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Parrots are not the first thing I expected to see in the industrial sprawl on the outskirts of London, but a dozen or so squawked in the
trees and flew overhead as we pootled past them on our narrowboat adventure on the Grand Union Canal.
I later found out that they were ring-necked parakeets, the UK’s only naturalised parrot,
and there is a large population of them living in parks and open spaces around the capital
but this was the first time I had seen any living wild – let alone in this country. What a
great way to start our adventure!
We had arrived at the Packet Boat Marina, near Cowley, and after a video on the rules of
the waterways and a guided tour of our vessel our party of four adults was set free to pilot
the boat on a long leisurely weekend of wildlife watching.
Apparently the end of March was a good time to be navigating the canals as they are
relatively free from traffic and there is a very good chance of spotting kingfishers and other
wildfowl.
Handling the boat did not take long to master but our skills had to be honed fairly
quickly as it was not far from the marina when we encountered what none of us had
been relishing – our first of many locks. Moving the tiller left steered the boat right
and vice versa, but this all goes to pot under pressure of manoeuvring into the confined
space of the lock chamber. Thank goodness the solid steel hull was sturdy enough to take a bit
of a battering.
Most of Britain’s canals and locks were built only 7ft wide and 70ft long so narrowboats
were designed to these dimensions to navigate
along them. Later many were widened to 14ft
to allow narrowboats travelling in opposite
directions to pass.
The boats were originally pulled, or towed,
by horses giving rise to the towpaths that
follow the waterways. Today they are powered
by quiet smooth-running diesel engines which
also provide heating, hot water and charge the
batteries to provide electricity.
The film had shown us how to open and
close the paddles in the lock gates by winding
them up or down with the windlass to fill or
empty the chamber depending on whether you
needed to go up or down.
We coped with our first ascent very well but
experience was the only way to truly master
the locks.
Attempting to push the gates open while the
water is still swirling in eddies is not
recommended – unless you are King Canute –
as no matter how much you put your back into
it they will not budge until the water is at
equilibrium and calm. All this extra effort can
leave you breathless before you have really
travelled anywhere. The key is just to relax
and take your time.
Our plan was to complete a return trip to
Rickmansworth, which we were assured was
easily manageable in the three days we had.
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We planned a weekend of relaxation and
unwinding, gliding along at walking pace in
the tranquillity of the countryside around us.
We hoped the weather would be good so we
could lounge on the roof in the sun drinking
gin and tonics by day and playing cards in the
moonlight when night descended.
A few years ago we hired a cruiser on the
Norfolk Broads and had enjoyed the feeling of
going back to an era when the pace of life was
slower and people had more time to relax. It
was so nice to opt out of the rat race. Drifting
past nesting wildfowl and taking the
opportunity to try my hand at angling all
seemed idyllic.
However this trip was going to be a little
different. For a start the rods stayed in the car
as I realised it was the closed season and
although this does not apply to canals I didn’t
want to disturb breeding fish – though many
others did not share this view.
On board, the boat offered all the modern
home comforts including an oven, microwave,
central heating, shower, fully-equipped
kitchen and TV. One room contained a double
bed and we had taken the option of another,
which was made from the dining room table.
It was a little small and not the easiest
contraption to assemble.
The boat had a surprising amount of
headroom and was very cosy, if a little
cramped, and we all soon took to our floating
hotel. We passed many other moored and
moving boats and our friendly waves were
reciprocated so even when it began to spit
with rain our spirits were hardly dampened.
By early evening industry had become
countryside as we had left most of the
warehouses and factories behind and arrived
at our planned mooring for the night, nestling
by the towpath at Harefield.
This was a bit of a fluke as we planned to
stop outside a pub but the light was fading fast
so we pulled in next to the nearest boats.
Our luck changed when we found that the
Horse and Barge was closed for renovations,
and we had to trek a couple of miles to the next
pub. However the food and atmosphere that
greeted us was excellent and although we had to
walk back in the rain it didn’t sour the night.
Next morning we awoke to beautiful
sunshine surrounded by water and
squabbling birds. We feasted on porridge and
discovered that swans in particular like to
gobble up our leftovers from the spoon.
Setting off early to enjoy the sunshine we
soon met our first lock of the day, but having
already dealt with three, our routine was
mastered to perfection – we felt like pros.
However, today the War of the Worlds CD
emerged. Having discovered the onboard CD
player our friend decided we needed some
dramatic musical accompaniment especially
when going through locks. Apparently it went
back to a childhood family boating trip where
his brother introduced him to the seventies
sci-fi soundtrack and for him it was
synonymous with boating. But after a few
strange looks and some compliments on our
surreal soundtrack we began to accept it.
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We planned to stop for lunch at one of the
many pubs en route but as the weather was so
good we decided to keep moving in the hope of
spotting kingfisher. We heard that there was a
good chance of seeing them just before you got
to Rickmansworth.
We pulled up to moorings outside Tesco and
nipped in to buy eggs and bacon to cook in our
galley.
Feeling elated in the sunshine, with a beer
in one hand and a bacon butty in the other, we
took great pleasure in putting a golfer off his
swing with a quick blast of the angry
sounding horn as we passed him on the ninth
hole. You could say he was a little teed-off.
We go our come-uppance when the rain
started again and the locks began creeping up
on us far too frequently for our liking, even in
pairs on occasion. We were getting tired, cold
and wet and beginning to lose the plot. We
had sailed past Rickmansworth earlier that
afternoon and were now beginning to regret
our foolhardy decision to see just how far we
could travel.
Our new plan was to head for the Queen’s
Head Pub at Hunton Bridge but a passerby
told us it wasn’t open and we felt stranded on
the other side of Watford with the
unattractive options of mooring by a main
road, carrying on in the hope of getting away
from the traffic, or going back through the
locks we had just passed to a pub which may
be closed.
After a little debate we opted for the latter.
The man was right, the Queen’s Head was
closed and we were beginning to take out our
weary frustration on the map for having pubs
that were closed on it.
All turned out fine though as we wandered
into an Indian restaurant with excellent food,
even though we were still in our boating wear
and felt rather underdressed. There is always
somewhere good to eat near the canals.
Next morning we set off early, sad that our
adventure was coming to an end. By then end
of our journey we would have completed 36
and our aching bodies were feeling it.
The rain impeded our wildlife spotting but
we had seen herons, plenty of bats, coots,
moorhens, a grebe and, of course, ducks.
Compared to our cruiser in Norfolk the
narrowboat was much more homely, elegant,
and roomy. It felt more of a journey and as if
you were following traditional historic routes
which made the Broads trip feel like a joyride
on a play circuit in comparison.
The canals offer a trip where you feel like
you dip in and out of society on a journey
through an older age, while in the Broads you
feel like you are in the country. And there are
no locks in Norfolk which proved to be both a
pleasure and a pain.
For me the jury is out between the two
although I enjoy the pace of life of both and
can’t wait to take off again.
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