Narrowboat Maid of the Mist Blog - July 2010

We hope you enjoy reading about our travels around the British Inland Waterways

1st - Moved out to Limehouse Basin today. The locks from Victoria Park to the Basin were a bit difficult, but fortunately we came down with another boat, which always makes life a little easier.

This is a view of the basin from our boat.

We went for a walk along Narrow Street where bars and restaurants back onto the river. As you approach Narrow Street from the Basin you will see the restaurant 'The Narrow' on your right. This restaurant is owned by Gordon Ramsay. We were looking for a nice restaurant to treat ourselves to a nice meal out, but having reviewed the menu at The Narrow, we decided we will go elsewhere. There is nothing extravagant about the pricing at The Narrow, we just didn't like the choices on the menu.

We have opted to go to The Grapes, which is a little way down Narrow Street in the opposite direction, and are booked in for tomorrow night. This is a seafood restaurant and is very olde worlde. The property was built in 1720 on the site of previous public houses dating from the earliest in 1583.

This little gem on the left is the name of a real street in Limehouse. We came upon it on the way to The Grapes. We have searched the internet as best we can and cannot find any history to its name.

2nd - Not a good night last night. Three youths tried to steal not only our bike off the our stern, but 2 bikes off the stern of the boat moored behind us. Not once, but twice. Fortunately the Limehouse Basin Security Officer saw them and chased them off. He did try to get the police to come, but because the bikes were not actually taken, they didn't bother. So whilst in the basin, our bike will remain inside. It was nearly 2.30am by the time we got back to bed.

The day was as sunny and peaceful as you could want. We went to the park in the afternoon to play with the dogs and had our evening meal at The Grapes. This was a memorable occasion. On the main course menu was just six dishes: salmon, swordfish, scampi, whole sea bass, scallops and lemon sole. I had the sea bass and Graham had the swordfish, neither of which we had tasted before. They were lovely and we followed this with strawberrries and icecream for me and bread and butter pudding for Graham. The whole 2 course meal with a bottle of wine and pre dinner drink came to about £90 including tip.

This image shows the whole sea bass with minted new potatoes and cabbage with smoked bacon (both extra). Graham's swordfish was a fish steak.

As you can see from the image on the right , the restaurant is quite small with only 28 covers.

We were the first guests in, so had the best table by the waterfront window.

See the full article on our canal magazine.

4th - Our first cruise of the year finished at Limehouse, so we are now starting our second cruise which is Limehouse to Bath. We set off today and as there was a music festival on at Victoria Park, we moored there for the night. The festival was organised by Cultural Cooperation and was a showcase of world artists from all around London. Such acts as Ameer Khan (intensive sufi music), Los Desterrados (Jewish Soul & Flamenco)and Lokita La Congo (Congolese and Latin rythmns) were just a few of the artists listed for the weekend.

5th - 8th Stayed an additional night at Victoria Park and have now moved back to Little Venice. Yesterday we took a bus ride to Oxford Street so that I could buy some clothes and whilst I was successful in some of my purchases, I find Graham a little hindrance when I want to just browse. Not his fault, but I will wait until Zoe arrives in August and we will go on a shopping spree together in Reading. Hopefully I will still be able to buy some holiday clothes for our planned holiday to Malta in March with Zoe and Ryan.

Graham has gone off today to visit Abbey Road. He wants to photograh the zebra crossing the Beatles used on their album. Whilst being a Liverpudlian myself, and very fond of the Beatles, I do not wish to trapse all the way to Abbey Road to see a zebra crossing.

9th -11th Alperton

12th - Moving back to Brentford. Early start as there are 11 locks and another boater has asked for company and help through the locks. This is good for us as the 11 locks in question are quite difficult, and I have previous for falling at the last one and hurting my legs quite badly. Will be staying in Brentford for two weeks before moving onto the Thames towards Reading.

15th - Today was a fun day. We went to a pre pilot show entitled "It's the end of the week as we know it", with the commedian Al Murray. He was joined on the stage by two reporting colleagues, Karen Taylor and Paul Hawksbee.

The show was very funny and I am sure the pilot will go ahead.

16th - Received an email today to say the above show will go ahead with the pilot. The pilot will be recorded on 3rd August at BBC Television Centre Wood Lane, London. Doors open about 5.30pm. Show starts 7.30pm. You can get your tickets from www.tvrecordings.com. The tickets are free and issued on a first come basis. You will need to arrive early as tickets are always over-subscribed and entrance is again on a first come basis.

River Thames

19th - Moved onto the Thames today, a little earlier than planned, as the pricing structure has changed, so it was better value for money to take two weeks than six consecutive days, even with the one free day given on both tariffs.

