Playing Catch Up!

"The road to recovery will not always be easy, but I will take it one day at a time, focusing on the moments I've dreamed about for so long." ~Amanda Lindhout, Canadian humanitarian and journalist

   At long last Les and I are really cruising again! We've been immensely fortunate to have a slow, graceful transition from Les' recovery in the marina to life back out on the towpath, catching up with friends, other boaters and blog readers. 

   We've had some wonderful moments with Mike Griffin, touring some of the interesting places around Cow Roast marina, where Hertfordshire meets Buckinghamshire.

  Mike took us along a typical country road--winding up and down hills and around tight curves with what seemed to me to be one single lane hugged closely on both sides of the track by trees and shrubs. Every time a car approached in the opposite direction I just had to shut my eyes tight and say to myself "don't look Ethel!" While the road appeared ordinary, it was a place of recent historical distinction. As we climbed Aston Hill in the early morning cold, Mike told us this very piece of highway was once part of a local hillclimb--a short sprint car race tearing around the tight curves and up the short, steep hills, in which a young man named Lionel Martin raced his prototype car in 1914.

     "Aston Hill, part of Lord Rothschild's Estate at Aston Clinton was a renowned motoring venue. Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford were early racers at Aston Clinton, and had set up a small business selling and servicing cars in West London in 1913 specialising in Singers. Lionel Martin made his first ascent of the hill in a tuned Singer on 4th, April, 1914. Bamford’s early departure from the partnership left Martin with the need for a new name for his first car, created by fitting a four-cylinder Coventry-Simplex engine to the chassis of a 1908 Isotta-Fraschini. His success, achieved at the Aston-Clinton Hill Climb course in the prototype car provided the ideal name, and thus the marque of Aston-Martin was born." (Rothschild Archives. https://www.rothschildarchive.org/exhibitions/motoring_history/the_aston_hill_climb; accessed on 02/22/15) Yes indeedy, 007's favorite car was developed from the protype race car Lionel Martin raced on the Aston Hillclimb, taking its iconic name from its creator. One can pull into the car park at Wendover Woods to stop and read the plaque mounted there.

   Prior 1923, this event became a classic in its twenty years of existence. According to the Aston Hillclimb web page the original start-line was 20 yards from the junction of the now A4011; the finish-line level with the house at the top of the hill and the original Course length was 3/4 mile in length which was later reduced to 1000 yards. (http://ox.mx5oc.co.uk/events/AstonHill/Aston_Hill.htm; accessed on 02/22/15.)

A picture of Hillclimb enthusiasts watching an Aston Martin make its way up Aston Hill.

The Starting Line

The exit of corner 2

Approaching the finish line.

This is the caption on the plaque presented by Lionel Martin's wife. Spot the typo?

   On into the village of Wendover we drove as the sun came out to soften the crisp edges of the winter cold. It turns out Anne Boleyn's father was once the Mayor of Aylesbury and several pieces of property came down to Anne from her Paternal grandmother's side of the family, including a piece of property on which a series of small thatched cottages in Wendover were built and are still known as the Anne Boleyn Cottages. (Aylesbury, Walton and Wendover Road Conservation Area document accessed 02/22/1; https://www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/GetAsset.aspx?id...) This seems to fly in the face of popular history which suggests the cottages were given to Anne as a gift from Henry VIII however the first mention of them in any official records is around 1630.

   Here is a reminiscence by Peter Osbourne, whose sister Daphne once lived in one of these cottages:

   My late Sister Daphne Hemmings owned No 3 Coldharbour Cottage. She 
   passed it on to her son Jimmy Hemmings. I have fond memories of visiting
   her and staying awhile in these fascinating dwellings. You wouldn't want to be
   six-foot plus with the low doorways plus the low beams, you would crack your
   head on the oak beams. If anyone passed away upstairs you would have to be
   lowered through a trapdoor located in the front bedroom in line with the front 
   door. (From a Memory of Wendover, December 19th, 2011, Francis Frith
   Photography.)

