Wildlife on the Grand Union

We liked the very English name

and the nice purple flowers. Don't expect identification of any but the simplest forms of wildlife.

You'll have to consult Erik about this one.

Are these hyacynths? or skylarks?

A mole. You have to consider timelines when looking at this photo. If you move a little backward, in time, you'll see what I mean.

No, the weeping willow is not the subject - it's the coot in the left foreground.

Golfers, deep in bunkers. (Please refer to the previous comments on timelines - they were there sometime before, and after, the photo was taken)

Ha!

Heron, just before being taken by an alligator.

Wild.

Other flowers

and some huddling baby ducks, or as we say on the canals, ducklings.

Pansies.

and a nice house to finish.

Walking on the canal

We decided to go for a walk along the Grand Union canal but before that, John's Norweigan 'gravity chair' arrived. It had to be assembled, and of course, the instructions were in Chinese, loosely translated into Norweigan. It was fun.

..or at least, Claire was appreciative, and John loved the chair.

Then off on our adventure, first to the Underground, .....

... then to Euston Overground station. Here we found most services cancelled (signalling troubles), then Cathy heard an announcement, we ran, and just got the last train (ever?) to King's Langley.

Here is Cathy, fresh and eager for the treat

and here is Paul, 4 miles into the walk, and we still haven't seen a pub. 'When's lunch' became the photographer's constant cry

We could have gone shopping, but the shop was on the other side of the canal.

Your influence is everywhere, Julie!

The canal-side houses were lovely, as was the countryside.

As Cathy took this photo, she said "thatched and unthatched". What did she mean?

At last, after 12 MILES, the view from the bedroom at Black jack's Mill.

And our view at breakfast-time.

After the walk, all we could say was "distant canal" (Peter O'L can translate if necessary)

More canals

Some new swans

and new Canada geese.

We might have seen some horses here, where a farmer had carved a point-to-point course through his crop. But we didn't.

We did see a gorilla, though, but he was just hanging about.

On one morning, we went under the M40 motorway, near Watling Street (the old Roman road) and beside the mainline railway at the same time. The trains were too fast for me to photograph properly. Most of the time, civilization was just a distant murmur ..........

.... as we sailed through places like this.

Through it all, the Eureka flag flew proudly, and many of the other boat people wanted to know what it was.

On the Canals

Somewhere in a marina, far, far away. Actually, just out of Rugby. Andy and I were dropped there, loaded the boat, and off we sailed ......

... straight into a 1000m long tunnel. I thought of you, Ann, although I didn't know what was to come!

Some of the steering presented difficulties .....

... but then we arrived at a little village with 7 locks in a row. Quite an introduction to the
joys of working locks!

Mooring on day 1. After nearly 9 hours of sailing and working lock gates, Andy then proceeded to cook a lamb barbque, with jacket potatoes and a salad. Followed by cheese, and the rest of the two bottles of red. Sleep soon followed.

Even after the red (and the bottle of white for lunch), Captain Varco had us sailing off at 8.oo a.m. the next day.

Into another tunnel, this one 3 km long.

Half-way through, we met another boat coming the other way - total clearance was measured in inches. Actually, they couldn't bring horses though these tunnels, so men hired themselves out to lie on their backs on the roof of the boat, and "walk" the barges through the tunnels.

Straight out of the tunnel and onto an aqueduct across a river .......

... after which we stopped for lunch. Actually, we didn't stop. Andy prepared and served lunch on deck while we pushed on. This little effort was Scotch eggs, pate, salad and pickles, with a bottle of white

A canal-side pub. We stopped for the occasional pint, but the food and drink was much better on board.

Our mooring on another night. We had barbqued pork belly, sausages, potatoes and spring greens, plus, plus. On other nights, he cooked (from scratch) roast lamb with all the trimmings, chicken and mushroom casserole, shepherd's pie, all with the mandatory two bottles of red, and cheese to follow.

As well as all this cooking and planning, Andy also did his share of working the locks.

After each lock, just near the tow-path, these grooves appeared in the walls. When the tow-horse was re-attached to the barge, the rope rubbed on the corner of the lock until the boat was pulled clear. 150 years of doing this produced quite an effect.

It didn't rain much, but when it did, Andy was ecstatic.