Work, Rest and Play–that’s London Life!

We just have to show this photo of us on Wednesday this week ………..

………- we sure felt like “Billy-no-mates” in Paddington Basin.  At this moment there were eleven spaces in total – and there are still six spaces available this Friday morning.

We did get neighbours by the time this superb shot was taken by a friend working in the upper floors of St Mary’s Hospital.  It looks as though James was in the middle of some polishing (!) by the look of the rubbish on the decks.

We popped up to Little Venice to top up with water on Thursday morning.  With the trees starting to burst into leaf this lovely ‘watery’ area looks a real picture.

After having lunch with a couple of friends we spent the rest of Thursday afternoon sweeping the chimney and giving the “Squirrel” a good decoke.  It’s a nasty, dirty job that left James in need of a shower and Doug scurrying around with the duster and the Dyson. However, the evening was something we were looking forward to ……….

……… as we’d got tickets to see Pam Ann at the Leicester Square theatre. In two hours of non stop delivery this irreverent lady left no subject untouched by her totally unique humour.  

Being a very experienced “air hostess” she had her own slant on the trouble that some planes get into and the shortcomings of some airlines! She had the whole audience screaming with laughter.

After the show we had a couple more hours of fun in Soho and then it was the bus ‘home’. There’s still a real buzz around Piccadilly Circus after midnight.

We have this weekend to enjoy then next week will be taken up with James’ heart op. on Tuesday at the Hammersmith hospital.  We’ve been told the procedure will take longer than first thought as they want to do some ‘mapping’ of the heart in order to make a decision on the actual ablation of the Sinus Node.  So it’s dressing gown and slippers at the ready! 

Lazy Easter

We had a very lazy Easter weekend moored at Hanwell, below the locks …..

……. the mooring was very quiet and peaceful, with just a few boats but a lot of Easter walkers passing by. James managed to check the battery levels between the heavy showers of rain on Easter Monday morning – then it was a case of hunkering down in the afternoon as the rain set in permanently.

We’d like to thank the very nice person who secretly left four little chocolate Easter chicks on our roof early on Saturday morning – two at the front and two at the back. Thank you very much!
Today we left our mooring early for a very quite and easy trip up the Hanwell flight of locks.

This is an iconic Victorian view with the old buildings of Hanwell Asylum and its very high perimeter wall next to the lock flight.

We came across the best kept Coot’s nest on the system!

With two locks to go we crossed Three Bridges where road, rail and canal intersect at the same point.

We arrived in Paddington after a 6 hour miraculously dry cruise, to find a choice of 6 spaces in Paddington Basin, and tonight they are still vacant!

Celebrity start to the Easter Weekend

On Thursday evening, as a fitting start to the St Pancras CC Easter cruise, we went to ‘The Grapes’ in Limehouse for an evening with some of the locals.

Cindy the barmaid was a ‘ten out of ten’ hoot. Everyone needs a Cindy somewhere in their lives!

Sir Ian Mckellen heard we were there and popped into the pub for chat. (It just happens to be his pub!)

Friday dawned bright and a bit chilly but everyone was eager to get out on the Thames for the days trip up through the city to Brentford.

Gary and Yve, who we met on the Ventura cruise a few weeks ago, came to join us for the day.

With an hour to go before the ‘off’ there was time to open the Champagne and make a toast to a safe and enjoyable trip.

At 1 o’ clock sharp we were flushed out of the lock at Limehouse and, with horns blaring (a requirement as you enter the main tideway), ‘Chance’ got its first taste of Thames water this year.

Two Champagne powered people happily sighting Tower Bridge.

We follow the lead boat ‘Doris Katia’ with Andrew and Frances on board as we head towards one of the worlds most iconic sights.

Gary and James on the ‘blokey’ end of the boat while Yve and Doug get the drinks and nibbles ready inside.

Safely through Tower Bridge and we pass probably the oldest building in the city – the Tower of London …………

………. and then soon we pass two of the newest buildings – the ‘Walky Talky’ and the ‘Cheese Grater’.

Two happy bunnies approaching the seat of government.

All’s well on the Westminster waterfront.

Nb ‘Doris Katia’, in the distance, leads us up towards Battersea.

With Vauxhall in the background our additional crew for the day – Yve and Gary, thoroughly enjoyed the trip.  Gary took the tiller for the best part of an hour as we got into quieter waters.

The delightful Albert Bridge – always a treat to look at both for its architecture and paintwork.

After a fantastic trip up through the city again – a bit choppy in places but that only adds to the fun of it all, we got onto the Grand Union Canal at Brentford and made our way up to Hanwell and moored up for the night. It wasn’t long before we met up in The Fox to enjoy a drink or two with St Pancras Cruising Club Commodore Andrew and his wife Frances who, as always, are responsible for the safe organisation and planning of these terrific tideway cruises we so enjoy.  Frances, Doug, Eve, Gary and Andrew all wrapped up against a chilly evening.

Tideway tomorrow.

Yesterday was another great sunny day and another relaxing one for us.  We filled the day with a bit of boat cleaning and a walk into “town”.

