Herbie is moored six inches from a demolition site!
We arrived in Paddngton at lunchtime to find the basin fully occupied, which was a tad disappointing since we have had a lot of reports of spaces there lately. There was just one space round the corner under the footbridge so we grabbed that although there are steel barriers close to us on the bank. A few inches in front of us is where an office block extends across the canal and that is all scaffolded and sheeted up in preparation for demolition. Another foot further on and I am sure we would be asked to leave. Mercifully the submerged bubble jets are switched off at the moment else we would be sitting in the effervescence.
London really is just about full boat wise. There were a few spaces at Kensal Green but that's just about it.
Anyway, here we are for a city break and the sun is shining so we'll enjoy it while we can. Hopefully we can nip into the basin if we see someone leave.
Yesterday afternoon we had a towpath rangers meeting at the Black Horse at Greenford to try and work out what to do about the middle bit of the Paddington Arm which is not really covered as it falls between two teams. We have decided to call our team the WOWboys as we operate Way Out West.
Coming along that stretch this morning, I think the biggest problem is the canal, not the towpath. There are quite a few places where there is a proliferation of prop fodder in the water. I know CRT sends boats down there to clear it now and then, but I reckon a couple of volunteers in a little open boat with an outboard would get to the rubbish more easily and quickly and more often. That's exactly what my pal Richard does on the Regents Canal and the Limehouse cut. I'm going to consult him and put a proposal to CRT to do something similar based around Alperton or thereabouts I think.
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3 comments:
I'd love to be a WOWboy too. I really enjoy your ranger posts!
Hi Neil, we’re on Rembrandt Gardens if you’ve got a while to spare for a cuppa.
No one seems to be enforcing the time limits in Paddington basin We had a week there 10/2 onwards and talking to another boater who had been there two weeks and was going to stay til he got the e mail telling him he had overstayed. We got the last space and no boats that were there when we went in left before we did. Won't be bothering with London again it's just one big boat park.
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