WILDLIFE AND ANGRY BEES

A Leaky Lock

I usually talked about all the different wildlife (well mainly birds) we have seen as we cruise serenely along, but I haven’t really had the chance up to now. So here I go, along with the usual mallards we have seen quite a few mandarin ducks and even a pochard. Geese, we have seen Canada, Greylag and a few Egyptian geese. Herons have dotted the bank and wood pigeons fill the air with their cooing. A Little Egret was fishing by one of the overflow weirs. We have spotted noisy parakeets and beautiful Jays. Robins, Wren and Blackbirds fill the hedgerows. Gulls, Terns and Cormorant fill the sky above us with the ever present Rooks, Crows and Magpies. The magnificent Red Kites have been with us on every step of the cruise, soaring above the boat with their distinctive forked tail. Swans with their signets, Ducks and ducklings, Geese and goslings, the pretty Moorhen with its not so pretty chicks, and Coots with their I have to say ugly chicks, have all swam by the boat.

A Pochard Duck

The Captain inadvertently snapped a picture of the elusive Kingfisher, but never actually saw the bird itself, only by zooming right in did he notice the familiar shape sat deep in the shadows.

The Captain also spotted a Deer running through a field, and I caught sight of a Water Vole and Terrapin on one of my walks.

But the funniest encounter was with a very small and very angry black and orange bee. This is the story, at the first lock of the day on Monday (we spent Sunday moored in Berkhamsted, but more on that later) I went off to set the lock in as usual. The towpath paddle had something written on it but I paid no attention to it until it was too late. I wacked the paddle up and walked away, suddenly there was the sound of loud angry buzzing in my ear, I brushed away the offending insect but it didn’t stop, I must have looked so silly trying to get away from the annoyed bee. When I eventually got away I read the note on the paddle ‘beware bee’s nest in paddle’ Oop’s. Problem now is I still have to lower the paddle when the boat is in the lock. I left it right until the last and then did at arms length and walked away thinking I had got away with, it but oh no!, the bee came after me once more, this time with more determination and managed to fly up my nose, and I felt what seemed like something sting the side of my nose I swatted it away again, then the bee decided it had defended its family well enough and returned to its nest in the paddle, and I felt very sorry for myself. I have to be careful with insect bites and stings as I have at times, have a bad reaction to them, so I got straight back on the boat and took an anti histamine tablet. The Captain did inform CRT as other boaters may not have been so lucky, and you know some people can die from a bee sting.

Right back to our cruise, as I have already said we stayed in Berkhamsted Sunday and had a quiet day, only going out to try a couple of pubs before tea. The Rising Sun first, a great real ale pub right on a lock, a happy Captain with a choice of 2 darks on. Then, just because we haven’t been in for a long time the Crystal Palace, well what a transformation, from a quite run down back street pub to a thriving gastro pub, but no real ales so a lager in there.

https://www.facebook.com/@risingsunpubberkhamsted/?locale=en_GB

https://www.crystalpalace-pub.com/

Monday and the locks started coming thick and fast. A boat set off just before us, but lucky for us they stopped at the water point before the next lock and we managed to buddy up with them, and do the remaining 9 locks together. NB BOB (Both On Board) with Geoff and Sue and Ned the dog, we had a lovely day travelling with them. We moored just above Fisheries lock, and more fool me I suggested we wash and polish one side of the boat, after 10 locks it wasn’t the best idea, and I was truly knackered by the end. So no pub for us.

Berkhamsted Lock

Tuesday and we managed to buddy up with Geoff and Sue again, well at least for part of the way as they moored up after 5 locks to visit Sue’s dad who was in a nursing home nearby. We continued on and did another 7 locks before a quiet night in the MONW.

The next day and the aim was to get to Rickmansworth and hopefully get moorings there for the night. This is a very popular place for boaters as there is a Tesco right beside the canal, and it has a good range of shops, pubs and restaurants. But we lived in hope.

7 locks later, and after being told we would struggle to find moorings, we did in fact find a very good mooring spot and took a walk into the town. We tried 3 pubs, The Western, a sports bar with an interesting food menu but no darks, the Coach and Horses, a more traditional pub but still no darks, and eventually the Pennsylvanian a Wetherspoons and still no darks, so the Captain wasn’t very lucky that night.

After shopping we set off and managed to buddy up once again, this time with NB Tilly, not the most talkative of Captain and Crew so never got their names.

We could tell we were getting closer into London as the lines of moored boats were getting longer and longer. After 7 locks I really had had enough and fancied a pint or 3, but we were struggling to find a mooring spot near a pub. Just past Dolphin Bridge which has 2 pubs nearby we managed to stop, and after a little rest we set off and tried The General Elliot first, a quaint country type pub and very nice. We had a bit of a chat with one of the locals before moving on to The Dolphin, more of a sports bar, but we were made to feel very welcome. The Captain, still not finding any darks has resorted to drinking Guinness Zero which has a very nice flavour and its quite close to the original Guinness.

https://www.generaleliottuxbridge.co.uk/index

https://www.thedolphinuxbridgepub.co.uk/

The end of the all the locks into London was in sight as I only had one left to do, and then a run of about 4 miles to Bulls Bridge were we joined the Regents Canal, but not before shopping at Tesco which is right on the canal side, and topping up with water.

We did 5 miles on the Regents canal before stopping for the night and heading to The Railway, a bit of a walk from the canal but well worth it, the Captain treated me to tea and it was a very good meal at a great price.

https://www.greeneking.co.uk/pubs/middlesex/railway-hotel

The end of our journey was in sight, and on Saturday we left early and headed for Little Venice, not knowing what we would find in the way of moorings, but we fell very lucky and found a spot on the 14 days moorings. A couple of hours later we were joined by Water Witch who brested up against us, this is pretty normal for Little Venice and we didn’t mind at all. TBH there was more moorings available than we expected, but once we settled there was no point in moving.

One thing I will mention is that CRT have in the past couple of years turned parts of Little Venice and all of Paddington basin into bookable moorings which cost £25per night, and these were practically empty, so I just cant see the point, if they haven’t not been booked you should be able to use them rather than leaving them empty when boats are struggling to find places to moor, but that’s just my opinion. 

39 miles, 38 locks and 1 moveable bridge.