That’s right, the last day of navigation on the Thames which took me from Walton, a quick stop at teddington lock under Richmond bridge, through Thames lock and up onto the grand union.
It was about 5pm before I made it onto the canal fully.
Stopped for lunch
Just beyond Hampton court. There was indeed no place to stay, and the boats that featured in my previous post were still there, moored right outside. I had to go further down. Just ate lunch, drank my tea then got going.
It’s in the park really. About 1/2 mile or so from the tourist attraction.
Teddington
Plenty of boats waiting here to catch the tide. Going from Thames lock onto the canal, the CRT allocate you a 2 hour slot, so I had time to wait and catch the flow.
Going against the tide can add it subtract around 2mph from your speed. So it’s worth the wait. Travelling down is effortless. Takes about 1 hour to get from teddington, though Richmond bridge and down into Thames lock.
The scenery is nice, certainly on the south side of the Thames where they’ve actively made an effort to preserve large green spaces of park and woodland.
I pull into Brentford. Takes the lock-keepers a while to see me whilst they’re on their phones. But they do, and the lock gets filled up and I’m on my way. 20 minutes max.
Last time I was here, had to wait a week under the bridge before they could get me through the lock!
Grand
Now I’m on the union. It’s a double barrel. The locks are that much bigger. Seems fairly silted up.
it’s very quiet though. The Thames, there’s so much going on humans and traffic of one sort or another. Here it’s just quite.
I’m just by a little park in Hanwell, waiting to get going.
This boat has sunk. It’s diesel is a film on the top of the canal where I am moored.
London unlicensed boats
London has a massive problem with unlicensed boats. Everyone and their uncles dog are moving onto the canal. CRT says numbers have risen by 1.4% in the last year. Those people can be legit. A lot are not. With the undocumented boats, that number is much greater. They’re effectively homeless moving onto unlicensed and unsafe boats that can moor up on facilities, or locks. Because a proportion aren’t registered boats, and they don’t have any official documentation, CRT can’t deal with them. They go under the radar.
It’s a big problem down here.
A day on the union
Today, I’ll be moving north. Early start, see how far I can get in a day.
Last night for my evening pint, I went to The Fox in Hanwell. Looking at it’s reviews, I honestly believed it would be packed to the rafters on a Friday.
A total of six people in there, including me.
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It’s sad some pubs are not so popular and are closing down. I guess it’s a good feeling to be back on the canal system again. It looks as if the cruise along the Thames to London was rather lovely. Having good weather helped. I enjoyed your daily blogs. Going through the locks on the Grand Union will take twice as long as they are twice the width…unless you are sharing with a fellow boater. I always feel sad when seeing a sunk boat and wonder about it’s history. I can imagine boats are seen as the answer to some people’s homelessness but there’s more to living on a boat than meets the eye. CRT must have their hands full trying to keep track of all the comments and goings in and around London. Enjoy your cruise up the Grand Union.