Rickmansworth Aquadrome to Cassiobury Park (Watford) and return

It was almost three years since we last progressed in our walk along the Grand Union Canal, back in February 2020 when we reached Kingswood Junction, and just over three years since we walked north along the canal from Cassiobury Park in Watford. Three years ago, our world was a different place: Covid-19 had not had its deadly global impact, my sister was in good health, with absolutely no sign of the cancer that was to kill her, and we hadn't yet learnt that we would become grandparents to the adorable Bertie towards the end of 2020. Each of those things reminds us that you never know what's round the corner, good or bad, so it was nice to be getting back to "unfinished business" on the Grand Union Canal Walk. The GUC itself was only missing from our lives during the most extreme lockdowns, when we couldn't get to Milton Keynes; for most of the time our flat there, within yards of the canal, has been a  much loved and immeasurably useful asset, making journeys to Wiltshire (to see Bertie and co.) and Hampshire (to see my sister) faster than would otherwise be the case when we've been needed in a hurry - and enabling visits that would otherwise be impossible because of Covid regulations and precautions. When we're staying at the flat, we walk by the canal almost every day and we feel we know it well, in all seasons. It was rather warmer today than when the photo on the right was taken, earlier in the winter, though the waterways have not completely thawed yet, following another cold spell.

We'd stopped our further exploration of the Grand Union Canal Walk at the height of the Pandemic, and not resumed it because we thought we'd need to use public transport, something we were very reluctant to do. Since October 2021, we have  made occasional journeys by train, though we haven't been on an underground yet nor been to central London - though I'll be doing this for a work meeting in a couple of weeks. and we are now prepared to take the risk. Having said that, it proved to be unnecessary today. We drove from Milton Keynes to the large free car park at the Rickmansworth Aquadrome (TQ057938); the fastest route is down the M1 and around the M25, not our favourite roads, but this morning it took is less than an hour and was an easy journey.  We were somewhat surprised to find the car park just about full; there is a park run here every Saturday morning, so I think that time is probably best avoided for other purposes. Fortunately Richard's car is little and we were able to find a space.

There were hundreds, possibly thousands, of runners going round the various lakes in the Aquadrome, and it took us some time to get our bearings and to cross the route of the runners in order to visit the toilet block. Having achieved that, we walked back towards the vehicular entrance, as we knew we'd crossed the canal on our way to the car park, and - sure enough - there was a good route down to it. We set off, on a section lined with boats and with houses beyond the canal to our right and the gravel-pit lakes of the Aquadrome to our left. Soon we reached a meeting place of waterways (with an entrance to Batchworth Lake (one of the flooded gravel pits) on the left and a narrow loop of canal heading off to the right. A number of swans swam towards us, obviously hoping for food, and we realised, both now and on our return leg, that the swans probably come here because it is a place where people do feed them.  

We were in Batchworth and, after passing a Tesco on the other side of the canal, we reached Batchworth Lock. The Batchworth Lock Canal Centre is here and there are actually two locks. The one on the left (as we headed north) might once have given access to the River Chess, but now it just gives access to moorings; the one on the right leads on up the Grand Union Canal. In a shed in the garden between the two, a little cafe was doing a roaring trade. And so we continued. The landscape became less urban and more scrubby, but we almost always had a company of moored boats on the canal, most of which were clearly someone's home.  Some were modern and professionally designed, but others had been adapted to the needs and character of their owners; one appeared to have a car (complete with registration plate) stuck on the end of it. On the other side of the canal, we reached a section where the boats would definitely be described as house boats; some we more like floating sheds.

We passed and were passed by other walkers, and runners, but most of the time this wasn't a problem; occasional runners, like occasional cyclists, are downright rude - they expect walkers to get out of their way but don't say thank you, but there were not many of those about today. There was more activity that I'd expected to see on the canal; the next lock we reached had not one but two boats going though, and another waiting to go the other way (and similarly on our return leg), and at the next, deep, lock, a boat was going through despite the fact that the lock was undergoing repairs. In general, the locks were not in good condition; water was seeping through many and the second boat going into the lock with the two boats was having to negotiate a floating piece of wood. However the canal itself was clearer (both of ice and junk) than it currently is back near our flat, 37 miles to the south. This is probably because there was more flow of water, maybe because of all the boats going through locks (and the fact that the locks are leaking!). There is activity on the canal near the flat, but we are a mile from the nearest (very shallow) lock to the south, and some 15 miles from the nearest lock to the north.

 A couple of the railway bridges that we passed underneath actually carry London Underground trains on the Metropolitan line, and the towns round here (Rickmansworth and then Watford) certainly have an element of "Metro-land" suburbia about them., though the canal itself mostly passed shops and modern housing rather more than classic early 20th Century Metro-land housing. Today, the weird thing today was to see underground trains up above us; in the case of those crossing the viaduct near Watford Underground Station, quite high above us. 

Shortly after the aforementioned viaduct near Watford Underground Station we entered a remarkably peaceful green corridor, with Cassiobury Park to our right. From Cassio Bridge Lock, near the viaduct, to Cassiobury Park Lock, our destination for today, was an enjoyable mile of walking, reminiscent of the leg we walked in that pre-Covid world three years ago (but described as "following leg" below) . We reached Cassio Bridge Lock and reassured ourselves that this was indeed the point at which we had joined the Grand Union Canal after walking from Watford Station. Near the picturesque bridge and lock, were balance beams from former lock gates; a perfect place to sit for lunch. Never mind that it was only 11am, we stopped for lunch here before retracing our steps. 

As we approached the car park, we left the canal and walked alongside Batchworth Lake, one of the former gravel pits that now form the Rickmansworth Aquadrome.  There was quite a lot of ice remaining on the lake from the recent cold spell.  Then we went to the Cafe in the Park, hoping for a cup of tea. It is doubtless a very nice cafe, but the time being spent by the family in front of us in the queue in making their choices, coupled with the fact that there were three or four members of staff behind the counter doing precisely nothing, made us decide not to bother. We returned to the (rather quieter, if not quiet) car park for an apple. Our drive back to Milton Keynes was rather faster than Apple Maps initially indicated, presumably because the cause of some delay around Luton had cleared by the time we got there. It really isn't a bad journey, though I will never be a fan of the M1 and the M25!

Following leg