We had decided that we needed to move today, as we had spent enough time her already and we really do want to see more of the rest of this navigation.
Whilst we have enjoyed the moorings at Tottenham Hale, there is nothing holding us here - apart from having to pickup the last items from Boots for Diane's prescriptions.
So after coffee, a little Lidl shopping and of course the pills, we untied and headed further north.
The sun was again shining marvellously but a bit of a coldish breeze was about.
This did not have any impact on us - one lovely aspect of the navigation so far has been the mechanised locks - Diane's back is not up trying to move heavy gates; and they just are damn heavy.
We stopped for just on an hour at Stonehouse Lock to take on water; dispose of the rubbish and empty a couple of cassettes - the water pressure was just so low.
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| Whilst watering up, a chap came along with his bike to drop off some rubbish but also managed to leave the bike blocking the pedestrian access for anyone else - just plain thoughtless |
At Pickett's Lock we were back to a normal lock - all manual - and the gates were exceedingly heavy.
It may just be me, but it seems that the heavier the lock gates are to move manually, the easier they come open when the boat moves on the other side - i.e. a single boat in the lock just needs one gate open and no matter how careful you are when moving, the other gate will open without any effort at all - just at the time that you do not want it too.
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| Not likely - a) it is now CRT; b) the Bounty Bar wasn't around in 1839 |
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| These guys enjoying their lunch break gave a wave and a smile |
Our goal today was Waltham Abbey - and we thoroughly enjoyed the cruise along the navigation - there seems to be plenty of boats moored up but equally plenty of places still available to join them - something we will be doing on the return trip - giving us a chance to explore other places.
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| We keep on finding the working boat Australia... |
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| ....and now another with reference to home - EMU |
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| Cheerfully working the lock |
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| About to leave London - that's the M25 and as we passed beneath it we officially left the city... |
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| ...and the rubbish as well - just do not understand why this happens |
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| This is the third style of lifeboat we have come across |
Once moored we wanted to at least have a superficial look at Waltham Abbey - Diane, of course, wanted to find the tourist information office, which luckily she did at 15:58 just before it closed at 16:00.
I finally managed to get a haircut - it has been so long since the last one that I really cannot remember where or when that was.
Incidentally, our walk to the town took us from Hertfordshire into
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| Now my very own Essex-girl |
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| Parking seems to be a relative term - anywhere close enough seems to be good enough |
From what we have seen so far it will be a lovely town to have a closer look around.
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| The Abbey - if this is the Abbey and the town is Waltham Abbey, does that make this Waltham Abbey Abbey |
7 Mile, 6 Locks
YTD: 414 Miles, 227 Locks, 10 Tunnels, 2 Lift Bridges
Totals: 3308 Miles, 2348 Locks, 108 Tunnels, 36
The white water centre (moorings outside above Waltham Town Lock) is well worth a visit. We had a great afternoon there -- not actually getting wet, just watching other people!
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