A weekend at Denham

26th & 27th April

The night before last we had a very good meal at the White Bear with John and Nev– it's another short, basic menu, but the food came quickly and was well cooked and presented. There were particularly good hand cut chips. The atmosphere in the pub was best described as robust, especially when we first went in at around six, and both bars were pretty full of construction site workers.

By the time we left, around eight, it had calmed down a bit, and it was possible to imagine standing at the bar with your maiden aunt without cringing.

Back at the boat afterwards we spent a bit of time planning our route back from London to Crick. John and Nev will be heading the other way in Waimaru, and it looks as if we'll cross around Berko on Tuesday the 13th.

This means that if our luck holds, the Incite boats will be heading back up the next day, and we'll have another chance to share locks back to Leighton with the delightful, determined and demonstrative but daunting Davinia.

Yesterday we were up in good time and crossed to the Tesco moorings at eight o'clock, only to discover that the store opens at 6 am during the week, so we needn't have hung around.

We were able to do a quick shop, nonetheless, and at 8.30 we were heading South once more, in glorious sunshine, getting ever warmer as the day went on. As might be expected, this had brought out a lot of weekenders, especially heading up, so we had most of the locks with us.

We stopped for water below Copper Mill Lock, and ran a washload as we did so. By lunchtime we'd got to Denham and moored on the long length of very quiet visitor moorings above the lock, alongside the very pleasant Country Park. By now it was so warm that Sheila had unzipped her zip offs and was going round in shorts. If this keeps up we'll have to do a clothes sort before we get to Cavalcade, in order to have a supply of T-shirts and shorts for the weekend.

After lunch we wandered around the canal – there's a towpath on both sides here, from bridge 182 to Denham Deep Lock, making a gentle circular stroll. Below the lock we found Verulam moored, and spent a pleasant couple of hours in her saloon, nattering to Dave and Anne. They preferred to moor below to get away from the electricity transmission towers and lines which cross the canal above. The price they pay for that is to be in earshot of the A40, which crosses some little distance below.

Today the weather broke for a bit. Before it did, I set off to get a paper from Denham village, got totally lost trying an alternative path through the Country Park, and ended up the wrong side of the A40 in New Denham, which isn't the same place at all. All in all, it must have taken me about an hour and a half, most of it plodding along, to get a copy of the Independent on Sunday.

I managed to get back to Sanity (after the A40, how right that sounds) before the rain started, which was just as well, as it fairly tipped it down for a while. It's still warm, however, so it still feels Spring-like, even in the rain. The real downside is that a load of pollen and bits has washed off the tree next to us all over the roof and the newly washed side. Hey ho.

This afternoon we used the battery charging engine run to do another washload, and changed the bed, so there's yet more washing waiting to be done. I also cut Sheila's hair again – each time I'm a little better pleased with the result. At this rate I'll be getting quite competent just before the age related hand tremor kicks in...

Tomorrow we're setting off again, perhaps just as far as Cowley Lock, perhaps round onto the Paddington Arm and on to Kensal Green – we'll see how we feel.