Saturday 21 February 2015

Back to the Marina

Today's Canals - Grand Union Paddington Branch and Main Line

Today brought our brief but stimulating visit to central London to an end. we slightly slept in so it was not until after 10 o'clock that we left Little Venice after a quick stop at the rubbish and elsan disposal. The slow tap meant that we opted not to fill up with water - just as well as a large barge conversion was already there with a huge tank to fill - he expected to be there for some time!


The weather was rather chilly and overcast. Only an occasional glimpse of sunshine all day. When it did occur it was much warmer but all too infrequent.

As a result, it was not a good day for many photos and, in any event, we have been this way several times!

We called at Alperton tesco for a few items, some to help add to our pizza with salad planned for tonight (just as well we avoided that last night!) This stop is about half way along the Paddington Branch so helped to break up the trip.

Lunch was 'on the go' - fortunately a really warming soup from Christine, especially tasty, even if it was described as a left over soup!


On the last straight section before the main line, a bit more blue sky arrived and at Bulls Bridge it looked rather warmer than it felt!


Nevertheless, there were some further brighter moments making for more picturesque photos. At this time of the year, the leaf-less trees give a rather particular appearance to the landscape.


Just after 4pm we arrived back in the marina. Mike was looking for nb Chance to show him the turning point for our spot on the pontoon - we have been next to them all winter. However, they had just left and Mike headed for entirely the wrong place. By the time he realised what Christine, on lookout duty, was trying to tell him, he had overshot the mark and ended up in a hopeless mess. This meant he had to reverse back out and try again - this time doing rather better. Once firmly tied up it was time to warm through!

16.9 miles - 0 locks

1 comment:

nb Chance said...

Sorry we missed you, we have done the same ourselves and come into paddington for the week, we did pass you on the roundabout but you were out. Hope you had a good time. nb Chance