A Hunting we will go.

Before we left Apsley we fancied walking back to treat ourselves to cooked breakfast in Sainsbury’s. However it was not to be as several people were sat waiting and service seemed very slow, so we returned for breakfast aboard Oakfield.

Building work will soon be commencing below Apsley as Nash Paper Mills site is being cleared. Crest Nicholson and Linden Homes will soon be covering it, in more houses and flats no doubt.

The cottage beside Home Park Lock is very robust and well maintained. We noticed the head of a monster peeping over the bushes from the park opposite. After creeping past many permanently moored boats it was good to have boat-free stretch along under the sweeping M25 bridge.

 

Across from North Grove lock we could see massive earthworks where a giant pipeline is being laid, for Gas we think.

The Grand Union Canal is shallow in places, but we managed to moor at Hunton Bridge to seek out some lunch. We passed The Waterside Restaurant which served Italian dishes and on to The Dog and Partridge. Although it looked good from the outside the inside was a bit  plain and the food was very ordinary. There were also several lively dogs accompanying their owners who were drinking at the bar. Anyway we had a drink there and left disappointed.

Then we saw this splendid place called The Kings Lodge, incorporating the Hunters Bar and Restaurant.  We were made welcome, ordered drinks and settled down to peruse the Bar Menu. We chose Bubble and Squeak, smoky bacon, poached egg, with champagne sauce. As this was absolutely delicious we also had, one syrup sponge with custard and a warm chocolate pudding with cream, yum, yum! Our meals were reasonably priced too, so we can recommend this one to you.

We sat by this picturesque fireplace which had painted plasterwork above it and the date 1642 when it was a Hunting Lodge for Charles I. His son Charles II also visited while hunting wild boar, pheasants and deer around Langleybury. Underneath the building are the remains of a maze of passages leading down towards the river. It has been said that one of these passages led to a nearby house which was occupied by Nell Gwynne, Charles II’s lover. The Lodge was later converted into two cottages, but now it has been beautifully restored and converted into ‘Hunters’. We mention these three eateries as neither the Pearson's or Nicholson's canal guides mention them.