the sights we hope we wont be seeing again for many years, we saw something we really weren’t expecting,

Apparently there are 6 pelicans currently making their home in St James Park. The original flock were a gift from a Russian ambassador in 1664. They are free to roam and fly (the pelicans not the russian ambassadors), but as they get fed fish every day (around 2:30) they are happy and sociable and choose to stay. Of course being in the royal parks I couldn’t resist adding to my men in uniform collection.

On Wednesday we visited Kensington Palace. William and Mary bought this Jacobean mansion in Kensington Village back in 1689 to escape from the damp London fogs.

Now thats one way to practice social distancing

Its where Queen Victoria was born in 1819

And it is famously where Diana, Princess of Wales lived.

Diana, with three children representing her ability to reach out compassionately and universally.

In 2012 Kensington palace was opened up to the public, with the Historic Royal Palaces trust overseeing various exhibitions and artefacts. Of course my favourite had to be the display of 3 Tiaras.

Unlike the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London I even got to try one on

It was to be a week of reflections, culminating in the Reflections Flotilla. An event originally conceived as part of the Platinum Jubilee Celebration, but now a memorial celebration for our Queen. With 150 boats including the Royal Barge, lit up for a night cruising down the Thames from Chelsea to Tower Bridge

Of course the boat we were really looking out for was Mick and Pip’s NB Oleanna as they had moored up at Islington, on their way to join the flotilla. Perhaps not the best photo of the night, but we waved as they passed.

And then cheered loudly as Tower Bridge raised her arms in a full salute, something usually reserved as the highest mark of respect

Its very unusual to see the span fully upright.

Back to Islington

Once we had made the decision not to venture onto the Tidal Thames at Limehouse, (mainly because the St Pancras Cruising Club tend to run their flotillas in the spring not the autumn) we booked ourselves another week at Islington. Little did we know our Queen was going to die and our mooring was to start the day of her funeral. (Yes, my blog diary is a bit behind the times) We would have preferred not to have cruised that day but, in the end it turned out ok. We set off from Limehouse braced for a long 4 hour cruise and 8 locks

We felt very small amongst these big boys

I walked around basin to set the first lock, and was greeted by a magnificent sight, a lock buddy,

Our buddy was a professional boat mover, who could work through a lock single handed quicker that Eric and I working as a team. We quickly got into the swing of me walking ahead to set the next lock whilst the two men efficiently moved the boats. The journey took just over 4 hours. There were very few boats moving but the towpath was heaving in true bank holiday style. We wouldn’t have guessed that there was a state funeral taking place a few miles away. Even the Hackney sharks had come out to keep an eye on things.

Not sure why, but 3 sharks were now on the roof and one remained hiding in its yellow coccon

Thankfully we found ourselves a space on the eco mooring. It irks us that, despite us having booked, getting in isn’t a guarantee.

And Back again, from Stortford to Limehouse

Its 33 miles and 29 locks from Bishop’s Stortford to Limehouse Basin, so we took a week to build up some steam, enjoying the prettiness of the Stort, cruising at our leisure,

Taking it carefully as instructed,

Making friends with the locals

It was looking a bit congested around the M25

With the daunting prospect of no mooring.

So someone thought they needed to check in early

But at Tottenham Marshes we struck gold. With a space that wasnt just big enough, it was in full sunshine

We now had 7 miles and only 3 more locks to complete our journey, thats roughly 3.5 hours travelling for us….. we could see the City looming ahead

At this point we could have taken the option of turning right onto the Hertford union link canal to get us back onto the Regent’s Canal. But we thought it would be fun to take the half hour detour and cruise around the olympic park ring.

The Olympic stadium which is now home to West Ham

We had teamed up with another boat who had the same intention as us, we’d checked our maps and yes it was now permitted to cruise but not to moor. As I was on lock duty I had the advantage of looking around the corner, and saw a clump of branches at one side. I dutifully called out a warning. “Go very slowly, there’s a tree down and I can’t see how much navigation its blocking. …..” hummmmm turns out it was blocking the navigation completely. Luckily we were able to reverse in and pull them off, as they were well and truly stuck.

It could have been worse, but perhaps “tug of boat” ought to become an olympic sport

It was pity not to be able to do the ring, but we weren’t short of other interesting sights, with some creative boat design

And most buildings reaching for the sky

We cruised past the Bow Locks which we are not sure if they are still operational to allow cruising on Bow creek or if it is just for tidal management only now.

