The Lee and 1066 and all that

Wednesday, 31 August 2011 18:00

In contrast to the last couple of days, we only did a hop skip and jump of a cruise on the Lee Navigation yesterday.

What is in the photo above? Read on to find out .....

We had had a quiet night below Rammey Marsh lock - despite having a slight list. John was out in his dressing gown in the morning to right us so we could watch BBC Breakfast, our usual "wake up" routine!

In Rammey Marsh Lock, M25 bridge ahead

We were able to get into the lock because of what was in my mystery photo above. It is the control for the bottom gates, opened with a BW key. Once opened, the BW key has then to be re inserted into a newly-revealed keyhole to work the control - four buttons. These are labelled, east gate open and close, and west gate open and close. You don't need to know your east from your west but it helps if only planning to open one gate! (One "close" wouldn't work, but I found that pressing the "open" and then the "close" did the trick. Ed.)

There is a BW sani-station below Waltham Town Lock - our next lock. It is on the site of the old Hazlemere Marina, but reachable via a locked gate from the towpath.

Entrance to the old marina before the sani-station

The marina site is owned by BW and has development potential, apparently. Hopefully boaters will be considered and services will still be available - preferably working ones. John had to report the seriously blocked elsan point to BW.

Top gate paddle gear at Waltham Town Lock

This has been a new type of gear to us - note the safety catch that has to be lifted

It then acts as a ratchet as the gear is wound up

We moored above the lock, in company with some other friendly boaters. Behind us was John Shacklock, NABO member and local IWA rep. Ahead was a narrowboat from Springfield Marina who was interested in our TV set up! So far we have found that the boaters on the Navigation are all very friendly and have been very pleasantly surprised at the ability to moor where we have wanted to, despite hearing otherwise.

The Lee Valley White Water Centre is beside the towpath. It is closed Mondays and Tuesdays, so if boaters want to see some activity arriving on Wednesday is best. Yes, it is an Olympic venue! Unlike the others, it is open to the public now to use or be a spectator.

Lee Valley White Water Centre

This is an ideal place to moor for exploring Waltham Abbey - which is what we did, hence the 1066 reference in the title. Now we all learned about that at school didn't we? If you didn't, you will not know about "our Harold". A quick look at the town and Abbey Church is to come ....

Lee Navigation, Rammey Marsh to Waltham Town
1 hour 20 minutes, 0.95 miles, 2 locks