(Berkhamsted to Tring) – Sunday 20th August 2023
Jai Auguste – Trip Leader
Dave Hillier – Assistant (and mentor to Jai)
Phill Gent (with Coco and Fifi)
Lindsey Nicholls (with Cuillen)
Pierre Leon
Sue Leon (Report writer)
We met on a bright and sunny morning at Cow Roast and the regular paddlers welcomed newbie Lindsey and her dog Cuillen (as in the Scottish hills). Lindsey came with a rather nice and very light Kevlar canoe which got some of us thinking…
This was to be Jai’s first trip as leader following his recent qualification as a Paddlesport Instructor. After our briefing and warm-up session we got on the water just above Cow Roast lock and started off upstream towards Tring. The canal is largely tree-lined with only a few houses and is very picturesque.
Note: Jai took his leadership skills very seriously and, by request, even provided a radio so that we could listen to the world cup on the go. (Please, please, please let’s move on from 1966!) Unfortunately (apart from the result!) we were obviously all too busy fretting to remember to take any pictures – hence some of the photos here are taken from Pierre’s 360° film which makes our boats look like sea kayaks/canoes. Phil’s sea kayak looks positively ocean going.
We were passed by several barges along the way, though seeing only one lone kayaker and one lone SUP (with seated passenger). Unfortunately, as one of the barges was passing near to us we saw its chimney get caught up in the trees and then fall into the water. Dave and Pierre located it with their paddles but were unable to lift it from its watery grave. Dave marked its position for the barge owners in case they wanted to come back and retrieve it with a magnet later.
After about 3 miles we took a left turn onto the Wendover Canal which is currently being restored by volunteers. More information can be found at: https://wendovercanal.org.uk/key-benefits/restoration/ from which the following map is taken. This will certainly be worth exploring when the last section is cleared and passage to Wendover is possible.
The canal meandered through more scenic countryside and just over half-way down its navigable length we came upon the old flour mill (Heygates) which was an interesting counterpoint on our mostly tree-lined journey. Unusually for a Sunday according to Dave, the mill seemed to be in full operation as attested by the noise and floury smells (harvest time suggested Pierre). Heygates even makes a special swiss roll flour such that the sponge doesn’t crack when rolled up! Who knew?
It was nice to see several attractive brick bridges during the day’s paddle …
We came to the end of the navigable stretch of water at Little Tring winding hole. (A winding hole is a short length of very wide canal where boats can turn. It is pronounced ‘whin-ding’ not ‘wine-ding’ because the wind can be used to help boats to turn. Things you learn when paddling!). We exited our boats here and had lunch whilst listening to the sad end for the England team in the football world cup final (1966 lives on!). We then retraced our route to the start point where we exited, had a debrief and headed home.
We covered nearly 9 miles/14.5 Km of scenic waterways and had beautiful weather and great company. Jai did a fantastic job as leader and we look forward to the next DavePaddles trip!
Write Up by Sue Leon.