   We said a sweet goodbye to Cow Roast and the wonderful community of boaters there, and cruised about three miles through the Tring cutting to moor up just before the Bulbourne water point where we stayed for about eight days while waiting for some repairs to take place to the broken lock gate at the top of the Marsworth flight. This provided us with an opportunity to catch several buses and visit our daughter-in-law and grandsons in Thame, enjoy an excellent meal at the Grand Junction Arms Pub as our Valentine's celebration/monthly date night, and enjoy spending time with Carol and George on WB Still Rockin and their amazing four footed family member Molly. We walked down the lock flight to see the repairs being made to the lock gate, and continued on down the flight to the junction of the Grand Union and the Aylebsury Arm where we found Tom and Jan on NB Waiouru! 

Just up from where NB Val was moored we spotted this bloke fishing in the winding hole right on top of the water point. Sometimes words fail me... which is good for him although as cold as it was his ears could probably have used the warmth.

The water point is the silver post on the right. The angler is sitting right smack in the middle of the winding hole and NB Valerie is moored up beyond him.

This plastic cruiser is moored just adjacent to a disabled boater's landing. Good luck getting in there.

The plastic cruiser--which could easily have fit on the visitor mooring just past the disabled landing and just before the bridge hole, has a Canal & River Trust (CaRT) patrol notice on its window for overstaying. Notice the boat name? It seems not!!

The bottom lock of the Marsworth flight was padlocked shut to keep boaters from attempting to move through the flight until CaRT said it was okay to do so.

Several trees had come down right near the permanent moorings at Marsworth. Signs were posted asking boaters to move over to the other side while tree trimming commenced on February 16th.

This memorial sat near a fallen tree on the permanent mooring for NB Bateau which was moored across the way.

A swan skates along the top of the ice.

Tom cleans the muck off his boots outside NB Waiouru.

   At last we met the "other" famous Kiwis (the first being Marilyn and Dave on NB Waka Huia). It was terrific to catch up, check out their boat (I love seeing other people's boats. I always come away with inspirational ideas for ours!) Tom's legendary quick wit was well on display and I welcomed getting a chance to know Jan, whose straight forward, no-nonsense attitude and sharp wit echoes my own. Les and I owe a huge thanks to you both for your ongoing support of us throughout the last year.

   Carol and I ditched our hubbies for a women's day out in Tring. We enjoyed a leisurely lunch at Francesco's Italian diner, and visited several lovely shops: Fancy That (and I did--I did!) an incredible gift shop where I wisely left behind most of the shop (where would I put it all on a narrow boat?), for a foray into Marks & Spencer for a few bits and bobs for dinner and on to Metcalfe & Sons cookware shop where Carol and I each purchased much wanted kitchen items. While I love Les and enjoy sharing our life together, I sorely miss the companionship of my women friends. Time spent indulging in a wee bit of retail therapy with Carol was lovely indeed. Thank you girlfriend!!

   We spent a few more days visiting with George and Carol, and I made a friend in their Patterdale Terrier Molly.  There is defo an enlightened soul in that dog. She's whip smart, with a non-nonsense attitude toward people and a great sense of humor. Top all that off with that adorable tail and well...I felt honored when Moll accepted me as a person of trust.

    As Les and I cruised down the Marsworth Flight we passed nb Etive (Sewing seams naturally) and I got a shout out from Mary Anne who walked down the flight to visit and had a cuppa with Les, George, Carol and myself. Another lovely woman on a boat!! It was great to catch up with you Mary Anne. 

   We spent another week moored up at Startops End reservoir where blog follower and walking enthusiast Daryl from Watford caught up with us. Sadly, Les had gone into Tring for a prescription and missed Daryl's visit and I was stuck in the middle of some serious boat cleaning (I can only do serious boat cleaning when Les is not under my feet). Next time Daryl, we will invite you in for a cuppa.

  Shortly after Daryl said goodbye, Les returned and fellow boating enthusiast and blog reader Dave Winter dropped by. Check out his blog Brassiclint. Dave loves boats and photography and his pictures are terrific.  Later that same afternoon our friend Robert on WB Wind in the Willows came by with his sister Maria and time got away from us as we sat and conversed about the universe.

