We haven’t moved today. The plan was to move down to The Hertford Union canal tomorrow, but we have changed our minds and will now go to Stonebridge lock instead and then go from there to Rembrant Gardens in one go.

A very late start for us, we hadn’t finished breakfast until 9:30. Then we got on the bikes and went into town to do a bit of shopping. It was almost lunchtime by the time we got back. So after lunch we tidied the boat a bit. Mostly removing the fluffy willow seed heads that seem to get everywhere. We had thousands of them (not exagerating) in every nook and cranny. As a reproduction strategy the willow’s seems to be particularly ineffective. Each tree produces literaly millions of seeds in the hope that one might germinate and grow into a tree. It’s a good job it’s ineffective otherwise the whole planet would be covered in willow trees.

This afternoon we went on a bike ride around the Lee Valley Regional Park. This is an amazing collection of of river channels, lakes, reservoirs and flooded gravel pits stretching for more than ten miles on either side of the navigable channel. It is a haven for wildlife. The birdsong here is amazing. The dawn chorus is much louder and more varied than ours at home in Gloucestershire.

The people of North East London are so lucky having this resource and Epping Forrest so close on their doorstep.