It’s time to move on from Old Windsor with a hope to get to Marlow and moor up. Hopefully it will be easy going – but there is rain scheduled soon, so the flow is going to get heavier and the engine is starting to complain about running for hours on end at a constant 2,000 rpm!
And yea.. this doesn’t look healthy!
Through Old Windsor Lock, and then on through Albert Bridge..
Past Albert Bridge Lodge and around the grounds of Windsor Castle. No stopping on that side now..
Not sure what all the marquee’s are for, but there large and there are a lot of them..
Through Romney Lock, with the castle in the background and on into Windsor on the left, Eton on the Right..
Out and past Windsor race course..
And now all the trip boats running up and down around Windsor are gone.. it’s just me, the boat and the river.. the flow on which is getting stronger.. I think the yellow boards are coming out soon!
Staying well clear of Ruddles Pool (the area near the houses) and riding the slack water on the inside of the bends to get a bit more forward momentum from the slower running water..
Past Oakley Court Hotel (Rocky Horror Picture show was filmed here – believe it or not!).. with lots of weddings going on today! But I doubt the management would let Frankenfurter in today 😀
And the boat house just on the edge of the hotel grounds..
And it’s good to see the back-lot of Bray Studios being used once more.. Not sure what film this set is for.. but it looks like a submarine conning tower just behind the tree’s.. ( I could see that after the photo! 😀 )
If you have never heard of Bray Studio’s.. maybe some of these you might.. all of which have involved Bray Stusios!
- 1700 – Down Place, the oldest existing building at Bray Film Studios, was built on the banks of the River Thames.
- 1945 – Down Place House was used during World War 2 to store duffle coats made for the English military mariners. The house fell into disrepair and the weight of the rainwater-sodden duffle coats caused the inside floors of the structure to collapse. The house became known locally as Duffle Coat Manor.
- 1951 – Hammer Films, a British production company, made Down Place House and its expansive grounds their permanent home. The ‘house studio style’ gave Hammer films their signature repertory style, which made their films global cult classics to this day. Subsequently, Hammer built a studio in the grounds of Down Place and named it after the local village, Bray.
- 1957 – Dracula is filmed at Bray Film Studios. Based on the original book by Bram Stoker, it was directed by Terence Fisher and starred Christopher Lee. On its release in 1958, it became one of the most popular films at the British box office. Today, it belongs to the pantheon of cult horror classics and is arguably one of the best-loved and most famous of the screen versions on the subject.
- 1974 – Following Hammer’s departure in the late 60s, The Rocky Horror Picture Show was filmed at Bray Film Studios and nearby Oakley Court (now a luxury hotel).
- 1979 – Models and miniatures for Ridley Scott’s film Alien – including the 80 square foot Nostromo, weighing a quarter of a ton – were created and shot at Bray Film Studios. The film went on to win an Oscar for visual effects at the 52nd Annual Academy Awards.
- 1980 – The very last rehearsal of the original Led Zeppelin band took place at Bray Film Studios in September 1980 before its member John Bonham, one of history’s most influential rock drummers, passed away. Bray’s vast sound stages were also used as pre-concert rehearsal spaces for the sell-out Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness, as well as by musicians Paul Simon, Pink Floyd, Genesis and, later on, Amy Winehouse, Kings of Leon and Radiohead.
- 1992 – Eric Clapton’s 1992 album Unplugged, is recorded in front of a live audience in Soundstage 1 for MTV’s Unplugged television series. The all-acoustic album was the musician’s biggest selling album of his career.
- 2017 – After a period of inactivity, filming returned once more to Bray Films Studios, kicking off with Bodyguard, which won a BAFTA for the assassination scene shot at Bray Film Studios.
- 2019 – Oscar-winning Rocketman, the music biopic about Elton John, is filmed at Bray Film Studios. The film also won two Golden Globe awards for Best Actor for a Motion Picture Musical and Best Song for a Motion Picture.
- 2020 – Dracula returns to Bray Film Studios 50 years after Terence Fisher’s iconic original was shot here.
Past Bray Marina.. Drove here last Monday when we were in Walton as the gas bottle ran out, and they were the only ones around with JUST ONE left! And now I know why…
On past Maidenhead..
And I’m pretty sure those were not there the last time we were though here.. nice traditional styling for – I believe – a new build..
And time to wait at a red light at Boulters Lock – and I hate this lock. The water flows are up, and that flow is trying to drag the boat away from the lock landing as there are no baffle boards below the landing allowing the flow to pass under it and push the boat away.. Bow and stern lines are on just holding the boat here whilst we wait for the lock keeper to get the lock ready..
Eventually we were through and out.. And onto Cookham Lock.. where the yellow boards came out.. I knew it was going to happen.. well – yellow is not red, and were heading for Marlow.. so we should be OK. And.. the lock keeper got a phone call.. We came through Boveney Lock earlier.. all was well.. but several hours after we were clear.. this happened!
Not that I’m glad it happened AFTER we were clear, but – all river traffic would have been stopped whilst they sorted that.. but that’s little comfort for them..
And these folks are having a good Sunday in the sun – Art class with Pimm’s perhaps 😀 – couldn’t quite catch the sandwich board though to put the word further afield.. but that sculpture in the garden is awesome!
And another for sale..
Now that is a garden you don’t want to fall down!
And another for sale.. I presume its the house and the boathouse.. not just the boathouse!
Through Marlow Lock..
and who exactly is supposed to use that lock landing.. you cant get off it!
Now.. mooring in Marlow….. Ah, no. Totally full – onward.. Got to Temple lock, and spotted this one.. guess were not turning back now.. it’s shorter to goto Oxford 😀
But.. the engine is starting to really complain now.. It’s late, and a long lock landing with landings both sides, so were stopping here to let the engine cool down and spend the night. Were going to leave here early, so should not cause any issues for people wanting to use the lock.