Here is an excellent example of Dave's photography. WB Still Rockin is moored in front of NB Valerie. Daryl is standing and talking to me through the window. Startops End reservoir is in view to the left of the canal. (© Dave Winter, 2015)

Fisherman with the typical 1500 pounds of gear, in the last light of day at Startops End Reservoir.

   Soon enough it was time for us to cruise!! We had such a wonderful time getting to know George and Carol. Thank you for your hospitality and friendship; for afternoon cups of tea and evening glasses of vino; for great conversation and good craic.

   With George's help,  Les and I cruised off down the bottom lock of the Marsworth flight to the water point where we filled up with water and picked up our substantial Tesco grocery delivery while gongoozlers watched in amusement from the bridge above us. Off we went into the early afternoon sunshine and cold, raw weather. As we went I realized that the stress of the last six months has caught up with me. We were not expecting the abrupt diagnosis last August. All I could do was suck in a deep breath and hit the ground running in crisis mode. I am finally able to let that breath out now, but my body is tired and I feel wretchedly unwell. All I want to do is sleep and cruise.

   Two more locks and we called it quits for the day. The temperature was dropping rapidly. We spotted two mountjack deer in the adjacent field with a swan sitting in the grass not too far away making this a good spot to settle in for the rough weather of the next few days. Jules Fuels will be along in a day or so to top up our diesel tank and load bags of coal on our roof.

   In the evening we were graced with a beautiful view of the pale sliver of moon smiling in the nighttime sky which was dimpled with the shining planets Venus and Uranus in conjunction. It is for days and nights like this that we live this life.

The Universe Tries My Patience!!!

"Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears." ~Barbara Johnson, American literary critic

Thank you Robert!!

   I woke to a glorious morning with blue skies and golden sunshine. Jules and Richard on Jules Fuel were moored up behind us, on their way down the cut. They filled NB Valerie up with diesel and hoiked a couple bags of coal on the roof while I was gone to London yesterday to visit Les. I settled our bill, and waited for our friend and fellow boater Robert Rogers of WB Wind in the Willows to come along. We were going cruising together, me steering and Robert locking so I could move the boat up near Cow Roast for Les' imminent home coming. 

Our bow, left, the water point, and the offending boat.

   I needed to top up our tank with water but there was a boat moored on the water point--all night and it showed no signs of moving! Robert steered NB Valerie across the canal since I could not jump off with a rope--the other boat took up the space needed and the bollard as well.

   While waiting for the tank to fill I took a closer look at the boat moored up on the service point and found a handwritten note taped to the inside of the cratch cover of NB Annie Too, which said:

Dear Boaters, We apologize to our proximity to the water hole. It's too difficult to navigate back up the cut without bothering the fishermen. We will be gone when they're headed here also. Sorry again, Matt, Tiphaine & Basil

The note from Matt, Tiphaine & Basil

    God forbid you should inconvenience some fishermen who will spend mere hours camped out on the cut, but please do make it bloody difficult for boaters to get into the service point for an essential like water--while you are gone for days??? Weeks??? Go back to whatever marina you came out of and stay there until you know the regulations about mooring on water points and you learn to have some consideration for boaters--of which you are obviously not (considerate or a boater).

   While I fumed, my phone rang. It was Les, calling to say he was greeted by a nurse who told him he was going home today. "I don't think so," he said as he attempted to explain that home was a boat and not some house he could pull up to in a Taxi. A short time later a doctor came in to take a look at  him and finally realized what Les and I have been saying for the past three days is in fact true...Les has an infection in his incision. 

   There is a reason why he has been running a fever for the past 72 hours. I thought the incision looked swollen with a red margin that seemed to be reaching outward. We were assured by a nurse two days ago that this was normal. Les has had the same junior doctor looking at his incision on rounds for the past three days who told Les all is fine and it's time to go home. 

   A different junior doctor this morning didn't like the look of Les' incision. It is hot to the touch and dimpling under the staples. Junior Doc prescribed a broad spectrum antibiotic and said it may be necessary to pop a couple of staples to let the incision breathe...but still Les can come home tomorrow! Here's your hat what's your hurry...it took a month to get Les a bed in the RFH and they have been giving him the bum's rush since last Wednesday--unbelievable!!

