Sometimes places are not so nice as you remember them and as we set off up the Lee for the first time since we brought Herbie home that way after buying her, I had no great expectations. That journey home has been on a grey, bitterly cold day in March, and the lower half of the Le as it passes through Tottenham and Hackney etc is not known as a beauty spot.
Today in glorious sunshine it all looked rather splendid, and I have revised my opinion. The navigation passes alongside the new 2012 Olympic site and I can report that at present they are still just clearing the gound. Of course they’ll be ready in time. Who ever heard of a British Stadium being late.
The only downside today was having to operate Stonebridge Lock manually. This lock is built for electro hydraulic use but that bit was under repair so I had to wind the stiff old hydraulic gear on the paddles and the gates in the blazing sun. Opening gates this way is a real pain believe me. I must have been winding hard for a good twenty minutes solid all told, and now my back aches.
We also took time out to stop at the tiny Anchor and Hope pub, a little gem. Now that was just as good as we remembered it, and just as friendly. Visiting this pub is fun because you have to climb over the riverside railings to reach it. When we get older we'll just have to bring a set ladder.
A pity we couldn’t stop longer although we did carry out three plastic pint mugs of Fullers Discovery to keep us going as we cruised.We were planning to reach Waltham tonight but unexpectedly we found some very nice moorings in Enfield three minutes walk from the Greyhound Pub, which we are about to explore in the interests of sampling McMullen's beer.
I hope this weather keeps up, it's brillant!
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