Last night we got back to our boat, Wharram Percy. We’re second from the front on the right.

We’re currently on the Grand Union canal in Watford. The blue bridge you can see in the distance is one of the far flung tendrils of the London Underground, which out here is unclear on the concept, as it is up in the air. Look, Underground, you had one job, it’s right there in your name. What are you thinking of creeping out of your tunnels and onto bridges and viaducts? You wouldn’t like it if Virgin Airlines started trying to crawl down your tubes, would you?

Last night and chunks of this morning we spent unpacking our stuff which the boat’s manager, Alex, had in storage for us. We also had to fill up the water tank and the fuel tank. Filling the fuel tank involved going down through a lock to a marina, filling the tank, going past the marina to a point that was wide enough to turn around, and then coming back up through the lock. That was also enough running of the engine to charge up the batteries and warm the hot water tank so we could both have showers.

After lunch we went for a walk in the local green spot, Cassiobury Park, formerly part of the grounds of a mansion owned by the Earls of Essex.

The mansion has been demolished and the grounds sold off, part as a city park and nature reserve, and part to developers, taking advantage of the easy commute to London on the altitudinally confused Underground. Cassiobury was named after the ancient British chieftain Cassivellaunus, who fought against Julius Caesar.

Sadly we we could not get in to see Cassiobury Farm.

I’m not surprised the watercress beds are historic, nobody these days wants to sleep on watercress.

The park has a working miniature railway, which runs along the ground as the Fat Controller intended, without wandering up in the air or underground. It has a working turntable…

… and regular service through the woods.

A big chunk of the park is a nature reserve, with the River Gade wandering it’s reedy way through the oaks, chestnuts, hawthorns, and other big green things. However, the park is really there for the benefit of water voles.

Oh, I know it says “Wetlands for Water Voles and People” but you can just tell that they really mean “Wetlands for Water Voles! (and I suppose we have to let some people in just so we can get government funding.)” Not that I have anything against fanatical water vole boosters. Those sleek little brown furries are on verge of extinction due to animal rights activists. They need all the help they can get.

The delicate flowers of the meadowsweet are scattered through the woods.

The name meadowsweet was not because it grows in meadows, but because it was used for flavoring mead, an alcoholic drink made from honey. But meadowsweet was also the plant from which aspirin was derived. Does this mean that ancient Britons had booze that was its own hangover cure?