Today began bright, sunny warm and with a clear blue sky. There was none of the fog which the forecast threatened might hang on after overnight.
We had a slightly slower start as we had stopped below Northchurch Top Lock in order to be able to go to the morning service at the nearby church. In fact, as we finished getting ready we were accompanied by the sound pf the bells being rung, traditionally calling people to church!
The walk was about four times as long as the crow flies distance (the church was just over the canal hedge) but it took not much more than eight minutes to get there.
In the churchyard Christine spotted a very complete fairy ring.
The congregation numbered around fifty and was a pleasant middle-of-the road format. Three readers and a curate all took part in leading the worship with several others reading and so on. The reader who preached seemed to be an academic - at least his format suggested that. It was all good stuff but perhaps a tad over long for the context. However, he was the one person who made an effort to talk to us afterwards.
The church inside has had some imaginative re-reordering in recent years (even if they still have conventional pews!) The layout makes effective use of the cruciform shape with contemporary furniture and overhead lights. At the back is what appears to be a new organ, again in a very contemporary case.
Back at the boat we changed and set off - we needed distinctly fewer layers than on the past three days. However, w discovered that the water level had fallen quite a bit since we left for church. At than the boat was easily afloat but now it was firmly aground at the rear half. Fortunately the bow section was still free so by pushing it right out across the cut we were able gradually to prise the rest of the boat free.
The route ahead is largely one of an unremitting succession of locks, nearly all about ten minutes apart. There were plenty of people out walking this afternoon and we were able to recruit several families with young children to help work the locks. Whilst the parents generally enjoy seeing their children taking part - with several happy photos - the real deal is that they get asked to close the lock gates for us after the boat has left!
Since we had managed to get away a little more promptly than we had anticipated, we stopped for lunch alongside the open park area opposite Berkhampstead station.
This bear is still celebrating Halloween - someone should have told him that the monkey face and pumpkins were for yesterday!
At Top Side Lock, the low sun shining through the trees made pretty patterns on the pink rendering of the lockside house.
The lighting continued to illuminate the scenery. No wonder so many people were out enjoying it.
At Lock 58 a sign clearly gives instructions about how to leave the lock. What, of course, it assumes is that all boaters can read which cannot be true for the boats which had just come up as all paddles were closed! At least this one admits the reason - many of the locks from the summit downwards have special instructions, some of which seem to have been in force for quite a long time. When we came up, a waterways person told us that there is a phantom-notice-tearer-downer in the area which removes paper signs almost as soon as they are put up. They imagine that it is a disgruntled boater who does not accept that CRT gave issue this advice! At one lock it was clear that a sign had been torn away and so we left the lock as we remembered it being requested. However, the sign here is of much sterner stuff and is almost year old!
OK, so in the fading light this photo did not come out as well as it might but we could not pass on the opportunity to record the inventiveness that turned an ex fire extinguisher case into a distinctive boat chimney!
We have seen nb Africa moored here before but have never taken the opportunity to say how attractive the painted figures are.
After passing through Winkwell Swing Bridge and the lock below, it really was getting time to moor but we were intent on finding a spot with a fighting chance of getting a tv signal. (Looking back at recent posts, this seems to be a bit of an obsession but our new sat finder box is proving itself). Along here, it is not possible to moor far from the busy railway line but at least it is less intrusive than a motorway!
4.3 Miles - 12 Locks
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