Tottenham to Enfield

Met up with Richard at Tottenham Locks and immediately we were giving information to a boater trapped above the closure at bridge 23. He'd missed the Christmas opening of the bridge and now has to wait until January 4th for an opportunity to get back to the Grand Union (no, we confirmed, there's no way to get to the Grand Union from the Upper Lea.) We helped him through Tottenham Locks and then headed for Stonebridge Services.

A quick inspection revealed nothing too amiss. The recycling bins were out for collection, but the waste bins were empty. the only issue was the number of abandoned toilet cassettes next to the Elsan point. I flagged these for removal.

We continued upstream, past Picketts Lock and Ponders End Locks, and the remnants of the demolished transhipment warehouse, now reduced to a stretch of concrete embankment that looks like it might make a nice mooring one day.

A floating mannequin amused us a little and we reported some rubbish across the towpath south of the North Circular and a scooter in the water under the footbridge as we approached Enfield Yard. Then we turned around Swan and Pike pool and cycled back to Springfield Marina and back to our respective homes.

2 hours, well spent in good company on a bright, clear but icy day.

Once around the island with Richard.

It's Thursday, so it must be towpath-ranging day.

I put my bike into shape (it needed a bit of oil on the squeaky bits and air in the tubes) and headed down to White Post Lane for 11am. Richard turned up not long after, we hung around until 11.15 but that turned out to be the complement for this ride.

As ever we made ourselves inconvenient, shutting the the tap covers and doors at the sanitary station at Old Ford Lock on the Lee. Given that there was another towpath mugging there last night, shutting this door might be an inconvenience to the nearby moored boaters, but it gives criminals one fewer place to hide too.

Below Old Ford Lock we found a push-pit and a bag of rubbish left for us to discover and report.

Next, the new ramp and bridge at Twelvetrees. Huzzah. Hopefully they'll remove the floating towpath bypass soon, now this is complete.

Then on to Limehouse, just checking that the Elsan and Pump-out there are open for general use by licensed boaters during business hours. The Limehouse Cut needs another signage run. The Share The Space boards are either gone or looking tatty. That's a job for the New Year.

Then on up the Regents to Old Ford Lock 8 (Regents), no volockies today, and up and down the Hertford Union to the upper lock.

Here a boater was letting down water into the pound below, so that he could get his widebeam up through the locks. As we were there to put up the following signage, we had a chat about water and where it comes from (Welsh Harp at the top of the Brent feeder) to get down to here.

We put two signs on the balance beams at the top lock, four signs (one on each balance beam) at the middle lock - since this is the lock that causes the most problems, and our last sign on the bottom lock's top, towpath-side gate.

By 13.15 we were done. As it was a lovely day, Richard rode on up the Lee, but I turned back across QEOP for home.

2 productive hours.

Not a planned activity...

So today I thought I'd take a trip down to Old Ford Lock 8 to pick up some signage for the Lea Rowing Club, and to take a look again at the locks on the Hertford Union after some mysterious hints from Sorwar Ahmed about improvements...

I met with the VLKs at Old Ford Lock 8 and we chatted about changes that might be made to the usage of the shelter there, and to Bow Wharf and Old Ford Lock 19, none of which seemed particularly heartening, but one never knows how things will turn out. One of the VLKs let me know about another facility that was a little away from the beaten track, and I'm tracking down information about it and whether it can be added to my 'boaters facilities information' ideas.

I grabbed a half-dozen 'Thank You For Slowing Down' signs and set off down the Hertford Union. There were 'Wet Paint' signs at the locks, and (mirabile dictu!) the lock gear at each lock had received a fresh coat of paint. But still no signage to direct boaters to shut the gates after use. Another small improvement, nonetheless.

I also met with some volunteers from the local swan rescue charity that had just removed some distressed swans and coots from alongside the White Post cafe/bar. Apparently the birds had swum through a spillage of cooking oil that caused them severe distress, and which killed one cygnet - at this stage no-one knew what the spillage was. It was only when the birds were examined at the swan sanctuary that the cause and extent of their problem became clear.

At the junction I reported a boat that was tearing out a canalside coping stone with its anchor.

Then I headed for the Lea Rowing Club. Along the way I met S, our local contact there, and he accompanied me as we discussed the issues facing rowers. Rowers see the river from a very different angle from most users, being low to the water's surface their visibility is greatly limited by poorly moored boats - I hope we can find some ways that we can show the river from this rather difficult point of view.