And after 5 long hours we reached the end of this section of our journey by entering Limehouse Basin

Onto the Lee and Stort Navigation

With our week on the Eco mooring drawing to a close, we decided to move on to explore the Lee and Stort Navigation. But first we had the treat of being joined by my cousin Diana and her children for the last remaining 3 miles of the Regent’s canal. First stop the water point

Thats Diana awarding Eric 5 points for his dancing skills

Then the excitment of working the locks

I think this is one for the caption competition

And the thrill of being permitted to drive the boat

I think Eric’s worried he’ll be out of a job soon

And finally the reward of lunch together

Before they had to say goodbye.

It had taken us nearly 3 hours to do less than 2 miles, but it was a perfect start to the day. We glibly thought we’d moor up soon….

….but that was before we had fully comprehended the dire state of mooring on the Regent’s canal. We were crawling along past double moored boats for as far as the eye could see, past Victoria Park and onto the Hertford Union Canal. With the infamous Hertford Union Bottom lock to transit. We had been warned it was flooded….

But usually the bywash of a lock has its own dedicated offside channel not shared with the towpath.

I had no choice but to wade through this dirty canal water, not knowing what was in it, or if i would be able to empty enough water out in order to open the gate.

Miraculously, we managed to get through, sympathizing with the local’s who informed me, with resignation that “its been fixed”
At least there were still some things to smile about,

but we were now on the Lee and Stort Navigation, heading north. We ploughed on, which seems an inappropriate word for a canal but the density of duckweek and debris meant it really was hard going, the double moored boats continued but eventually, 3 hours after we had wanted to stop, we found a 60′ gap to squeeze into, baton down the hatches and fall asleep exhausted.

A Week in London, part 4, One more day

We really couldn’t believe our luck at having discovered these bookable moorings in London. We really made the most of our base to explore. The city is diverse as old and modern intermingle, Eric spent several years commuting into London for work and took great delight in walking around familiar sights, although his 60’s tower block has long since been replaced.

Most of the week we basked in sunshine but the day it rained, oh boy did it rain,

but it didn’t last and I took the opportunity to visit one of England’s well known trendy wool shops, Loop, only 10 minutes walk from Firecrest. And yes as far as yarn shops go, Loop is to knitters like me, yarn candy, wool heaven, fibre porn, you name it, it was divine. However, whether its because of its location, its customers, its media awareness, it came with a warning, do not cross the thresh hold without a healthy bank balance, cause it might not be so healthy when you leave. (Don’t worry Eric, I’d left the credit card at home)

But I’d been shocked at the price of a skein of yarn in London, Eric was shocked at the price of a pint in London. But I just couldn’t help be drawn into those beautiful old London Pubs, full of etched glass. The Camden Head is close to the mooring and if you get your timing right, there’s free comedy shows most nights.

We had left it too late to stay for the set the day we went in, because we had treated ourselves to tickets for a west end show. We were going to see Les Miserables, at the Sondheim. Now that was worth every penny. Everything about the theatre, production, the atmosphere was amazing. And if time had permitted we’d have gone again the following night. But we had reached the end of our week and with the memorable songs coursing through our souls we prepared to move on.

And just one more night

A week in London part 3, a Sunday Saunter

With so many things to see, we knew we could only scratch the surface. On Sunday, (a few weeks ago) we deployed our “stay local” policy and set off on foot. I wanted to see the Columbia Road Flower market, so armed with our google map we set off East along the canal, which is always an adventure, full of vibrant culture

turning right at Hoxton. We discovered the Museum of the Home, housed in the 300 year old Hoxton Alms houses,

https://www.museumofthehome.org.uk/what-we-do/our-story/
Although some of the rooms still showcase the almshouse life, its a bit worrying when you start seeing items you have owned (still own) featuring in displays. Actually we think displays of what we remember and took for granted can be quite thought provoking and we enjoyed nearly 2 hours wandering around.

Im sure I remember a hoover like that, a record deck before they became retro trendy, we still have our trusty Nokia, played games like that on the big telly and … who hasnt had a Billy Book case from Ikea

I was a bit worried that having spent so long in the museum the flower market would be closing up for the day, however, it was still in full bloom

I was very restrained and only bought an orchid

We were getting a bit hungry at this point so we took advantage of the many pop up street food cafes

and went to look for somewhere quieter to eat our salt beef bagels,

The hoardings said they were the best, and yes it was certainly tasty

We had found ourselves in Hackney City Farm

By now we were getting used to seeing weird and whacky sights, in this highly creative community.

