"New" Pub and newish marina on the Grand Union

Monday, 03 November 2008 18:22

What a lot we have done today - but we have moved a wee bit! We needed to be in Kings Langley to pick up our post so left late morning to do the 5 locks to bridge 157 which gives good access to the town and post office.


Lock 66, the middle Apsley lock,  has a water and elsan point which we made use of. Below the lock, on the off side, are 24 limited hour moorings with Sainsburys next door. No need to stop here though.

Below lock 67, the bottom one of the Apsley flight, is a "new" pub. I say "new" because it is not in our 2003 version of Nicholson - so it may be up to 5 years old! There are two paper mills, one at Frogmore and the other at Apsley so it is aptly named. Frogmore Mill is the "birthplace of paper's industrial revolution".



Apsley Marina, although marked in Nicholson and built in 2003, still looks "new".

We looked at this for a mooring when Epiphany was at the specification stage - no mortgage without a mooring!  It has a shop and launderette so must be very convenient. Apsley Station is the other side of the canal and it is even, horror of horrors, within reach of the M25. My verdict  - far too near London for me!

Although maybe I left my "mark"


It is here that the River Gade joins the canal. The river stays with the course of the canal down towards Rickmansworth.






After the bottom lock there are a number of places where the canal widens, so we were able to open the throttle to get a good charge on the batteries!

As we entered the outskirts of Kings Langley we spotted a good mooring, just before bridge 157 as planned. So we settled the boat and then wandered up the hill to the town. The high street has 4 hairdressers, 2 newsagents, a butcher, baker (no candlestick maker), a gift shop (with candles!), a model railway shop and 2 chemists.

The church was closed, so we were disappointed that we could not see the tomb of the first Duke of York or the church's 14th century architecture. Now-a-days it is vandals versus those who want to experience the peace and prayerful atmosphere in a church. A real shame that the community looses out.

So after the PO it was back to the boat for a relaxing (well, I did make carrot, leek and onion creamed soup so - "relaxing") late afternoon and evening. We even have the satellite dish up again - my request, I want to watch Spooks!

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