There is a relaxing aspect to traveling by canal. Today, after five hours of strenuous effort we have moved the boat about five miles horizontally, and 56 feet 8 inches uphill. Paula has been busy unpacking, tidying, and cleaning the outside of the boat. This involved clinging precariously to the roof with one hand while wielding a broom with the other.

She hasn’t fallen in yet.

Though we are still in the London commuter belt, the canal here has been charmingly rustic, though much of the greenery has been parks and golf courses rather than farms and woodland. The usual charming lockkeeper’s cottages have been converted to private homes.

The grazing is devoted to horses for the equestrian set rather than cows, so we did not see the first cows of the day till mid afternoon.

By about 4:30pm we were both tired, so we moored near the village of Kings Langley. Walking into town Paula spotted a Little Egret.

The outskirts are typical post war dormitory town housing, but there is a charming old church and a main street that still shows signs of character. The church, All Saints, was built in the 13th century, and has been mucked around with in every century since then.


As well as the usual stained glass windows depicting Christ and the saints, there is one that contains the royal coat of arms, and various other crests.

There’s none of that separation of church and state nonsense in England. The monarch is also the head of the Church of England, and commander in chief of the armed forces. This window was a gift from Queen Victoria (who you may remember is now dead). Just to remind you that she is dead the church also has a stained glass memorial window of her.

The main street a quaint pub.

The Saracen’s Head dates back to 1619 or so. Perhaps the most interesting of the innkeepers over the last four centuries was William Hayden, who is 1640 was fined six pence for keeping a dung heap by the side of the road, and a further five pounds for acting up in court. Five pounds was a large sum of money in those days, equal to about 673,000 groats in today’s money.

There’s also something called a fibre lounge, where presumably folks sit around eating oatmeal, beans, and broccoli. I hope it’s well ventilated. Then there’s the Woo-woo shop and crystal healing centre.

They do something called, “Introduction to crystals workshops”.

This must be like speed dating for metamorphic rocks.