But nothing prepared us to come face to face with Jaws leaping out of the canal as we meandered back towards Firecrest

These are just two of the Hackney Sharks. The remaining three or four are currently under cover as there is some controversy over whether or not this art installation, or a structure that needs planning permission. Personally we love them and want them to stay. As far as we know, they haven’t eaten anyone yet. https://www.antepavilion.org/updates/sharks-back-maybe-gah2t

We had thoroughly enjoyed our explorations today. We had seen a real community. Im sure we werent the only tourist visiting the flower market, but these were the real people of London, enjoying the weekend. It was vibrant, fun, friendly and I sensed very caring.

Paying our respects

Hoping for a smaller crowd, we took the opportunity to go into central London yesterday, even though its the day after Her Majesty’s funeral. We wanted to pay our respects and experience the atmosphere, before the ceremonial paraphernalia was put back into storage.
We started our homage at Admiralty Arch

The Union flag, with its black mourning bands in front of Admiralty Arch

We walked down the Mall with flags as far as the eye could see.

whilst the guard rode on horseback

These guards were actually part of the “changing of the guards ceremony”

Heading back towards Admiralty Arch

Half way down the Mall we stopped to see the statues of the Queen’s parents, king George VI and the queen Mother.

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and King George VI, the late Queen’s parents

Queen Victoria was ready to greet us outside Buckingham Palace on her monument,

As were the world’s press had called home for the past 10 days

Although most of them had gone home and it looks like King Charles wasn’t at home as the royal standard wasnt flying above the palace.

we followed two soldiers on their way to St James Palace

Where Charles accession to the throne was formally announced.

We followed the crowd around into Green Park to view the floral tributes And its true what the reporters have reported, the park really did smell wonderful.

And the volunteers really had put a lot of effort into laying out the flowers out in small groups which allowed you to walk amongst them,

There was an overwhelmimg sense of respect

and even when the flowers had been left in unofficial locations, it still felt the nation was honouring the best of British

Bomber Comand memorial near Hyde Park corner

We were very glad we had made our own personal pilgrimage, it was moving and emotional, and we are sure that the Queen and her family would have felt the love poured out for her.

A week in London part 1 eco mooring

When we realised we could book a week’s mooring in central London we leapt at the chance. For a visitor to the capital, the horror stories about there being nowhere to moor is a daunting prospect. And to a certain extent, once we had passed under the North circular (A406, roughly east of Wembley) yes, mooring options became increasingly sporadic, but we could still have doubled up if necessary. But along the Regent’s Canal there is a joint initiative between DEFRA, Islington council and CRT to help reduce boater’s emissions, with a system of bookable Eco Moorings. Although its causing a lot of controversy amongst boaters, many London based boats are simply not able to comply with the regulations without upgrading their set up, it suited us perfectly. Its worth reading this article from the CRT website if you’re interested. Islington Eco moorings

It’s still all a bit hit and miss and open to abuse, And despite being assured we wouldn’t be double moored, when we arrived the only space available was a double mooring. Not that that was a problem, we were warmly welcomed and assisted to moor up, it was a bit tricky getting on and off firecrest over a slightly longer boat than ourselves, and two days after we had to do a reshuffle as our partners boat needed to move. But the advantage of having an electric hook up, (which we paid for through CRTs Meter Mac online system) was well worth it.

Boat shuffling to accomodate doubled up mooring

We were surprised at just how quiet this short section of mooring is, between Islington tunnel and City Road Lock. It’s surrounded by residential properties, (who have also had to adapt to new emissions initiatives with restricted road access)

And there didn’t seem to be a lot of boat traffic, unless you counted the weekend trip boats hosting parties

Yet all within a few minutes of the Northern line and Angel tube station, and a lively high street and trendy shopping centre

On our first evening, we had arranged to meet up with family to go and see a west end show. So started off with a meal in China town

No point in denying it, we were in full blown tourist mode

Amanda’s neighbour was playing young Bob, in the musical Get Up, Stand up, at the Lyric theatre, and as we’d met them earlier in the year it seemed an obvious show to go and see.

A good start to our week

A feast for the senses, onto the Regent’s Canal

Under the blue and into Paddigton Basin, Little Venice and Rembrant gardens.

Paddington basin, Little Venice and Rembrant Gardens was once the site of a significant intersection, with wharfs and winding space forward goods to be loaded and moved on,. The Grand Union canal becomes the Regent canal, but even in this now trendy community hub, boats need to give way to the huge rubbish barges whisking away the capitals debris.