Cowley.

We pulled the pins and set off on a bright, breezy Friday for Uxbridge.

En route we passed this peculiar little narrow boat with a large paddle wheel at the back. Looks like the helmsman of this arrangement must have got sprayed with water while cruising, as a sheet of polythene has been placed over the wheel.

As we approached Uxbridge Lock we heard loud banging noises from afar. Demolition of William Kings Flour Mill was in progress with three wrecking cranes busy on the site. The one you see here was the one causing all the rumpus by lifting a very large metal drum in the air and continually smashing it down on the concrete to break it up. As I operated the lock I could feel the ground shaking beneath me as he did so, the noise was not good for the ears either! Soon there will be 150 new homes on this site. I wonder if they will re-use any of the bricks from the old buildings?

These boats were moored outside Uxbridge Boat Centre. The town seems to have turned it’s back on the canal and doesn’t seem a very inviting place to moor. We tried to pull into the recommended moorings here but found it was too shallow. We carried on down to Cowley to moor on the 14 day moorings near the bridge. In the afternoon we walked to Uxbridge Pavilions' and Chimes indoor Shopping Centres. M + S provided us with coffee, snack and much needed rest in readiness for the long walk back. We did find however one little unspoilt street with some quaint little shops and pubs though.    

We went into the underground station to pick up a tube and bus map. This family group statue stands in an open space in front of the Tube Station, with the picturesque old Three Tuns pub in the background.

The fuel boat ‘Baron’ looked fully laden as it visited all the permanently moored boats delivering much needed coal, diesel and gas for their boats.