Thursday 3rd August
We set off fairly early and just as we were preparing to leave a hire boat came along and so we were able to share the lock. They had never done a lock before so we were happy to help. Check us out, the so called experts now!! 😀
Whilst we were preparing the lock another small hire boat arrived and we decided we could all fit in together. It was good fun as it always is when there are a crowd of you working together.
This was one of the prettiest locks I had seen with all it's handing baskets. It was called Carthagena Lock.
We moved on towards the next lock ( Dobb's Weir Lock) and were able to share that one also.
We passed the Fish and Eels pub at Roydon.
We soon arrived at our final lock of the day, Feilde's Weir lock.
After this lock we said goodbye to our new friends as we were intending to moor at Stanstead Abbots. But before then we needed to stop at the boatyard there for new batteries and a pump out!
We saw another lovely family of swans on the way..
John took over the steering and I walked Dex along the towpath. We saw this Cormorant drying out.
This is where the river splits and you can either take the Lee up to Hertford or the Stort to Bishop's Stortford. We were staying on the Lee this time but we would be exploring the Stort very soon.
This section of the river was really pretty.
Dex took the opportunity to have a quick swim!
As we approached the Marina it looked like there was no room to moor. I was glad John was steering!
We could see a crane lifting one of the boats out of the water. I had never seen this done before so was really glad to get a chance to photograph it.
Dex and I had to cross a bridge and walk down a side street to get to the Marina. In the meantime John had managed to turn the boat around (so that we could access the pump out outlet) and he managed to moor up which was great!
Here we could fill up with water at the same time as pumping out. We got the new batteries fitted and they were cheaper than expected so it was well worth stopping.
Whilst we were waiting for the batteries to be fitted we saw a swan chasing off a goose!
We set off again towards Ware.
I was a bit concerned to see this lad lying down on the outside of the bridge!
But he soon got up and back to safety. Not sure what was happening there!
Unfortunately there was nowhere to moor in Stanstead Abbots so we decided to go through another 2 locks to Ware. The first of those was Stanstead lock. A large ex lighter barge had got in the lock before us.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighter_(barge)
I got chatting with the 2 men on board and they told me she was 72 ft long, 9 ft wide and had 5ft gunnels. There was no way we could fit in with her!
This lock had a waning sign on it as the flow of water was so fierce, you had to only open the paddles part way until it was half full. We were really glad that another narrowboat appeared so we could share the lock together, otherwise we would have been bobbing around like a cork!
On towards the next lock and the countryside opened up into fields on either side.
It's amazing what you can get on a narrowboat!
Soon we were at the last lock of the day, Hardmead lock. We shared this with the same boat.
Dex decided it was time for a game of stick!
He was waiting patiently to get back on the boat..
John said he could tell we were coming into Ware as he could see the Warehouses - GROAN!! His jokes don't get any better!!
Soon we were going through the main town bridge and managed to find a mooring point on the other side.
We went for a drink at the Waterside Inn and we could see our boat from our table! Cheers!
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