Transcriber's Note:The spelling of Westmoreland has been modernized toWestmorland. Variant spellings of macintoshes and mackintoshes have been retained as printed.
THROUGH CANAL-LAND IN A CANADIAN CANOE
BY VINCENT HUGHES.
(Illustrated by the AUTHOR and with Photographs.)
The Boy's Own Paper. OCTOBER 7, 14 & 21, 1899.
[
photo by A. S. Walker
.
Bearing in mind that variety is the spice of existence,I determined that I would temporarily desert the dear old Thames, with whose waters I hadbecome so familiar, and try fresh fields and pastures new during my approaching holidays.
Accordingly, I took a friend (who had been myboon companion on many a previous trip by land and water) into my confidence,and after due deliberations, befitting an enterprise likely to be of a novelcharacter, we determined to explore the comparatively un-known canals thatcommence from the Thames, at Brentford, and thread their way through Englandfrom south to north, and end at Kendal in Westmorland.
One thing that largely influenced us in deciding upon this route was that we had recently become possessed of a light and well-built Canadian canoethat had been sent us by an English resident in France, where he had been using it inexploring the picturesque portions of the Seine.
We fortunately had a friend connected with the Grand Junction Canal Company, andthrough his kindly offices were enabled without much difficulty to obtain passesallowing us to journey over the different canals which we had mapped out as thewaterway to follow.
This part of the undertaking havingbeen successfully disposed of, we turned to and overhauled our craft, and saw tothe getting of the outfit which we should require in order to make the trip asuccess.
By the time that all our arrangements werein a complete state, the day fixed for the start arrived, and it found us brimmingover with cheerful anticipation of the good time in store for us during the nextthree weeks, and in the best of health and spirits.
We were "up betimes in the morning," as quaint old Samuel Pepys has it, andjourneying down to the boat-house at Kew, where we had left our canoe overnight,soon got afloat and on our way, without mishap or delay of any kind. What aglorious August day it was! The sun shining brightly in a cloudless blue skyoverhead, the birds singing blithely in the trees upon the banks, and the watersparkling and lapping beneath our bows; no wonder we took it all as a good omenfor the success of our trip.
Heading up-stream,we soon shot beneath the railway bridge at Kew, and pass through dirty, stragglingold Brentford, entered the Brent, where a short paddle brought us to the first lock. Getting through in our turn, after a short delay caused by a string of canalbarges coming through to catch the morning tide, we entered upon the GrandJunction Canal, which extends form here to Braunston, a distance of some hundredand six miles.
An enjoyable paddle through fairlypretty and diversified scenery brought us to Hanwell, where we had to negotiatea cluster of five or six locks, all grouped together
Accordingly, I took a friend (who had been myboon companion on many a previous trip by land and water) into my confidence,and after due deliberations, befitting an enterprise likely to be of a novelcharacter, we determined to explore the comparatively un-known canals thatcommence from the Thames, at Brentford, and thread their way through Englandfrom south to north, and end at Kendal in Westmorland.
One thing that largely influenced us in deciding upon this route was that we had recently become possessed of a light and well-built Canadian canoethat had been sent us by an English resident in France, where he had been using it inexploring the picturesque portions of the Seine.
We fortunately had a friend connected with the Grand Junction Canal Company, andthrough his kindly offices were enabled without much difficulty to obtain passesallowing us to journey over the different canals which we had mapped out as thewaterway to follow.
This part of the undertaking havingbeen successfully disposed of, we turned to and overhauled our craft, and saw tothe getting of the outfit which we should require in order to make the trip asuccess.
By the time that all our arrangements werein a complete state, the day fixed for the start arrived, and it found us brimmingover with cheerful anticipation of the good time in store for us during the nextthree weeks, and in the best of health and spirits.
We were "up betimes in the morning," as quaint old Samuel Pepys has it, andjourneying down to the boat-house at Kew, where we had left our canoe overnight,soon got afloat and on our way, without mishap or delay of any kind. What aglorious August day it was! The sun shining brightly in a cloudless blue skyoverhead, the birds singing blithely in the trees upon the banks, and the watersparkling and lapping beneath our bows; no wonder we took it all as a good omenfor the success of our trip.
Heading up-stream,we soon shot beneath the railway bridge at Kew, and pass through dirty, stragglingold Brentford, entered the Brent, where a short paddle brought us to the first lock. Getting through in our turn, after a short delay caused by a string of canalbarges coming through to catch the morning tide, we entered upon the GrandJunction Canal, which extends form here to Braunston, a distance of some hundredand six miles.
An enjoyable paddle through fairlypretty and diversified scenery brought us to Hanwell, where we had to negotiatea cluster of five or six locks, all grouped together
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