Tidal Thames creeks

Said the wrong words on here-many contributors believe that Narrow Boats are not wanted on the Thames.

The more enlightened among us understand that all boats have a place on the London River.

Did a similar trip to you in the early 1970's. I have a photo of the boat owner-it was a new Willow Wren 45 foot NB-and I carefully posing in front of a notice board showing " BOW LOCKS ".

It caused much amusement down the pub as it looked like the BWB notice said something quite rude..........................
 
rotrax said:
Said the wrong words on here-many contributors believe that Narrow Boats are not wanted on the Thames.

The more enlightened among us understand that all boats have a place on the London River.

Did a similar trip to you in the early 1970's. I have a photo of the boat owner-it was a new Willow Wren 45 foot NB-and I carefully posing in front of a notice board showing " BOW LOCKS ".

It caused much amusement down the pub as it looked like the BWB notice said something quite rude..........................
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Thank you. I am sure the friends of the creek would enjoy any historic photos you have. Dartford is changing fast. It would only need a bit of work to the lock to create a very nice marina above the lock. Might need more work on the weir which is in a poor state.
 
Actionmat said:
They're welcome to the creeks:D

A brave trip in a NB, I wouldn't want to get near a Clippers wash in one.
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The clippers are not a problem for NBs. Most of the wash was from the pilot cutters at Gravesend. I hope their new eco friendly cats (being built now, I think) will make much less wash..

The wind over tide approaching Northfleet was not pleasant....
 
oldgit said:
Much enjoyed the adventures of the Tuesday Night Club and RCC has frequently played host to visiting NBs from the Thames and beyond on trips up the Medway to Allington. http://www.tuesdaynightclub.co.uk/
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Yes, we enjoyed meeting you all on our 2016 trip up the Medway. I am still tempted by the Chelmer and Blackwater run - I think last done by the TNC in 2001:

http://www.tuesdaynightclub.co.uk/Tour_01/Medplus8.html

114 miles in 15.5 hours from Heybridge to Brentford.

I meant to say that the skipper of nb PANACEA and I are doing a talk about the Creeks trip next month - all welcome. IWA meeting on Tuesday 16th October at 1900 for 1930, near Paddington Station. (2 Kingdom Street, Paddington Central W2 6BD: NB the venue may change, so check with me beforehand!)
 
114 miles in 15.5 hours? I didn't know they could go that fast. Even without locks that's still almost 10mph and a lot of old cruisers would struggle to do that.
 
I might attend, as I'm always interested in cruising to places that are a little different, can you post on here when the location is confirmed.
 
Actionmat said:
Impressive. That's about 6mph faster than the average NB in a lock cut with a queue of cruisers behind it:D
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This reminds me of the briefing by Jeremy Batch when he was lock-keeper at Limehouse, and we had to get a large convoy of narrowboats through the lock before running out of water. We were told to enter "handsomely", i.e. get a move on, but not so fast that you lose control or hit something.

It is an acquired skill to be able to work out what you need to do to be a) helpful or b) unhelpful to other boats.... Here's the last occasion I was using this skill
dsc_6513.jpg
 
Re the TNC, we did the most adventurous trip with the link noted to the Blackwater in 2001 (it wasn't really planned by the owner, but John Chapman & myself turned right instead of left coming out of the Medway.....)

But we also did a Thames Creeks trip in 2006;

http://www.tuesdaynightclub.co.uk/Tour_06/index.html

Although I only did the Bow Locks - Dartford Creek etc and back to Limehouse leg.

My impression of a narrowboat in the tidal Thames & out in the open sea was she was much more comfortable than my cruiser particularly in head seas, but you had to be careful in cross seas as he had in off the Colne going and the mouth of the Crouch coming back. But where they really come into their own is these creeks where there can be obstructions, posts, various nasties in the riverbed which would severely damage my boat but make no impression on a nb.

The TNC still operates in a small way, a group of aging friends on a modern dutch barge based in Ireland, and a longish summer trip around the canals of England, but the owner Neil has tired of writing up a detailed log and putting it online.
 
ianc1200 said:
Re the TNC, we did the most adventurous trip with the link noted to the Blackwater in 2001 (it wasn't really planned by the owner, but John Chapman & myself turned right instead of left coming out of the Medway.....)

But we also did a Thames Creeks trip in 2006;

http://www.tuesdaynightclub.co.uk/Tour_06/index.html

Although I only did the Bow Locks - Dartford Creek etc and back to Limehouse leg.

My impression of a narrowboat in the tidal Thames & out in the open sea was she was much more comfortable than my cruiser particularly in head seas, but you had to be careful in cross seas as he had in off the Colne going and the mouth of the Crouch coming back. But where they really come into their own is these creeks where there can be obstructions, posts, various nasties in the riverbed which would severely damage my boat but make no impression on a nb.

The TNC still operates in a small way, a group of aging friends on a modern dutch barge based in Ireland, and a longish summer trip around the canals of England, but the owner Neil has tired of writing up a detailed log and putting it online.
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Thank you for this. It's very helpful that the website is behaving itself again, it really is a very useful resource for the more out of the way places!
 
It got hacked several times, and Neil Arlidge was going to take it down permanently, but I think he got too many complaints. Our earlier trips were all video'd (24 hours of the BCN Challenge anybody?) but huge files & too much to upload.
 
Brillant ! just had a tour through the entire adventure. If you ever get to the bottom of your list, Faversham would be worth a visit. Town Quay is ideal but you could actually get under the old swing bridge as the previously non operational lock gates have been removed. giving access to the old dock beyond.The gate sluices were on a timer to release the water penned up behind gates to flush out the channel,
 
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