Bishop's Stortford to Roydon.

Monday 19th May.

Firstly it was only a matter of time before either Mog or Dog fell in, and yep it happened on yesterday evening.
Marmite is now officially a boat cat.She was on her harness and lead, playing on the bank so we left her to get on with it whilst we got on with boat jobs. I saw her walk through the engine room and out the other doors, the next thing I heard was plop and lots of scrambling on the side of the boat. Paddy immediately ran to the engine room doors and looked out. I followed suit to find Marmite trying to climb the hull of Hadar (That was never going to work). I grab her by her harness and pulled her into the engine room and out the other side, dripping water everywhere ha ha ha. I should not have laughed, but she did look very funny.This is her shaking a back leg to try and get the water off LOL. Having dried her off with a towel, she spent the rest of the evening washing herself and sleeping. I dare say it will not be the last time she falls in. I thank the lord though that she had her harness on. Poor Mog she did look a sight.
Ok so it’s Monday again, blimey where has this month gone?
We went into Harlow on the bus. From our mooring we were close to a bus stop and caught the 510 to Harlow bus station, which cost us £10 on an explorer ticket, which is 20p cheaper than a normal one for returns for two people. Not only that the explorer ticket allows you to take up to four people on the £10 ticket, anywhere in the area so is good value for money.
We arrived at the bus station, which was like a concrete jungle and very 1970’s, as was the first part of the town. It was actually quite depressing and even the people walking around in the town looked depressed. We both found it very disappointing and like with so many towns and cities, you see the same old shops in everyone you visit. We did enjoy a coffee in a café that would have looked the part in Eastenders. Lunch was eaten in a Chinese Buffet, the food was absolutely amazing, definitely the best on so far. They had over thirty dishes just on the lunch menu for £6.90 each all you can eat. We are getting a taste for Chinese food LOL.
Neither of us expects that we will bus it into Harlow again as it was just not very inspiring. I would say it most definitely needs revamping and in a hurry.

Tuesday 20th May.

The sun was out, but it was most definitely not very summery. When the sun shone it was warmish, but brrrr when the sun went in. I walked to a local shop to get a few provisions. Dawns Groceries and Garden Centre, is a good little store and has pretty much everything you could need for a top up shop. It does not take cards though, so you do need either cash or your cheque book, which I found out as I finished packing my rucksack. The gentleman at the till was very nice though and trusting, he said “Take your groceries back to your boat and come back and pay me by cheque, you look trustworthy to me”. I of course said I would be back in 10 minutes. Isn’t it nice to think there are some trusting people still left in this world? Once I got back to the shop we had quite a conversation about the river and what needs to be done to incorporate it more into the town.
Neither Keith nor I planned on doing much for the rest of the day. Come 8pm and our friend Christina and Ian arrive from Ipswich, which is a good hours journey. Firstly we gave them a guided tour of Hadar, and explained how everything worked. I think Christina was over whelmed, with the whole boat thing. It was wonderful though that they had come and seen the boat Keith had talked about for so many years. Christina said “She never really thought Keith would fulfil his dream, but was so pleased he had”. Having done the tour and the talk, we then made our way to the Tanners Arms, for a well deserved drink and an evening of chatter. It is amazing how time flies when you’re having fun with friends. Before we realised it, it was 11pm and time for them to drive back to Ipswich. Whilst chatting in the car park, we saw a fox out on the hunt, he was not bothered by the fact that we were there. We enjoyed a wonderful evening with Christina and Ian, and if they are reading this.
Thank you so much for taking the trouble to come out and see us and the boat. We hope we can do it all over again sometime.

Wednesday 21st May.

Bishop’s Stortford to Roydon. 11.3 miles…… 13 locks.

The sun was shining and we were off on our way at 8.30am, destination Roydon.The BW guys were out cutting back the vegetation; they have their work cut out as it is now quite over grown along the towpaths. We have noticed that on our trip up and now back along the River Stort Navigation the Hawthorn is full of bloom. There are absolutely masses of it growing along the banks of the Navigation.This bush was heavily laden down with blossom. When the breeze gets up it is just like it is snowing, with the blossom lying on the water. Also in flower is the yellow Iris (Yellow Flag).Can you spot the duck in this photograph?I spotted her by accident; she was nesting high up in this rotting tree trunk, if she had not moved her head I would never have seen her in time to take this photo. I pity the poor ducklings when they hatch out; they will be sky diving down to the water.
In a previous posting I told you about sculptures out of stone and wood along the towpath. We found out that they were part of the 2007 Sculpture Trail.This one was done by Nicola Burwell in Concrete.
Amongst the plant life out in bloom at the moment along the Navigation, is the Common Comfrey. Everywhere we look we see it.
We enjoyed a good days cruising, seeing other boats moving in both directions, which made a change as we have been seeing so few boats on the move. We arrived at Roydon at 2.55pm and moored up near Roydon Mill. Opposite us is a swan nesting and her partner was very interested in Marmite sitting at the Galley window. Luckily I had the Perspex in otherwise I reckon the cob would have had a real go at her. She just enjoyed playing pokey paw with him ha ha.We will spend a quiet evening at Roydon, and move off tomorrow.