At home I spent quite some time firing off emails to Enquiries London and Darren Starling to try and sort out my questions about my day. This paperwork lark - it's a bit of a pain, but I suspect I'll be doing more and more of it!

The more I do...

The more I do, the more there seems to be in the way of email-type paperwork at the end of the day.

Had a good little walk with SM from the Lea Rowing Club today, up to Tottenham Locks and back. We talked through a lot of the issues facing rowers on the increasingly boater-congested Lee, and what sort of things we might be able to do to make it better.

There were signs of rough sleeping under the bridge at Tottenham Locks, and very traditional shopping trolleys pulled from the Lee further down. All that got reported.

At Essex Wharf (just upstream of Lea Bridge) though, some very positive moves: where the damaged and missing coping stones used to be, CRT operatives were putting in fresh cement - apparently ahead of a more substantial fix later in 2017 (huzzah!) This seemed to be done alongside the new rescue ladders and safety chain installed there.

Fresh cement being laid in the space left by a missing coping stone at Essex Wharf.

I then cycled back down towards QEOP and had a chat with the proprietor of the vinyl record selling boat at the trade mooring at the Hertford Union junction. Very nice guy, hope he gets some business.

Hertford Union Canal 13/12/2016

After reports on Facebook of the water levels in the pound above the Hertford Union being low, and the gates and paddles of the three locks here being left open I took a short look.

All of the locks' tail gates were open, closing the top and bottom lock gates was no problem, but the middle lock's tail gate on the towpath side swings open, so I had to run some water in to close it.

On the top lock there's some temporary signage asking boaters to close all gates and paddles, but there's nothing at the lower lock - which is the entrance from the Lee where boaters are more relaxed about leaving gates open.

The lower lock is also looking pretty sad, with graffiti all over.

I think that there's an opportunity here to clean up and add 'Boater Information' and a 'Welcome to the Hertford Union' sign here, along with more permanent signage asking boaters to ensure they leave all gates and paddles closed.

We'll need to do a litter pick and cut back the foliage, remove graffiti, and repaint the locks. Then also have CRT install some new permanent signage.

New signage will, of course, attract graffiti, but I think we can get on top of that. Better than leaving it like this.

Carpenters Road Prospective Lock-keepers meet & greet

There were many more people here than I expected, at least a dozen, plus Joanna Steele, Sam Thomas, Nadia Payne and Steven Wilding, all in a rather small, un-windowed room! Contrary to the model-railway-club theory (that it's all middle-aged white guys), there were also three female VLK's present.

The Lock looks like it will (just) be ready in time for VLKs to begin shadowing CRT operatives in May, ready for the grand opening and festival at the end of May.

There was unexpected good news about Old Ford Lock 19, where the old stable building or 'cottage' is to be renovated as a refuge and store for lock-keepers and volunteers. This should be underway by early next year.

UPDATE: There have been some delays to the construction of the lock, and the opening ceremony has been pushed back to the end of August.

Safety Event, 12 December, towpath near Kingsland Basin

Following a series of robberies on a particular stretch of the Regents, DS organised (alongside the Police) an awareness event by Kingsland Basin on the Regents.

The robbers MO was to block the towpath around lone walkers or cyclists after dark and then threaten them at knifepoint for their valuables.

We arrived at about 3.30 and met up with DS and DT(?), eventually VG, RH, RE, GM and AF also attended (7 volunteers and 1 staff). We were to have been handing out leaflets, but the Police late-cancelled on us and so we did not have their support and leaflets. We spent about three hours interacting with towpath users, warning them about the attacks and asking them to be extra aware and perhaps to reconsider being alone on the towpath after dark. The bridge at Kingsland Basin is a good spot to interact with towpath users as cyclists slow down to negotiate the bridge. I would estimate we made at least 150 positive interactions with towpath users.

Later we learned that there had been another robbery that night on the Lea at Markfield Park.

I spent some time talking with VG and AF who are volunteer rangers local to my stretch in East London, and I hope to see them again at other Towpath Ranger events.

We were a little ill-prepared for this impromptu event. We could have used a half-dozen more hi-vis tabards and some literature to hand out.

DS and I discussed meeting with SM at the Lea Rowing Club. We also discussed the situation about Hertford Union's locks, where the gates and sometimes the paddles are frequently left open causing water losses in the pounds above. Signage at the Lower Lock (at least) and some form of literature to hand out to boaters were discussed as ways to help stop this.

Moving on and moving in.

I've decide to move my CRT activity recording from my old google doc to here so that I can share this more freely.