Hoppers

Today I toured the Fish Island circuit. From Sweet Water trade moorings by White Post Lane bridge on the Lee I went Southwest along the Limehouse cut, then North along the lower Regents Canal, then back East along the Hertford Union Canal (my typo-prone fingers wanted to make that the Hertfjord Union - perhaps in honour of Alex 'Boating' Gudmestad.)

Reinstated toilet and Elsan at Old Ford Lock 19.

This was my first piece of good news, I bumped into Aidan at Old Ford Locks 19, he was completing the repairs to the toilet and Elsan there, and they should re-open either tomorrow or Sunday!

The accessible toilet is going to be locked off for a while, and will probably be reinstated as the work on the Welcome Station progresses, possibly with a separate, wheel-chair friendly entrance.

Criminal damage done to the hopper Fray's cabin.

Almost all of the rubbish on the other side of the lock has been cleared. But the poor hopper, Fray,  that has taken all the rubbish has been vandalised, the door smashed through and the cabin rifled.

The moorings at Burdett Road Bridge are coming on. I wanted to call these the Frances Wharf Moorings, after the defunct wharf that once operated there, but I suspect the Burdett Road name will probably stick.

SWS Express

Going past the new moorings was this smashing tug, the aptly named SWS Express owned by the S Walsh group. Some moored boats were being pulled about by it as it motored past them at speed, so I gave it a shout and asked it to slow down next to the moorings. They weren't too happy, but they did slow back down.

Coming back up the lower Regents Canal was uneventful. I stopped for a little chat with John, the ex-special forces chap who likes to sit by Ben Johnson lock and help work boats through. He's struggling with the local accommodation for ex-forces folk, it doesn't seem like a very pleasant place for him to be. He has a friend offering to put him up near me in Wanstead, and I hope that will suit him a lot better.

At Old Ford Lock on the Regents a tug and empty hopper were coming down, headed for Bow Free wharf on the Lee Navigation. I watched and helped close the gates, then headed down and around to the top of the Hertford Union.

Bow Wharf and the new leisure moorings.

Alex 'Boating' Gudmestad's been busy confirming that this stretch between bridge 54A on the Regents and Grove Road bridge is not open for mooring. The boats that had been tied to the piling rail there last time I visited had all moved on, giving me a clearer view of the refurbished Bow Wharf and the new Bow Wharf leisure moorings.

I continued slowly down the Hertford Union, making sure the locks were set for the hopper coming down. At the middle lock I stopped and gave a curious gentleman all the facts and figures about my bike. He was planning on buying an electric bike too, and I think I may have helped make his decision about whether to join the purring powered-pedallers.

Eventually I returned to the Lee Navigation and to Old Ford Locks 19. Aidan had to go to the shops for some more parts for the sanitary station (out of his own pocket!), but before he left we hauled the damaged hopper from the disused lock chamber back to a safe mooring behind the contractors hoardings on the off-side.

3 and a half long hours.