Goodbye London, tomorrow the Thames

 

At last we have reached Brentford! The thingamagig has been fitted, hooray, and we now know how much power we do or do not have!
We left Cowley Peachey early this morning from a mooring outside Tesco and came down to a crowded Brentford Gauging Lock at about 12.00.p.m. This made a journey of about 4 and a half hrs. Have had to double bunk with an ownerless boat as there is no other mooring.
On the way down we negotiated a flight of locks called Hanwell Locks. There is  a lovely high brick wall runs along a section of this towpath and you can just make out some of the high buildings. Apparently this was an asylum and to the boatman it was known as Asylum lock. They would deliver coal here underneath an archway that is now bricked up. The building is now part of Ealing Hospital. I wonder what else was delivered here apart from coal!

The former Asylum walls

The lock at Brentford looks a bit complicated, and as I don't like electronic controls, Andy is going to come and help set the lock in the morning. I can't believe that C&RT let you control this lock yourselves and don't have a lockkeeper. There are twin locks with a centre island. On the island are two electronic control boxes controlling each lock. Before you can do this you have to negotiate the bridge and locked gate. Then decide which lock you want to use and start pressing buttons! Oh the power!  Heyho!

Brentford Gauging Lock

The Thames lock is very similar, with one exception, this one is manned. We are planning to go down to the Thames lock by 8.00a.m to go out on the rising tide. There are already two boats waiting down in the pound. We have been for a look and recee'd the exit out onto the Thames, and idled away a pleasant couple of hours sitting in the sun watching the shenanigans of other people in a myriad of types of boats. a group of youngsters came racing down in a RIB with a huge outboard merrily showboating with a huge wake being created when suddenly, right in front of us, it hit a submerged sandbank and came to an embarrassing and immediate halt, very nearly catapulting the occupants out over the bow, and appearing to do some damage to the outboard. Oh dear, the price of showing off!!! pity I didn't video it, could have got a couple of hundred quid from 'You've been framed'
Hopefully if all goes to plan we should be in Teddington on the non-tidal Thames by 11.00 a.m Just in time for a late breakfast.


New form of Narrowboat! or was this Jeremy Clarkson?

Have got the life jackets out and Andy has put the anchor ready in the front cratch. All we need now is good weather with little wind.