Tring Summit

We only had a short trip to do today - we wanted to moor tonight in a place suitable to meet up with Joanna, Alice and Jess who are expected to visit us for the day tomorrow. We could easily have made it to Marsworth but thought that it would be a bit more interesting for them to come down the Marsworth flight of locks. Initially we were aiming for Bulbourne but Tring Station is a possibility. We knew that at the latter location we would be very unlikely to have a tv signal whilst it is more open at Bulbourne - supposing that there is a mooring space (it can be busy here). The other consideration is where Joanna can park for the day.

As a result we awarded ourselves a late rising as a treat. Before we finally set off, Mike walked down to the nearby Tesco Express which a local boater had told us about last night. Christine would have liked some fresh croissants - Mike spotted a sign saying bakery when he reached the main street in Northchurch but sadly it turned out to be a rather down market cafe.

As we completed going up the first lock, very close to where we had moored, a wide beam boat arrived to come down. Unusually, they said that they were heading for Kent. That, of course, means going down the lower part of the Thames below Limehouse. Not for the faint hearted! (Sadly, we did not spot that the camera was playing up until a short while later so the photo of them is not usable!)

Dudswell Lower Lock

Soon came the two Dudswell Locks - they both have picturesque houses alongside although it is not clear whether the one at the lower lock ever had a canal-function.



Dudswell Top Lock

At Cowroast Lock we emptied the elsan and then tied up above the lock so that we could visit the chandlery. We need a new air filter as the engineer who did the winter service did not have a spare with him. Alas, although they stocked about 15 different sizes, one of which was almost the right size, none was an actual fit.

Tring Summit Pound

We were now on the Tring Summit pound which was now full again - last year when we came this way it was well down and we had to crawl along, finding the only channel available and hoping that not too many boats came the other way. This year the level is overflowing the gates of the top lock at Cowroast.

Bridge 135

Discovering that there are buses from Tring Station into town we decided to pull in at the bridge (once called Pendley Wharf) where we found a good mooring.

After lunch - another great soup, lentil this time - we locked up the boat and set off for the bus stop. Exactly on time the bus arrived and we tendered our Cornish bus passes.

St Peter and St Paul Parish Church, Tring

We began by taking at look at the 14 century church. It has a large banner outside that draws attention to their current project to undertake important conservation work (all £50,000 of it) on the main walls to repair some existing damage and to prevent further deterioration.

Inside was generally conventional but we were impressed by their collection of information leaflets about many different aspects of the building and of church life.

Gore Memorial

The dominant feature on the north wall is the huge Gore Memorial.

Outside, Christine spotted an amusing gargoyle above one of the rainwater down pipes.

We continued to look around the town centre. It was not especially impressive - almost all of the shops are now estate agents, hairdressers or similar. No food shops that we could see other than an M&S Food store, although the bus took us via a Tesco on the edge of the town. However, house prices are at astonishing eye watering levels. Anyone with a spare £1 million?

Natural History Museum at Tring

Christine remembered that a few years ago we brought Alice to visit the Natural History Museum here so we popped in for a quick reminder. It is an amazing collection, created by Lionel Walter Rothschild (2nd Baron), seemingly unaltered from its Victorian origins but was crowed with many youngsters filling in a cold half term afternoon.

Armadillo

Snowdrops in April

The bus back was also on time and our bus passes worked again! By the towpath we saw a large patch of snowdrops still in flower - just a small clump in the above picture. Time then to settle down to a warm fire and to wait for the morning. There was nothing much to watch on TV anyway!

3.0 miles - 4 locks