leaving central london for Hertford

Monday 8th August
The whole world must have seen footage of the dreadful riots and looting in various parts of London, Camden being one of them    When we went into town, we saw many shops smashed and looted, fortunately we
 were reasonably safe as along the towpath where the boats are moored up, there are large steel gates at either end which were locked so only boaters can gain access to the boats. 
                                                                                                                                                        Tuesday  9th August.                                                                                                                          Weatherspoon have a steak offer night on Tues, so we decided to take advantage.  (for those who don't know, Weatherspoons are a large nation wide pub chain who offer very good value and quality with both food and drinks.)   We were seated at one of the windows overlooking the lock and market area and sadly watched pubs and wine bars boarding up their windows in anticipation of further trouble and looting by these morons.

Thankfully the anticipated trouble did not  happen, not in London anyway.

Wed 10th Aug.
We  went bramble picking to have with pancakes and ice cream for pudd tonight YUM YUM.   Got loads of brambles as well as some funny looks from people walking by on the tow path - Camden is known for it's diverse population and many strange looking people, so why we attracted attention I have no idea or, perhaps it could have been  the two large poles with hooks at the end and the large plastic bowl we carried with us. (waste not want not is what we say)

 Half were gone by the time I took this photo..........

Well  it looks as though things have calmed down so we have decided to set off and head for Hertford - about two days travel away.

We went through the Camden and St Pancreas locks, through the Islington Tunnel ( I love the tunnels, sort of  exciting and romantic in the silent dark with our rather impressive head lamp showing the way)

We were now on the Lee Navigation river and found the water level extremely low - we were to find out why later.......
We decided to moor up in a spot that looked safe enough along with 3 other boats.   The small town called Bow, in the hamlet of Tower was nearby.    The longish high street had lots of small independent shops - not one huge supermarket to be seen, wonderful.....not a bad place.
As we walked back to Merlot, a very old man was struggling to get his boat through the lock we were moored behind, shame man, I am not sure if traveling on a boat on your own at that age is such a good idea.  Trev gave him a hand in the lock and to moor up.  He did seem a game old stick - so sweet - aagh shame as they say in SA.

tying the rope around yourself is not really a good idea especially if you are not that strong but I guess he must know what he is doing (I hope)

Foi toch (another SA expression - means oh shame  and I am certain I have spelt it incorrectly.   He must have been in his 80ies at least.   Respect!!!!!!!!

Thurs 11th Aug
Happy birthday Harry xx
We woke up to find the boat tilting alarmingly  due to a significant drop in the water levels.  

Unfortunately this pic does not reflect how lopsided we were...
We set off  traveling past the Olympic stadium - work in progress.  

One stretch of water was so covered in green algae, it looked like a grass carpet with debris floating on top

                                                                                                                                                           Onwards past Tottenham, and on to the River Lee Navigation - again the water level was very very low with Trev having to be very careful navigating the river to avoid going aground.  
One lock had a lovely former lock-keepers cottage with a notice outside the front fence.  See for yourself.....

Inside was written................

We had no bounty chocolates but left a toffee crisp attached to one of our Fish Hoek holiday cottage cards - never miss an opportunity to advertise.
As we passed through Enfield, we saw smoke still coming from the Sony factory that had been raised to the ground during the riots.   We now found out why the water level's were so low - in more than one place firefighters pumped water from the river or canal to fight the fires.    They are still on standby as it will take days to completely extinguish the risk of hot spots re-igniting.

More free food - Whoo hoo - the persistent rain kept off long enough for us to pick some more wild fruit.  I am going to be busy making apple and bramble crumble or pie.   We also picked lots of elderberries - might have a go at some elderberry jam.

 Getting the best ones!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE FREE FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The downpour has relented, the sun is shinning and we are nearly in a place called Broxbourne on the Stort navigation river.   It looks like a beautiful part of the river....

Still in Canden

Thursday 4th August
Well we are still moored in Camden but I can feel a move coming on soon!!!!!!!  It never takes too long before we start getting itchy feet and great as Camden is, the constant tourists, photo taking, crowds and noise are beginning to annoy a little.   Sid is now included in the commentary given by the guide on the trip boats as a rather unusual figure head. . Hey fame at last !!!

We have mooved Merlot around a bit tryhing to get the best position along this stretch - when ever a boat leaves, which is not often, we quickly move if the spot is a better one.  We have a good spot now and will stay here till we leave Camen.

We like the idea that there is that space between the boat and the side.  Its actually a sort of ramp so when horses slipped into the canal as they did from time to time, they could be easily rescued.  See explanation and the plague below.

 Not very clear - THE RAMP UP TO THE TOWPATH.   THIS IS ONE OF A PAIR EITHER SIDE OF THE RAILWAY BRIDGE AND WAS USED TO RESCUE HORSES WHICH WHEN STARTLED BY THE TRAINS SOMETIMES BOLTED AND FELL INTO THE CANAL

 A very strange(but nice enough)  German man who moored up in front of us - he went to the market and bought a sailor suit then posed for the tourists - very different!!!!    He also giggled a lot, not sure what to make of  this...                                                                                                                                                 

Water is so covered with the green algae, it looks like grass.

As we plan to travel to Liverpool, we were very grateful for the sign showing us which direction to take and how many miles LOL

Trev is now after a bigger satellite dish, I think I need to put my foot down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday 3rd August
Birthday boy Trev.    As the weather was forecast to be very hot and humid, we decided to spend the day in Hyde park having a picnic.   We had a good idea and decided to visit Harrods first and get some picnic food from the food hall.  What did I say about it being a good idea....... NOT.......Trev asked for 3 slices of ham and nearly had to pick himself off the floor as the price came to over ten pounds (for 3 slices)  in the meantime I was buying a small container of salad - well like Trev I nearly fell over when I had to pay over 6 pounds - for  a small plastic container with some salad - I ask you.    We had already bought some bread so decided this was silly and hurriedly made our way out of Harrods and into Salisbury's where we finished buying our picnic.
We made our way to the park and found a spot near the lake and enjoyed a lovely relaxing day.

Trev catching the rays in his underpants He! He!

As we sat people watching, we saw these guys treating the water.   I have to say the stuff they were pouring into the lake must be very very toxic as you can see they were wearing  serious chemical suits.  We overheard them explaining they had to put this into the lake as if left it would run out of oxygen and the fish would die - seemed a funny way of keeping the lake healthy, I guess they must know what they are doing!!!!!!!

After getting over the shock of the price of Harrods food and enjoying a lovely day in the park, we finished off back on Merlot - Trev a bit squiffy but happy - hey old man!!!!!!!!!!  Happy Birthday

Thursday 4th August.
What a lot of rain - I guess we need it and its cooled things down a bit.  We both decided to get on with a few  boat chores today.

Engine oil change........ Just as well he never had toooo much of a hang over hey.

We were sitting last night having a drink to finish off Trev's birthday when he suddenly said "have you seen the witch in our boat??"   A WITCH!!  I looked in the direction he was pointing and have to admit I did see a witch.  Actually its  a string of dried garlic with a pair of oven gloves hanging on a hook in the kitchen or should I say galley..  If you squint it does sort of look like a witch or perhaps the shock of  shopping in Harrods (am I going on too much about food and Harrods?),  too much sun and lots of wine might of had something to do with it.....no, it definitely looks like a witch (perhaps she has arrived to keep Sid the skull company - a bit scary.