Saying Goodbye to Paddington

We left Paddington Basin at lunchtime yesterday, did a black water pump out at Little Venice and then put the washing machine on as we started off.   A minute later Doug went back into the boat and found water all over the galley and bathroom floor!

We made an emergency stop on the “roundabout” in Little Venice (on the “No unauthorized moorings”) and made good the damage.  Doug had, earlier, cleaned the filter on the washing machine and not fitted it back correctly – no damage done and luckily no water marking on the woodwork!

We were soon back on course and cruising down the Regents Canal towards Camden.  There are some fabulous residences along the canal between Little Venice and London Zoo.

Camden was its usual manic self – a sunny Saturday brings everyone out.  The wind blew ‘Chance’ to this position while waiting for the lock.  What you can’t see are the hoards of people right next to the boat, some of whom wanted to get on!

Waiting for then next lock, James was praying that the wind wasn’t going to blow’ Chance’ onto this lot!  We’re not complaining, the crowds are very friendly and it was lovely to see so many people enjoying the summer – at last.

It wasn’t long before we reached our mooring at the London Canal Museum for Saturday night. Here we are breasted against big old nb ‘Tarporley’, the hull is 1937 and she’s now privately owned and used as a ‘trip boat occasionally.

In the evening we went to Camden and had a great time in the ‘Black Cap’.  We got talking to Jed, Mateusz and Kate and had a great time with them, ending up in the club downstairs and getting back quite late again. (Ummmm)
Today we moved all of 1/4 mile from the museum to the new secure moorings at Kings Cross.  Initially we set about some domestic chores (having done almost nothing to ‘Chance’ in the last 2 weeks).  Doug baked some muffins and went grocery shopping while James scrubbed the roof and dodger.  After the work was done we went on a walkabout around Kings Cross.

Just down from our moorings we found this lovely wall of flowers.  It was about a hundred yards long and about 20 feet high and looks really effective.
Next on our tour we came across St Pancras Old Church.

There’s far too much fascinating history about this church and church yard to talk about here but it’s a beautiful, tranquil place in the middle of London’s noise and bustle.

The Ash tree was planted in the middle of this pile of tombstones which were removed from their original positions as part of the Kings Cross Railway encroachments. Thomas Hardy, before he became an author, oversaw the disinterment of human remains and the re-siting of these gravestones in this position in 1865.
We took the bus to Paddington and walked up to Little Venice where we thought we might find fellow bloggers Mick and Elly on nb ‘Parisien Star’,  As always, fellow bloggers feel they know each other before ever meeting and this was no exception.  We had a very nice chat with them (sorry we didn’t get a photo) before getting the bus back to Kings Cross, where we had a meal in ‘Prezzo’ and then returned to ‘Chance’ for an evening in.
This is us, Billy No Mates, on the private moorings at Kings Cross.  We are only allowed to stay for 24 hours and the security guards are helpful and “enthusiastic” – spotting any arrivals on their security cameras and greeting  you before you manage to rope up, which is all very reassuring.

On our way back from Prezzo we were treated to this stunning skyline view of  the St Pancras Hotel.