A Day on the River

Holding off continuing with my London posts to take you for a day on the British waterways. Our country is criss-crossed with canals and rivers that link up to take one the length and breadth of the country.

In times gone by the canals were very much horse drawn working waterways but today they are used for pleasure.

Here is our first glimpse of our day yesterday with our old friends Dave and Val  who have lived on their barge for the last 4 years travelling the waterways since their retirement while renting out their cottage and small holding in rural Devon

We set off from Harlow in Essex amongst the May blossom and Cow Parsley covering the countryside

and encounter our first lock

We navigated 12 of these throughout our day

Dave has Alan to move one side of the lock gates (which makes it quicker) and I chat to Val while she steers

inside the lock always feels a bit spooky to me

I find it amazing the amount of salad and vegetables they manage to grow in troughs on the roof

The sleeping quarters and bathroom are in the middle of the boat

It is at this point we encounter a problem with the engine

This was caused by a large plastic bag getting entangled 

around the propeller

While Dave works Val and I take a walk along the tow path and the guys will pick us up later when all is well

The point at which they pick us up 40 minutes later 

and it is raining

We stop for lunch in a traditional old English pub in the town of Sawbridgeworth just over the county border in Hertfordshire.

A view of the town as we walk  back to the boat

We walk through the churchyard

and past this field of Pampas grass

and back on the boat passing a 17th century

lock keepers cottage

These cottages are now privately owned or holiday lets as lock keepers no longer exist 

we pass a modern development along this part of the river

and many other barges

Alan enjoying working the locks

Until we come to a point where we can turn the barge

The speed limit on the canals and rivers is 4 miles per hour

so it will take us several hours to get back to our car

We chat to this couple as we pass admiring their flowers

These horses seem to be having a conversation of their own

and on the other side riders out in the early evening

and finally a swan graces us with it's presence

 Apart from a stop for lunch we were on the water from  10.0 am until 9.30 pm

enjoying a pleasant supper before saying our goodbyes  and embarking on our 45 minute drive home

Hope you enjoyed the trip with us

A Different Take

A different take on the Royal wedding!
Blogs seem to be full of pictures of the wedding so I thought I would do something different.
The now Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are having a quiet weekend away in a secret location before returning to work next week. Honeymoon postponed as William has to return to his Air Force duties as a search and rescue pilot.
He is based on the Isle of Anglesey, off the North Coast of Wales and he and Catherine live in a cottage there while he is still in service.
It reminds me of a 'memorable moment' in my life.

Anglesey in 30 miles long and we see here the furthermost tip of the island.

At the age of 18 (when I lived in the North West) myself and 3 friends, when on a day trip to Anglesey, decided to sleep out in the open on the cliffs under the stars.

photos taken from the TV screen

We had nothing to lay our heads on but the bracken, seen here in the foreground. I remember drinking water dripping out of the rocks and also remember a nasty tummy upset when I arrived home the next day.

The things one does when young.

What makes this island so appealing to the newly married couple is that they can have the privacy not afforded to them on the mainland.

A little known fact connected with the wedding is that on the previous evening both the Princes William and Harry went out onto the Mall to greet and shake hands with the public and also arranged for large urns of tea and coffee to be served to them. William's idea apparently.

As for the wedding itself, I loved every minute of it, including the run up.

I prepared lunch immediately after breakfast and put it in the fridge so that I could watch TV from  8.30 am until 3.30 pm when William and  Catherine left the Palace to have a rest time at Clarence House before the evening reception. Good to see William driving his new wife in Prince Charles Aston Martin (decorated by Harry).

It gave a very fun and human touch.

I was very impressed with the wedding address to the couple by the Bishop of London

Loved the avenue of trees inside the abbey

and the hats were something else!

I could not imagine a more classic and beautiful dress

I probably will not be around when they become King and Queen but I have no doubt they will do our country proud.


For accuracy sake - have just seen in media that William & Kate will have a honeymoon in an undisclosed island in the Indian Ocean later in May. 

London on an April Sunday Pt. 3

Could not decide which photos to post as it is so close to 'the wedding' but here is a little of Westminster Abbey and 

St. James Park

and

for those who have asked if I will be going into London on Friday, the answer is NO.

Already today (Wednesday) people have begun to camp along the route and the ones we saw on TV were from Canada

The best view in my opinion is from the TV screen

Westminster Abbey in the centre of the picture

The Back of the Abbey

Westminster school to the left

looking through to the courtyard

beginning to put the scaffolding up for the media

This wedding is said to be having the greatest media following ever worldwide

We have left the Abbey now and are passing the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, part of the Supreme Court

and walking along Whitehall, we are about to turn down King Charles Street, past the Foreign and Commonwealth office on our way to St. James Park where we will eat a picnic that we have just bought.

Downing Street is the next road along but that is for another day

Looking back

and into the park

The toilets across the lake

They are free

Most toilets in London cost 50 pence to use 

Pelicans on the lake

nearing the Palace

One can see the eye from many places in London

The park is certainly busy on a warm April Sunday

(double clicking you will see just how many people are out there)

If you are wondering why I am  not 'visiting' as much as usual

I have a brand new computer

a top of the range 17 inch laptop

and a 23 inch HD monitor and wireless keyboard so that I can use it also as a desktop

Because it is so up to date, everything is new and different so as I am learning, especially Windows 7, it all takes longer at the moment. Even the soft touch keyboard is proving an issue with my long nails!

Not to mention  getting everything off my old machine 

Even the new E-mail account is daunting

I am sure that in a few months I will be wondering what all the fuss was about (I hope so anyhow)