A dull overcast sky and a hint of rain in the air. The Captain lockwheeled all the way to the top of Marsworth while Pat (First Mate) took the helm. At each lock I took the bow rope and took the bow right up to the top gate and then fixed the rope to the back pin. Opening the nearside ground paddle first this approach kept the boat fairly docile with the bows nudging the cill, then the gate and gently moving with the arc of the bowrope so that the bows ended up in the middle. This worked well until we got a metal gate which does not have boards across its whole width. The button got stuck under the gate and broke a link in its chain. My fault! I was just a few seconds slow in asking Pat to pull the boat back. A repair using a bit of wire coathanger was made at the next lock. We only passed three boats until the middle of the main Marsworth flight where I made a social boo-boo of the worst kind - I didn 't spot a boat coming down and so turned a lock round in front of them. We had been obviously following another boat and all the top gates thus far had been open. Marsworth is a very curving flight and so I looked ahead before closing this top gate and thought I saw the boat ahead manoeuvring into the next lock. In fact a boat was just about to come out. Worse still, they could see me closing the gate apparently. There was a brief comment about wasting water, but this is a myth as far as I am concerned. Whatever happens my boat has to take one lockful of water out of the pound above at every lock to get to the top whatever happens. Water is only "wasted" if a lock is filled and then emptied again without a boat moving in it, but otherwise it makes no difference if boats pass in one lock or the next. The crime I was guilty of was of making the other boat wait, rather than ourselves (if at all). After crossing the top pound we joined another boat in Cowroast Lock and afterwards stopped at the nearby service station for a newspaper before mooring up for the night. DTV from Hemel Hempstead transmitter and GPRS. (MF)
Those who frequent the Grand Union Canal will remember Cowroast Lock, the top lock after the climb up to the Chiltern Hills from London. They may not be aware of the Cowroast Inn and its top rate Thai Restaurant. Leave the lock by the bridge and aim for the main road. The unassuming pub is opposite. Definitely recommended.
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