  Meanwhile Robert and I cruised off up the cut, headed for Cow Roast. Coming out of Gas lock 2 we noticed the pound was low. Ahead at Gas Lock 1 a boat was waiting to come down. The lock was in my favor so I took NB Valerie in and as we rose the bloke on the other boat struggled to keep his boat in the center of the canal, the muddy bottom sucking him towards the towpath while he pushed off the bank with a boat pole. He said the pound above was really low and warned me to stay in the middle. 

   Robert walked up to Bushes lock to let some water down. I figured if I stayed in the middle of the canal I would be fine, however there was so little water in the pound that I was basically cruising through mud! I could not get up any speed as the tiller pushed through thick glop and coming around a curve I found myself quickly aground.

When I say low--I mean low!!

   Thanks to Les' fine teaching skills, I remembered to slow down and reverse gently which did the trick. A short while later a slogged up to the lock and the boat sluggishly slid in the open gate. I was truly thankful for Robert's company. I had considered single handing it up to Cow Roast which I could have done--slowly--in good circumstances but not with the pounds so low. 

   Robert follows a web page called All Things Berko and he showed me a picture posted two hours previously of the pound between The Rising Sun and the Boat pubs in Berkhamsted. The text suggested "someone pulled the canal plug," possibly due to a need to dredge the canal for evidence regarding a murder which took place there last June. 

   As we cruised up to Dudswell Lock 47 a notice by Canal & River Trust said it all. Usually there is a sign from CRT on this lock asking folks to shut the gates but leave a lower gate paddle up to facilitate the flow of water. Not today!

   Apparently there is leak somewhere and the cut is losing water between Tring Summit and the locks lower down through Northchurch and Berkhamsted. Navigation through Dudswell locks is restricted now and no traffic is allowed from 4 p.m. to 8 a.m. in order to save water. 

  We moored up by the donkeys (boaters who know the area know exactly where we are), and after a much needed cup of tea and some Angel Bars Robert headed off back home.

   I finished washing several loads of curtains, dinette cushion covers, throw pillow covers, and got down to some basic wall scrubbing and cleaning to prepare for Les' home coming, all the while fretting about it.
   Yes, I want him to come home, but I don't want a repeat of last year, with district nurses visiting every day, cleansing his incision with sterile water, covering it with Dermateg waterproof sealed surgical pads, and reassuring me that the wet, gooey look of Les' incision was "normal"--just exudate--an apparent new trend in British nursing--according to a research paper on the difference between British and American Nursing by one of my nursing students.

   I was always taught a cut, sore, scrape, or incision should be kept clean and dry. To leave it wet invites infection; covering it over and restricting air flow also invites infection by anaerobic bacteria. As someone with eight major surgeries under my belt I know a thing or two about what to look for and I knew what I was seeing wasn't right. Nonetheless the nurses were happy and they completely missed what was right in front of their noses--his wound was infected and he developed Sepsis and nearly died. 

   I don't want a repeat of this situation and I don't want the responsibility--because it's not mine to bear. Les developed this in hospital and he should remain there through the end of this week until the medical professionals are clear the antibiotics are working and the infection is healing. I am not a nurse. I am a herbalist and a healer but I know my limits. 

   I remembered in late afternoon that I was given the phone number of Professor Davidson's nurse assistant. I called and shared my concerns, to be told that if indeed Les had contracted an infection (she hadn't been up to see Les today), then the best place for him is at home because hospitals breed too many bacteria and a lot of resistant strains. It would be best for Les to come home and have a district nurse come in every day and check his wound. 

   I explained what happened last time and replied, "So Les would be sent home to the care of the nurses who failed to recognize an infection in his last surgical incision and also failed to spot the signs of Sepsis." The nurse assistant said she would go up and see Les right away and call me back. 

   Les called about thirty minutes later to say she had been up to visit, and agreed there was an infection (how many medical staff does it take??). She touched it and the incision is hot. Apparently she agreed Les should stay in hospital one more night and be reappraised for release in the morning. 

  I received a call from her several hours later in which I was basically told the same thing but in which she reiterated that the best place for Les to recover is at home and he should be able to leave tomorrow.
  I reiterated that I was not comfortable with that and I wanted Les to stay in hospital until we knew for sure that the antibiotics were working. She told me I could call her any time with my concerns. I asked if she had received my email from last Friday. She replied, "No." So I've sent it again. 
It just never ends....

