Camden Lock

Mike walked around the basin to the nearby Tesco Express for newspaper and a little later we were ready to set off - no other moored boat seemed ready to make a departure this morning! We did see someone out early checking the boats - hopefully CRT will take a more robust approach to time-limited moorings in over-deamnd locations. (A later discussion with a BW employee about possible moorings at half term indicated that most of the spaces were occupied by boats that move a short distance as soon as spaces become free and that real visitors stand little chance)

Leaving mooring at Paddington Basin

Christine just managed to capture a shot that shows how close is Paddington Station.

A bit of Paddington Station

We wanted to see where we might come with some of the girls at half term so set off towards Camden Lock. The first stretch completes the area known as Little Venice.

Little Venice

Maida Hill Tunnel

Maida Hill Tunnel is quite short, which is just as well as no passing in the tunnel is allowed so it is necessary to check that the tunnel is empty before entering. Two narrowboats would have no problem, but there are plenty of wider boats around here to make it safe to consider - it would be hard to tell at a distance if a boat already in the tunnel was wide or narrow. A cafe straddles the western portal.

Regent's Canal

After the tunnel, the canal passes alongside Regents Park - with some impressive houses lining the banks - and then through London Zoo, with the famous Snowdon Aviary towering over the canal. Graffiti generally is anoying butr this one did make Mike smile!

Blow-Up Bridge

Snowdon Aviary

Hampstead Road Lock

We arrived at the locks with the inevitable crowd of onlookers. However, guard railings, with entrances operated using a Watermate Key, keep them safely away from the operational area. The first lock is doubled - the next two once were but now only have one lock retained. A BW workboat was coming up one lock whilst we used the other to go down. A lady operating the boat was helpful and suggested that we could turn around after just two locks, rather than the four which was suggested on our map.

The second lock is properly alongside Camden Lock Market, with a mixture of smells coming from a variety of stalls selling particular types of food. Christine enlisted the help of a young man from the crowd (in a German tour party) - he seemed quite pleased as he was not especially interested in buying t-shirts in the market which was their immediate tour stage!

Camden Village Market

Below the lock, Mike immediately turned the boat around and came back into the lock and we ascended up to the main Paddington level for our return trip.

We did not do very well at capturing this activity on camera, but this signpost did catch Christine's notice!

Back through the tunnel and after passing the junction to Paddington Basin we stopped at the service point immediately after the narrow bar at Little Venice.

Junction with Paddington Basin Arm

Crossing North Circular Road

At Alperton, a series of notices asks people, in seven languages, not to feed the birds - they are a real nuisance - but they do not stop several avid bird feeders including this gentleman who seemd to be disposing of a large bag-ful of bread to the Canada Geese!

It was a much colder morning and very grey, although the sun managed to make a few appearances in the afternoon. A strong wind meant that we had to wrap up well!

There were a few boats on the move in the afternoon - having seen almost none yesterday - including a wide boat that overtook us, then had to stop to free its prop, and overtook once more as we came to our overnight mooring spot.

Puppet Theatre Boat

At an earlier bridge, a Puppet Theatre boat - which seemed quite enormous - was stuck on the bottom and also concerned about its prop but with plenty of people on board it seemed that they could not make up their collective mind exactly what to do!

16 miles - 4 locks