At Paddington, and not a Bear in sight

Saturday 7th August 2010
Bulls Bridge to Paddington Basin
14 Miles No Locks.

I was up at 6.30 this morning, last night wasn't as noisy as we were expecting, in fact the noisiest thing was the rain, it really hammered down.
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The boat moored in front of us, Countess, set off for Little Venice at 7 o'clock and we followed about 20 minutes later, we were now on the Paddington Arm section of the Grand Union Canal which leads to Brentford, at Little Venice the Regents Canal branches off left to Limehouse.
The Canal goes pass housing estates and industrial units but still retains a lot of trees and greenery, after passing the district of Northolt there is a large golf course on the left side before you get to more houses, a Sainsbury's (where Jayne popped in for fresh bread) and industrial estates, it all seems more spread out and not so intense as you see when you cruise into Birmingham, as we passed over the six lane North Circular road on the Aquaduct we had a good view of Wembley Stadium. One thing that we have noticed along this Canal is the number of Cormorant's about, perhaps it's because the water is so clear here.( I have just googled them and they seem to be upsetting fishermen so we have something in common).

Just the thing for the Canal, a self righting lifeboat

While I am steering the boat, Jayne is keeping up a commentary from her guide book pointing out the old Wharfs and buildings which would have been a hive of activity in the days of Canal transport, Kensall Green Cemetery is the next land mark, last resting place for some very famous people.

We now approached Little Venice, and our first impressions were not good, we had expected to see something a bit smarter, but it was just boats moored either side, all the 14 day moorings were full so we carried onto the junction with the Regents Canal and carried on down the Regents, hoping find a mooring, but it was all reserved for trip boats, we could not wind (turn around) so had to carry on through the Maida Vale Tunnel and managed to wind at the other end, back through the tunnel and turned left towards Paddington basin, as we approached the moorings a Boater called out, 'looking for a mooring as I am about to leave this one', we went to the end of the Basin and winded, then had to wait while he manoeuvred his boat out as it was the second one in on the floating pontoons, we then manoeuvred No Direction in, the jetty is about a metre shorter than the boat but we are in.

Moored at Paddington, that's us in the middle, second row. (Click on picture to enlarge)

The building on the right is St Mary's Hospital, must be good as the Royals use it, and behind it is Paddington Station.

After a Cuppa we went for a short walk, the immediate area is still being developed, with Cranes and building sites which were still working on a Saturday afternoon, we walked down to the British Waterways Information Boat but, they are closed at weekends, I found that a bit odd.

You may have heard on the news or read in the Newspapers about the Barclays Cycle hire Scheme that's just getting underway in Central London, well this is what they look like.

Journeys under 30 minutes are free

Should be popular here when all the buildings are finished and occupied. Tomorrow I will be out early on my bike to to have a good look around Paddington.

You can tell this is a smart area, now that it's dark the edges of the jettys have lit up with nice little recessed lights, when we get back to our mooring at Kings Bromley I will expect them fitted to our jetty.