We’d walked from Watford along the Grand Union Canal as far as Croxley, but had never quite made it as far as Rickmansworth. This trip, however, wouldn’t be on foot, as our little one told use he’d like to go on a bus – and who are we to refuse?!
The bus dropped us off in the town centre just as our son wanted a sleep, so we took the opportunity to explore the town centre a bit. After walking through St Mary’s church yard, we cut by the large roundabout and dropped down onto the towpath at Batchworth Lock.
The day was gloriously sunny, and made for some good pics. There was plenty of activity at the lock as a narrow boat was coming through, a sight that clearly excited and intrigued a group of foreign visitors looking on!
Batchworth Lock Canal Centre is right by the lock, but the door was quite narrow and we didn’t want to risk waking little one up by squeezing inside. This was a shame, as we’d have liked to have learned more about the history of the waterway, but at least it leaves something for next time!
Across the other side of the canal is a charming find: Little Union Canal, a miniature model of a canal system, complete with locks (apparently the UK’s only one). Unfortunately this was drained of water on the day we went – it would have been great to see little boats navigating their way around!
With little one waking up, we walked down the towpath to Rickmansworth Aquadrome for a drink and a yummy cake. We’ve been there a couple of times but haven’t managed to get any good pics – they’ll have to wait for another post!
The journey back to Watford was a little annoying as getting the bus back from near Waitrose didn’t quite go to plan. It turns out there’s three bus ‘providers’ serving the route back to Watford, which meant that our return ticket couldn’t be used until the right bus turned up in 45 minutes’ time! This was far too long to wait, so we got the Met line back from Rickmansworth. Make sure you check the return bus times if you choose to do something similar!
Walking the canal from Watford is one of our favourite things to do. You can check out a couple of other walks we’ve done below:
Berkhamsted to Boxmoor canal walk
Cassiobury Park to Grove Mill canal walk