We did indeed 14 Miles today, that is a lot in boater terms. It was a good day for Natascha, there were only 5 locks to work. She had time to take the camera out and document a bit the scenery. The landscape is stunning, the lush country side during summer time is a real feast for the eye and the mind.

Some fishing below the motor way?

Some fishing from a branch?

Is this paradise?

We arrived at Stanton Low Park rather relaxed and joyous, considering we had such a good cruising day. We moored Quintessence and not long one of our boat neighbors came around for a chat. As mentioned before, the second question usually asked was where we are from. Switzerland. A short silent moment and his answer was “ohh, Switzerland is not in the EU either”. A smile appeared on his face at the same time. It was clear which topic this conversation will entail, the one question remaining, “Pro or Contra”? Pro Brexit of course. Natascha was in a provocative mood and answered “it’s a shame Switzerland isn’t in the EU. A silly, landlocked island in midst of the EU sea”.

Not sure how well that was received but we were told that people from Somalia all want to have flat screens, that is why they want to come to the UK. Not sure either what that has to do with Brexit, but as suspected after the Brexit vote the ‘closet’ racists got the carte blanche to come out and express their views. The conversation continued and we were told that all foreigners should leave the isle immediately. That includes us too. Natascha asked, whether he will be the one who will go and pick cabbages on the vast fields, for Sainsbury’s or Tesco or which ever supermarket, for a few quid per hour? Most certainly not, was the answer. And it was dinner time for our conversation partner, sausage and mash was on the menu. We were hungry too and went back inside to get on with dinner.

It dawned on us, we were not in liberal London any more. But in “leave” land.

Fed up with negative press – including a Guardian story – calling their city the ‘Brexit capital of Britain’, the residents of Stoke-on-Trent challenged the media to dig deeper. We accepted, and so began an astonishing journey into a remarkable place.

Directed, produced and filmed by: John Domokos
Co-producer and second camera: Bruno Rinvolucri
Editor: Jessica Kelly
Additional camera: Irene Baque
Colourist: Ken MacFarlane
Graphics: Joseph Pierce
Sound mixing: Ben Kape and Rowan Bishop
Stills photography: David Silitoe
Additional footage courtesy of Stoke-on-Trent City Council
Associate producer: Chris Michael
Executive producers: Christian Bennett and Laurence Topham

Tesco’s in Leighton Buzzard is massive and a favourite stop for boaters to stock up. Our fridge was empty, so we were really glad to hop over to shop until we dropped. Food and beverages, that is. And cat food. We got rid of our recycling and rubbish too, that piles up quickly on a barge. The food packaging of goods from the supermarket is astonishing. Back in the days when we had the veggie box scheme from Riverford we produced much less rubbish. On a barge it is much more noticeable what waste we humans make. Food for thought really.

Once we were back we had to move on just a bit further to right at the top of Leighton Lock No. 27 to spend the night. We opened the door and not long Sava hopped out and not to be seen for a few hours. The nature was stunning around there. Were we not as tired as we were, we could have gone for a walk but it was dinner time and soon after bed time. We had to move on early the next morning.

It was a long and hard day, not distance wise but we had to finish the ascend of the western part of the Chiltern Hills. Then came the descend, a total of 22 locks was a bit much in one day. The difference in altitude, between Hemel Hempsted where we started and Marsworth where the cruise ended was only about 32 Meters, but for Natascha working the locks it felt like hundreds of meters.

One the way we saw this barge:

An Ovaltine barge? Wander Ltd.? Ovaltine, in German called ‘Ovomaltine’ was originally from Nat’s home town Bern in Switzerland! It turns out that Ovaltine was hugely popular in the UK and a factory was opened in Kings Langley in the early 20th century. We really didn’t know about this all until we saw this barge. Click here to read more about the history of Ovaltine in the UK.

A proud boater and a traffic jam on the cut:

During the descend we encountered a problem on the cut. Fellow boaters tried to work a lock from the bottom approach, thinking it is properly closed, but it just wouldn’t fill up. Instead the canal would loose water from the top and the whole exercise had to come to an halt. The CRT had to be called. Then our cat escaped from the boat – brilliant. Perfect timing. Anyway, we all moored up, talked with fellow boaters, we got loads of compliments for Quintessence – but look at her! A stunning beauty. People always asked us from where we were and they were amazed that we are actually living on a narrow boat.

The cat came back sooner than anticipated, and the CRT technician managed to get a rather large log out from the bottom of the lock. This log prevented the lock from closing properly. He said this happens often during the busy summer time when water is moving much more and pieces of wood get moving. Off we go, we were second in line to pass through the lock.

We were cruising more than 8 hours, it was a beautiful day and the sun came out, finally. This also meant, that inside the boat it was way above 30 degree, we have a boiler in the middle of the boat and while the engine runs the water is heated up. We kept all the windows open but had to keep the side hatch and door closed, we never knew what our cat was capable off, considering how much she dislikes the cruising.

Sometimes we team up with fellow boaters to work the locks, it’s easier obviously and the Grand Union has wide locks and some of the gates were so heavy Natascha simply couldn’t open or close them. She has to work the locks, we have a clear separation of tasks due to the fact that she claims not to be talented enough to be on the tiller.

On the way we met a couple holidaying on their boat, they figured out straight away that we are not from this isle. They were really sad about the outcome of the Brexit vote and when we parted way they said, they hope we won’t be kicked out of the UK. How crazy is that? There were cracks opening up in crust of the British society and it was hard to imagine what will await us in the Midlands.

Approaching the swing bridge.

Adnan the proud owner of the beautiful Quintessence passing through the swing bridge.

Our mooring for the night

Out of the wet dock, Quintessence in her new glory! Ian did a fantastic paint job – battle ship grey, with a white roof and some black with a white bow flash. We love it! It was worth all the work and worry, “Quinnie” looks like a new barge. There wasn’t much time to ponder, we had a cruise planned up to Ricki, aka Rickmansworth. Good Bye London – we’re heading to the Midlands…