On the move again, onwards and upwards.

We have finally left Brentford. It has been a very good spot for us for a week now. There was a little delay as a C&RT weed cutter was sat right in the middle of the water point and we couldn't leave without filling up as we had loads of washing to do. Apparently the dry dock at the top of the gauging locks has been the cause of complaints from the local offices nearby as it is full of weed. They are going to clear it out now.

We are off and soon passing the old covered wharves. It looks like that they are being refurbished and I expect that they will be incorporated into the new apartments that are going up. The Glaxo Smithclyne Offices look good from here.

There are a series of these 'knot' sculptures by the GSK offices. I used to work with wires that were roughly this size and It wouldn't be easy to get a knot like that in it.

First lock of the day and it seemed to take hours.

Footbridge all the way from Horseley Fields Works.

Lots of giant hog weed on this stretch but unfortunately you don't get the scale of how big it really is.

After a few seperate locks we were at the Hanwell flight that runs next to the wall of the Hanwell Pauper and Lunnatic asylum that was built in 1831.

These six locks are close together so make them quite quick to get up and there were several folk walking about asking questions, but none to help with a beam.

The Asylum wall and the locks are a Scheduled Ancient Monument and as a case of the lunatics taking over the asylum some of the original buildings are the offices of the local Health Authority!! I'm not sure whether it is original but I love the fact that in the area where there is a possibility of rubbing from ropes, or more likely carts etc, there are blue engineering bricks. You can also see the fire holes in the wall where the hoses could be passed through to obtain water. Similar to those on the bridges on the BCN.

Pretty lock cottage at the top of the flight.

The best photo I could manage of Three Bridges with the railway below the canal and the road above all crossing at one point. Apparently it was one of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's last projects.

Just past Three Bridges is Maypole Dock which was built in 1921 to service the Mongted Margerine Factory that was one of the largest in Europe. Now in the shadow of the Sugar Puffs Factory it is home to a little community of moorings that look lovely. The moorings may be under threat as the development company who have bought the plot next door have put in planning to take some of the land to make a public footpath and cut the community in half with a bridge. I hope that they manage to preserve their little piece of England.

I was amused by this sign on a new development. Maybe a touch of over egging the pudding here me thinks.

Adelaide Dock is now being used by C&RT as a layby for it's floating boats and as we passed to day thy seemed to be finishing of sets of lock gates too. On the Bridge it says 'Fuel and Gas, Adelaide Dock, all service'.

We luckily found a mooring at Tesco's by Bull's Bridge. We had filled up with water again at the top of Norwood Locks as we had done two lots of dhobi today so the first job was to put the line up and get it dry. The sun was out and there was a good drying wind too. After a bite of lunch we were then off to Tesco's to fill up with stuff for the next few days. Both Helen and I have gone tired now so maybe just loafing with a book and a bottle for the rest of the night.