Happy New Year!!!

"I always say keep a diary and someday it'll keep you." ~Mae West

 DIARY 2014
   I opened up a new 2014 diary today and began by inking in all the places we had been this past year on the days. For example, under January 2nd, 2013 at the very bottom in parentheses it says, (*Buckby top lock). I do this each time we moved to anew place so I know where we were last year on this date. I also add into the parentheses any significant happenings such as January 9th (*Blisworth, Lg. solar panel installed). In my diary I also keep track of all the boat oil changes, engine hours at change, battery top ups, belt replacements, gear oil changes, and any major repairs or replacements. I track our purchase of coal, diesel and Calor: when, from where (or whom), how much purchased and what we paid, month by month. I also do this with groceries.
   On the month at a glance calendar for each month I write in every time we get water, empty the loo, have visitors, get hair cuts, etc. I provide details of weather at the top of each day's entry: January 12th, 2103 says, "52 degrees, balmy light winds and rain!" Each days activities and main meals are noted as are details of books read or telly watched and any other ADLs (Activities of Daily Living) I find pertinent of interesting.

NB HERBIE: Neil and Kath
   I've got so much to write about and not nearly enough time to write it all!
 First of all an introduction is necessary for our readers, to Neil and Kath on NB Herbie. Each year the crew of NBH entertain the rest of us with a count down of the best: best moorings for the year, best pubs you've never heard of, and many other things boat related.
   Beginning in 2010 they decided to create a Herbie Award for Fortitude and choose a fellow boater who exemplified the strength of mind and character that allows someone to bear pain or adversity with courage. The first award went to Sue and Vic on NB No Problem.
   In 2011 the Herbie Award went to Sue and Richard of NB Indigo Dreaming... Then last year it went to Maffi..."So whoever wins this year is in elevated company."
   Well dear readers, this year I was totally gobsmacked to discover I was the honoree of the rare and coveted Herbie Award for Fortitude!! We have posted our award on the upper left of this blog page.
   Click on the award to visit NB Herbie's page and learn more about past recipients and their feats of courage and community which make the waterways a fantastic place on which to live. 
   I remember discovering NB Herbie's blog in late 2009 when I first found canals and narrow boats. I came across one of Neil and Kath's blog posts which featured a picture of their lovely floating home wreathed in early morning fog. Something about that picture touched me viscerally and helped (along with many other boaters' blogs) to light a longing in my heart for life as a continuous cruiser on a narrow boat.
   Back then I had never actually seen a narrow boat in all three dimensions or ever set foot off the North American continent. The life I lead now was all a wished for dream...one that I expected would take many years of planning and saving to accomplish. Love did not feature anywhere in this plan...until Les Biggs came to visit Pullman, Washington USA for one week and the unplanned, unanticipated, unthinkable occurred...we fell in love with one another!! And the rest, as they say...
   so here I am living La Vida Gloriousa aboard NB Valerie with Dear Sir. I am humbled and touched to be accepted into such an amazing, varied, and close knit though far flung society: the British boating community. Les and I offer grateful thanks to all who read our blog, post comments or send off an email in response to something we've written, or wave to us as we pass along the canals; those who stop to say hello--be they readers or other boaters.
   We cannot praise enough the goodness of the boaters who have assisted us this year. Each of you share this Herbie Award with us; your help made a very difficult time possible to survive and move beyond. We didn't come through the darkness alone: you each lit a flame of kindness to help us find our way. The prayers, positive thoughts and good wishes of loved ones and friends all over the world buoyed us up as well and carried us through.