Having gone through Thames Lock at Teddington, we moored up at the start of the Hampton Court moorings in Kingston Upon Thames. This gave us an opportunity to have a look around the town and for me to do a bit more holiday clothes shopping (for Malta in March 2011).

20th - 23rd Continuing on the Thames overnighting at Walton-on-Thames, Staines, Runnymede and now Windsor. We will be visiting the Windsor Castle in the morning.

24th - Well, I am sorry to say, we did not visit the Castle this morning. On arrival at the gate, the queue was horrendous waiting for tickets, so we took the tour bus instead. The bus takes you to eleven stops, which include Victoria Barracks, the current home of the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards, who guard Windsor Palace, the long walk, which is a three mile straight road, at one end of which is a statue of George III and at the other end Windsor Castle. The bus stop is in the middle and we could see both ends. There is no traffic on this pathway.

The bus also stops at Eton College which is accessible to the public for a fee. The college sits in quite extensive grounds used in the main as playing fields. The students have at least two hours a day playing sport. Eton village is quite small, and I feel a little lacking in amenities for the school children.

25th - We finally got to visit Windsor Castle (external only images posted shortly). Well worth the wait. The castle was first built by William the Conqueror. Apart from the grounds we were given access to view Queen Mary's Dolls' House. She never actually played with this, it was only built as a showcase and was quite modern at the time. It has electric lights, running water and flushing toilets etc. It took 1500 craftsmen three years to build.

The other part of our ticket was to view the State Apartments. These were amazing and were created for Charles II and Catherine of Braganza during the baroque period 1675 and 1678. All the rooms housed an amazing collection of paintings by famous artists such as Rubens, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, Holbein and a host of others. At the beginning of the tour we entered the Queen's Guard Chamber in which there was a huge collection of armour. Apparently, the display was originally to show how well guarded the castle was, but is now just a treasured collection of arms from all over the world.

We also saw how beautifully restored the Lantern Lobby and other rooms were following the fire in 1992. Where the wooden floors had been scorched, the sections were just lifted and turned over.

I can't not mention St George's Hall, which is dedicated to the Most Noble Order of the Garter. Even today the new Knights of this Order are knighted here before a meal in Waterloo Chambers and then taken to St George's Chapel for a service and to be allocated a stall.

If you want to visit this castle, may I suggest you arrive about half an hour before opening. We did, and were surprised how quickly the queues built up.

27th - Travelled to Marlow and managed to get onto the 24hr free moorings. Took a walk into the town. Lots of boutiques and coffee shops, and a nice park (Hargreaves Park).

28th - Still moving towards Reading, and moored overnight at The Lynch. It was a bit of a squeeze getting right to the bank, but we had a comfortable night.

29th - Arrived at last - topped up the shopping at Kings Meadow Tesco and then moved through the first lock to the moorings by the prison (lock apparatus was unusual - not seen this type before). May stay here a couple of days to give the boat a bit of a spruce before Zoe comes on Tuesday.

Highlight of the day was seeing a pair of black swans and a female black swan with some sygnets at the junction of the Thames-Kennet & Avon Canal.

Kennet & Avon Canal

30th - Today we visited the Blake Lock Museum which was a pump house. The Bel and The Dragon Restaurant and Bar building next door was originally part of a water treatment plant. When the weir was rebuilt, they built a fish pass to allow the salmon to move upstream to a new spawning ground.

We also visited the Town Hall Museum and Art Gallery which was very interesting indeed. They have a copy of the Bayeur Tapestry there, which was completed by 35 ladies in the Elizabeth Wardle's Embroidery Society in Leek, Stafford. It has been embroidered in a number of sections, each of which has the relevant ladies name embroidered at the bottom in recognition of their work.

31st - Moving slowly along the canal now. Met a couple of people who haven't been happy on this canal. Complaints about lack of properly constructed moorings and too many locks seems to be the main complaint. My hushand and I are not complainers and so far we have found the canal to be very pretty and rustic, but we are only a couple of miles in. See more on next month's page.

Author: Jean Beven

Entrance to Limehouse Marina from the River Thames.

Gordon Ramsay's riverside restaurant The Narrow at the entrance to Limehouse Marina.

The Grapes, Narrow Street, Limehouse

The Grapes Seafood Restaurant showing the 28 covers.

Ameer Khan at the Victoria Park World Music Festival 3/4th July 2010

Kingston Bridge - Kingston Upon Thames

Kingston Upon Thames town centre

We saw many different crafts on the Thames today, but this was the querkiest. I think this is called a paddle board.

Horseshoe Cloisters, Windsor Castle

Round Tower, Windsor Castle

State Apartments, Windsor Castle

A pair of black swans seen on the junction of the River Thames and Kennet & Avon Canal.