Reading to Brentford
Well . . . it’s
getting near to our entrance back on to the River Thames. Instead of
turning towards Oxford we will turn the opposite way and head towards
Brentford.
Looking at our maps
it looks as if it will take about a week. We again have to part with
money to legally run on the Thames. The routine is to buy a licence
at the first river lock you arrive at.
Wrong . . . at the
first lock for some reason the lockie couldn’t get the safe open.
He tried every thing including kicking it all to no avail. So with no
licence visible we trundled on to the next lock. However at the next
lock they didn’t have a card option, cash only.
Sorry, we don’t
use cash as much these days, no card ...no pay..
Off we went to the
next lock set up, it was getting late and my energy levels were
dropping and we needed a mooring for the night. Whilst the River
Thames is a lovely river the places to moor are very limited.
They don’t cater
for passing narrow boats. They own the river the authority does
but...the adjoining land is owned by farmers or private gardens. We
have the added problem of getting the dogs off...at the last lock for
the day the lock managers told us of a farmers field where we could
possibly stay the night. We did manage to get our 62ft of vessel in
but it was very tight. At 7.30am there was a knock on the roof...the
rent man !!
£5.00 mooring fee
for the night. Oh well that’s life.
Opposite us was an
old steam ship moored. A lovely vessel. She was just getting under
way. The lovely smell of the coal smoke and the hissing of the steam
brought back memories of the steam trains of my youth. I love that
smell.
Setting off at about
10.00am we managed to buy the required licence so we became legal.
The locks on the
river are very big and they cram as many boats in as they can. They
are operated and electric so very easy to use. Narrow boats,
cruisers, steam ships !!
As we looked back
the steamer was joining us !!
Literally when she
came along side there was just 2 inches between us. The ships steward
stood on his deck and kept our boat off the hull of the ship. Quite
an experience.
We pulled out of the
lock first but very soon waved them past as they could move a lot
faster than us. In fact everybody over took us although we could go
faster here than on the canal we keep her at 3000 rpm which is about
5 mph. Any higher revs she objects and the temperature gauge goes up.
The majority of the
boats down here are what we affectionately call yoghurt pots, well
these are more like Tupperware boxes..so big in comparison.
Officially the speed limit is 8mph but some of these beauties can do
well over that. There is a lot of money down this part of the
country.
 |
| One of the smaller Tupperware boxes |
We didn’t realise
when we set off down towards Henley that it was the weekend of the
famous Henley Regatta. That was an experience. I have never seen so
many older rich gentlemen with beautiful daughters or nieces on their
arms. . well I think that's what they were..(wink wink).
Half of the river
was sectioned off for the racing and the other show boats.
Hospitality tents on both side of the river. We had to keep to the
left hand side of the divide, and moved quite slowly. There were some
excellent looking wooden day boats about, they are actually built
here. Coincidently there was a documentary about the man who builds
them on TV on the evening we saw them.
They take 2 years to
hand make and the cost...£150k. Sleek highly varnished wood. Elm and
Mahogany. Electric motors.
We sadly encountered
a ‘hoo ray’ Henry’ driving one. I’m sure he was under the
influence of Pimms or another alcoholic beverage. Certainly on
something . . he thought it was clever to play ‘chicken’ with
Infinity. 18 tons of steel against a wooden box...err..no contest.
We missed him but I
did give him a piece of my mind, too which he just arrogantly
laughed. Idiots come in all shapes and sizes. Wearing white trousers,
a blazer and a Billy Bunter type school hat actually makes you look
stupid as well. You PLONKER!! . .
The banks of the
river can be quite high so its been early start early finish just to
ensure we can get tied up. One place we stopped at the quay side was
4 foot above the boat. Throw the dogs off first.. then Jenny and me
scrambled up..was quite funny.
The next night we
found a piece of a concrete jetty with just enough room to get into.
A large motor cruiser was there already. A lovely gentleman helped us
to get into position. Bit difficult for the doggies but manageable.
We sat watching TV
about 8pm when all off a sudden it felt as if the boat was taking off
!!
We looked out of the
window as an ocean going yacht style boat went past. The bow wave she
made was quite high to say the least. A quick check on our stakes to
make sure no damage was done and we weren’t about to drift off. . .
all ok
I don't know the
prices of these boats but she a was a fabulous vessel. I don't think
you'd get much change out of a couple of million pounds.
Talk about mixing
with the rich and famous. Plenty of rich people down here, we might
have had a few years of austerity but its not the rich who have been
effected.
Mind you, to see
some people on these tupperware boats ‘rich and famous’ some of
them looked more like ‘infamous’ I know you shouldn't judge a
book by its cover but one boat in particular that went past the
driver looked very dubious. As did the two guys in the back . Looked
like body guards. I didn’t look to long . . just in case they took
exception.
The trip down here
has been quite beautiful past Windsor castle, Kew gardens, Hampton
court and other famous land marks. We sadly didn’t stop at any
because we were on a time limit to be clear of the river in 7 days,
the length of the licence. Also what we call ‘continuous moorers’
taking up the visitor mooring. So sad when the few abuse the system
for the people who play by the rules. We did manage one night at
Hampton Court on their moorings. We passed the other Infinity when we
were here as we have been playing leapfrog for a few days. Martin and
Sue travel faster than us.
The last day on the
river came with no problems so far. To be honest we haven't been able
to relax on here. I’m listening to every note of the engine,
imagining its about pack up.
Arriving at
Teddington lock very early, well early for us we just caught the tide
on the turn,
We were told it was
‘slack water’ meaning not a lot of tide. So off we trundled to
the next lock, pulling up and awaited the lock managers to open the
gate. Nothing happened.
To the left under
Richmond bridge was 3 red lights. Red light means stop to me.
A van then stopped
on the road along side and the guy explained we could go straight
though. The lock is only used when the river under the bridge is
being used as a weir.
Apparently at
certain time of the day, as the tide goes in or out, there is a
barrier that comes down and cuts off the flow.
Our book wasn't that
clear and to be totally honest we didn’t understand it.
So we had to reverse
up and some how get her into the centre of the river to pass under
the centre arch. Reversing up wasn’t a problem. But. . . .
looking from the
back of the boat I believed I had enough room to turn her out into
the main stream. The tide wasn't a problem. So full throttle and off
we go.
She turned out as
requested, until at a 45 degree angle to the bridge, suddenly the
tide turned (I believe) it took the boat sideways so at full throttle
I aimed for the archway.
Its a horrible
feeling when to know two things. .
One. . .you ain't
going to get the bow around in time,
Two. .there is
nothing you can do about it.
We hit the centre
stand of the archway at about 5 or 6 miles per hour. I was certain
for a moment we were going to overturn. The stone bridge hit us
amidships or rather we hit the bridge, the bang was horrendous. Took
most of the free standing ornaments flew off the side but we had just
managed to get enough of her past the centre and she swung around and
I got her back under control. A tug boat which was going the other
way reversed up to check we were ok.
Apart from our heart
rates going up to double we were.
Brentford turn came
up quite quickly after that, a very sharp left turn and we were back
on safer waters of the Grand Union to our relief. About 4 weeks and
we should be back to our home marina. As we came up the Thames we
were watching the planes coming into land at Heathrow on one of them
my cousin Allan Stumph was on. On his way to Belfast from New
Zealand.
When we arrived at
Southall there was a hoot behind us..the other Infinity had caught us
up. We were thinking of going to the pub for a meal but the girls
checked it out and weren’t impressed. Only serve Indian food and
didn’t look that clean. So an evening of a few glasses of wine, a
chatter on the back of their boat.
Enough for now. Over
to the picture department and Jenny's magic touch.