A HOME OFFICE LETTER
  And so onward to New Year's Eve...A letter came from the Home Office dated the 23rd of December, requesting I proceed with registering my biometrics at the Post Office. Without any further delay (we had 15 days from the 23rd to get it done) Les and I left the boat early yesterday morning bundled up as warm as we hoped would be necessary (not nearly enough it turned out!) to catch a bus from Cow Roast to Tring, in order to catch another bus from Tring to Luton near the hospital, to catch yet another bus to our daughter in law Joanne's, where our mail is registered, to pick up the Home Office letter which one had to have in hand when registering one's biometrics, and to drop off a large container of homemade Chicken Soup to help Jojo fight a bad cold.
   By the time we reached Luton the high wind gusts were blowing the rain sideways and Les and I were soaked through and frozen. We peeled off our wet clothes at Jojo's and threw them in the dryer while we warmed up with a cup of tea and caught up with family. It was lovely to see Jo, Kiera and Kiernan who were helping with the post holiday tidying up. 
   After we were all dried out and dressed again we ventured out to the nearest bus stop to discover a bus was missing from the route and we could have stood there for an hour in the bloody freezing, wet and high winds so we walked back towards the Luton hospital (at least while moving one is generating heat!) and caught another bus to The Mall. 
   In the Post Office it took all of less than ten minutes to wait, have our number called, pay the £19.20 fee, take my picture, and take my fingerprints and signature electronically. Now all we can do is wait for a decision as to whether or not my application for Indefinite Leave to Remain is granted. We had a quick bite to eat and were back outside in the elements, waiting for yet another bus--this one back the way we came. 
   In Tring we walked up to the Tesco superstore, picked up four bags of groceries, slogged outside in the gathering dark and continuing rain, and waited for the final bus back to Cow Roast. Whew! A very long day indeed. Les and I were both so knackered we ached all over.
   Today we are mostly recovered. I forgot eggs last night so Les generously offered to catch the bus back into Tring for them while he chased up a prescription refill and I moved the boat, filled up with water, brought down a new bag of coal, and was just mooring up again when my Best Beloved came back from the village. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014!!!
   Tonight we will celebrate the passing of 2013 with quiet thankskgiving and deep joy. We are together, Les's health is steadily improving and we have high hopes of getting in some cruising in the next few weeks!!

Portland, Oregon, 2012

   We want to take a moment to offer deep thanks to Canal and River Trust (CaRT) who have been kept abreast of Les' health issues. CaRT has allowed us to overstay for a period of time in order to access doctors appointments, the hospital, groceries, water, rubbish and in general to quietly work on getting Les better so we can get back to what we love most--cruising!! Many thanks for CaRTs unobtrusive support for our situation. 
   Happy New Year Everyone! From our boat to your home--wherever you may be on this round planet, we wish you good health, good will, love, peace, joy, contentment, laughter and the company of family and friends!! Blessed Be...

A Look at Cow Roast our Temporary Home

The wet foundations below our home date back some 216 years but if you go back another 1700 years the surroundings would be Roman. Much the same as the canal and railway builders did the Romans built Akeman street through the Chiltern hills.
 It left the Roman Watling street, a major route into London, at St. Albans and passed through Hemel Hempstead, Tring and Aylesbury on it`s way to Cirencester. Much of this route is still part of our 21st century road system and parts of Akeman street is now below the present day A41.

Archaeologists have shown that Cow Roast was the site of a Roman settlement just off Akeman street and coins have been found both near the pub and the marina.  Also when the canal was dug a Bronze helmet of Roman origin was discovered which is now in the British Museum.

Now back on board our bloggers time machine and we are going to the mid 1700`s and the Sparrows Herne Turnpike.  The art of Roman road building had been lost a thousand plus years in the past and road maintenance laws were passed onto Parishes without success and now the Turnpike with it`s tolls was born. This turnpike ran from Bushey, near Watford, to Aylesbury.

At New Ground, the first bridge north from Cow Roast lock, a toll gate was set up by local landowners who maintained the road across their property and charged a toll according to what was passing through. The link will give you toll fees but our interest is in cattle at 10d per score. Now converting the old £ s d into not only modern day decimal but also the U.S. $ is a challenge.

First the easy part, a score is 20. Then the 10d converts to just over 4p which is about 6 cents.
Our interest in cattle is because the name of the local pub, Cow Roast Inn, is probably a corruption of Cow Rest. This area was a stopping point to graze and rest cattle being driven long distances into London for butchering. So I think that is a very reasonable explanation of how Cow Roast got it`s name.