In the morning a group of French youngsters paid homage to the roll up bridge just outside our front door.  It seems to be a great favourite with many visitors.

Further along from the boat, in Merchants Square, local workers play table tennis in their lunch hour…………

……. and during our walk along the Victoria Embankment in the afternoon we came across the monument to the great Sir Joseph Bazalgette whose skill and foresight gave London its fine and, as time has proven, most capacious sewage system.  Like most Victorian engineering it is still working very well. 

Today we left Paddington Basin and headed down the Regents Canal towards Limehouse Basin where we’ll be meeting up with a number of other narrow boats for our first tideway cruise this year with the St Pancras Cruising Club. We passed a rather unusual “residence” as we left Little Venice ……….

……. only to find much grander ones as we travelled down the Regents Canal!

The canal looks a real picture with all the spring blossom…………

The canal system throws up some very quirky things sometimes: at the bottom of someone’s garden this floating oasis with three bench seats set in each corner.

Today we travelled with Heather and Roger on nb ‘Celtic Kiwi’ who were also heading for the tideway cruise.  Together we made good progress down to Limehouse and we know it’s not far to go when we turn the corner and see Canary Wharf in the distance.

We caught up with the St Pancras Commodore, Andrew, and his wife Frances on nb ‘Doris Katia’ just before we reached Limehouse and it was a jolly good job we did.  At the last lock, while James was holding ‘Chance’ into the bank with the centre rope, he wasn’t able to hold it against the strength of the wind and Frances (and her extra muscle power!) came to the rescue and saved the day.  Thanks Frances we owe you a drink tonight!  Arriving in Limehouse this afternoon in very good time we took on some fresh water and moored up against the wall before any of the other boats arrived. A good day and a good job done – and we look forward to tomorrow.

Work and Pleasure.

On Monday we had a spring cleaning and maintenance day on ‘Chance’.

While Doug was working hard inside the boat James was working “for Cunard” down in the engine room - changing the engine and gearbox oil and doing a general service before we take on the series of tideway cruises with the St Pancras Cruising Club.

Today (Tuesday), with the weather still remaining superb we decided to enjoy more of the city.  Shakespeare still continues to look over the crowds in Leicester Square as he has done for a hundred or so years ……..

…… and he never tires to remind us of one of life’s fundamental adages. 

We had lunch in one of our favourite pubs – The Chandos, just off Trafalgar Square, and then took a walk down to Covent Garden and immersed ourselves in the atmosphere there.  Doug had an hour in the sunshine while James ……..

……..popped into the nearby St Paul’s Church (the actors’ church) to listen to a concert given by the Merchant Taylor’s Girls School, Liverpool.  They delivered a marvellous selection of music from Brahms to Lloyd Webber.

After the concert James took a few moments to look at some of the many memorial plaques to some of our best known and loved actors.  Richard Beckinsale was a huge loss – a great talent for such a short time ……..

………. while Margaret Rutherford gave us so much for such a long time.

St Paul’s, Covent Garden, built by Inigo Jones in 1633 is a fabulous bit of architecture and contains many memorials to past actors – it’s well worth a visit.

The sun and the Easter holidays brought the crowds out in force today.  This is Leicester Square this afternoon as we walk back to the tube station at Piccadilly.

A Marathon Weekend!

Saturday was a glorious sunny warm day and we spent most of it just wandering and enjoying the general buzz of London Town ……

….. “watcha cock!”

The rest of these pics relate to Sunday though – another wonderful warm and sunny day and a day just right for the London Marathon.  We left ‘Chance’ in the morning and headed towards the city where all the fun was to be had ……. 

…….. and we found a great place to watch the event, with great views of the Palace (and the TV screen), and as close to the finish line as possible.  

It wasn’t long before the winner of the partially sighted group sped past and onto the finish line.  Some of this exceptional group had guides with them and some had tethers to their guides. What courage!

Then the winner of the Elite Men’s section…………

………. and, following in 9th position, the great Mo Farrah!  It was quite emotional to watch these superb world athletes run past, having covered 26 miles and looking as if they were just our for a Sunday jog! 

Leaving the finish line we had lunch in an old pub in Parliament Street (watching all this running made us hungry!) before seeing the main group and fun runners come through.

Moving up towards Westminster Bridge we watched the runners leaving the Victoria Embankment and head down to Parliament Square.

There were a few competitors a bit worse for wear having covered 3/4 of the route but most were well able to acknowledge all the cheering and encouragement from the huge crowds of supporters.  We take our hat off to all of them!

This couple of runners, supporting the RNLI were a bit hot! ………..

……….not so “Foamy the Fire Extinguisher”!

 

It had been a fantastic ‘first’ for us and a great day day for runners and spectators alike.  The crowds were huge and the atmosphere terrific but we left them all behind, ………….

…….. and headed across Westminster Bridge and into the relative peace of ‘normal’ London to enjoy the rest of the afternoon and evening.

It was a brilliant day and we’re very glad to have been in London for this major national event – another one to tick off the list.