Cruising upstream and sad news

Time to move on from Kingston, we've shopped 'til we dropped, relaxed some too, done everything we needed to as well as caught a cold ...

... so 9:30 yesterday morning we were on our way

The council have been busy creating this very pleasant seating area over the river and I'm sure that it'll be well used by locals and visitors alike during the summer

We were soon approaching Hampton Court Palace but we're not staying this trip

... but we do need to stop and speak to Jak on Jakandan (Chris (fuel boat Merchant) had told us that Andy (Jaq's husband) had died very suddenly of a heart attack a couple of weeks ago) to give her our condolences and see if there was anything we could do for her.  Their son Daniel is with her to help her through this terrible time of grief.  We left her with our telephone number should she need any help and she said that she would get in touch when she'd been able to organise a get together to celebrate Andy's life.  So very sad. 

Hampton Court Bridge and Molesey Lock just beyond that central pillar

Lock Keepers on duty and we go straight in.

Not noticed this Lock Cafe sign before and wonder if it's a new business 

We made full use of the services above the lock

... and asked the lock keeper about the boat which has been moored here for a while now as I thought that it had been impounded by the EA.  He told us that it had but the owner had taken legal advice to fight his case - that the boat could not be removed from the river just because he owed the EA money so here it stays.  There are now three of these boats in the area, no licenses and not paying mooring fees either.

Filming going on just outside the boat club above the lock

... and the curtains in Dave Gilmore's studio are open and it appears to be getting spruced up with lots of lights  ... I wonder if the two (filming and this) are connected.

Hampton Ferry in action

Passing Plat's Eyot

... and soon approaching Sunbury Lock

Above the lock we could see a boat we recognised - Ray is out on his travels again - a quick shout of hello and cheerio across the water!

We were hoping for a space on the Weybridge visitor moorings and we found one that fitted us perfectly

Shepperton Lock House seems to be having a major renovation

It was really cold and we were wearing our winter coats, hats and gloves for this cruise and a few minutes after we'd secured the mooring ropes the hail started and continued off and on for the rest of the afternoon.