Leaving the turnpike investors to make a fast buck, remember the birth of canal and  railway are fast approaching, we return to the wet road of the Grand Junction Canal.

In 1793 the Parliament passed the act that enabled a canal of 90 miles and 121 locks to be built from Brentford to Braunston. Now as many will know the present canal has 101 locks.
One day I`ll try to work out where the 20 locks were done away with. Some obvious savings were the Buckby flight that was to be 10 but ended up as a flight of 7. Also the original route south of Hemel was to be lock free via a tunnel at Langlebury (west of Hunton bridge) ending in an undisclosed flight of locks into Rickmansworth.
The flight into Marsworth that was to have been far to the East and might account for some or perhaps the eight at Cosgrove that took the canal across the Great Ouse before the aqueduct was built. Fascinating subject, canals and their history.

Early starting points on the canal were Braunston, Brentford, Blisworth Tunnel and Tring Cutting. by the end of 1793 some 3000 men were at work along the route. A year on and the canal reached Uxbridge from Brentford and in 1799 it reached Berkhamsted just 3 miles from the Tring summit level that had been completed in 1797. The summit crossed the Chiltern hills and it was decided to drive a deep cutting 1.5 miles long and in places 30 feet deep.

The biggest problem was water supply and this led to the Wendover arm being the first of the branches to be built. Springs at Wendover provided a steady flow into the summit and Mills were purchased solely for their water supply and by 1796 the arm was in use. water supply was always a problem and by the early 1800`s the canal company was building reservoirs to help the situation. These were extended and linked together by underground culverts that used pumps to feed the summit.
The Wendover arm was to become a serious problem when the water that should have flowed to the summit started to leak away through the bed of the canal. Attempts were made to rectify this but eventually so much was leaking that it was draining the summit instead of topping it up. The canal company piped the water supply from the springs at Wendover into the reservoir at Wilstone and closed the canal to boats.

 Nowadays the Wendover Trust is relining the canal bed and slowly the canal is being re-watered in sections.

In 1848 pumps were installed at Cow Roast and Dudswell to pump water from wells sunk deep into the ground. The Dudswell site was not a success but Cow Roast was and in 1902 a new pump and engine were installed there. This was also the year of a severe drought that even the extra pumping could not overcome. This meant a reduction of 50 boats per week crossing the Tring summit causing a shortage of coal and iron reaching London from the Midlands and return loads of sugar, tea and other supplies to the Midlands.

Water shortage is still a problem in modern times and as recently as two years ago lack of rain caused the summit to be closed and the water level along it reduced. Every time a boat heads to the summit from either direction about 56,000 gallons of water is lost from the summit. This is replaced from reservoirs by pumping but in times of drought there can be nothing in reserve to pump.

Of course by now the London and Birmingham railway was in place having reached Tring in 1837 it also reached into the midlands and delays of boats crossing the summit  just drove more freight onto trains.

It was a tribute to the canal builders that the railway shadowed the route of the canal for many  miles crossing it in six places. They had similar problems getting over the Chilterns and also chose a cutting. On the left is the railway cutting under construction using horses to pull a barrow of earth up the plank with the navvy steadying it.

Cruising along the summit level through the cutting is pleasurable at all times of the year. Spring is when it comes to life as new tree growth begins to block the light that has broken through the treetops since Autumn. In places this gives  a feeling of cruising through a green living tunnel.


Tring cutting

On a hot summers day the tall trees all along the cutting give welcome shade with gaps that let the sun illuminate the many greens of the trees and shrubs. Apart from the odd train passing through it`s own nearby cutting the journey is one of peace and quiet.
Come Autumn the falling leaves drift down like a dark coloured snow. A truly remarkable journey year round and the best way to enjoy it is at a very slow speed. If cold make sure you have a hot drink as you enter the cutting and just enjoy. I have seen Muntjac deer on the towpath as well as rabbits and herons.

I did hear of a wartime crash of a B17 fighter plane returning to it`s base crashing at Cow Roast but can only find reference to a B24 based at Cheddington coming to grief at Cow Roast. It seems likely the B17 came down on Ashridge estate.
Some interesting reading can be found at this link.

Not a complete history but just a look at the area around our enforced temporary home.