Cosgrove to Weedon

 

Mon 8^th Mar  Cosgrove to Stoke Bruerne locks

The plan today was to cruise to the top of Stoke Bruerne locks, and maybe a little further, then tomorrow to complete the trip to Weedon. Then James would take three buses to get back to Aylesbury for our car, and drive from Aylesbury to Weedon to collect Hazel and all our things from the boat. We wanted to be off the boat by the end of Tuesday, as heavy rain and gales were forecast for Wednesday.

We sent an email to Kathryn, our friend in Stoke Bruerne, to tell her our plans. We had an email straight back to say that Stoke Bruerne Locks are closed today, while workmen collect the bricks that had fallen in under the road bridge. They needed to drain the pound to achieve this, and James had missed the stoppage notice that been sent out on Thursday. Annoyingly, we could have continued yesterday and got up the locks past the affected area.

We quickly devised a plan B, which was for James to return to Aylesbury to get the car, take it to Weedon, and come back to the boat at Cosgrove. Looking at the bus timetable, we realised that the buses to Milton Keynes are only every two hours, and one was leaving in two minutes – not enough time to catch it.

To get everything done in time, James borrowed Hazel’s phone, and went through the horse tunnel to the pub.

The Barley Mow at Cosgrove

From there he took a taxi to Central Milton Keynes and caught an X6 bus to Aylesbury, and then waited for another bus to Kingsbury, which was shown on the illuminated departure board, but it didn’t show up. The entry just disappeared off the board, with another hour to wait. A taxi once again solved the problem, and after a quick visit to the apartment, James set off by car for Weedon.

Arriving at the boatyard, everything looked closed, but ringing the very loud bell brought a helpful lady, who let James park in the compound, before catching another taxi back to Cosgrove, going back through the horse tunnel, arriving in time to depart on the boat at 3pm.

The horse tunnel under the canal

Meanwhile Hazel had seen Vanguard go past, and had made a loose arrangement to share locks tomorrow.

We passed Solomons Bridge, the very ornate sandstone structure that has needed some work since a car smashed into it. There were a few other notable sights on the way.

Solomons Bridge

Lambs

Old buildings at Yardley Gobion

Swans keeping social distancing rules

Overflow weir to the River Tove

Manor House at Grafton Regis

An ancient willow tree

Winter tree

We reached the visitor moorings at the foot of Stoke Bruerne locks, and arranged with Sharon and Ray on Vanguard that we would start up the flight of seven locks at 9am.

Approaching Stoke Bruerne Locks

Water art

Moored below Stoke Bruerne Locks

0 locks, 5 miles, 3 taxis, 1 bus. Dep 1500, arr 1650.

Tue 9^th Mar  Stoke Bruerne to Weedon 

Dawn 

Early morning below Stoke Bruerne

We had a few chores to do before we set off. We moved up to the facilities, where we emptied rubbish and two cassettes. Meanwhile Ray had also been active, filling a low pound on the locks.

We set off up the locks as planned at 9am, and soon found our rhythm. Sharon likes running and she beat James to the next lock almost every time.

Sharing with Vanguard

 We saw the place where the wall had collapsed, and it looks as though it will not be replaced. The pedestrian access on that side will be closed off. It had a very low ceiling anyway. The pipe alongside the canal is for the back-pumping system.

The pipe under the road bridge 

The remains of the wall

At the long pound we spotted a boat that had gone past us last night. We carried on past for the top two locks. The swans were not yet a nuisance there. When they have cygnets, they occupy the whole towpath, and it is difficult to get past.

At the top lock we knocked on Kathryn’s door to say a brief “hello” as we weren’t stopping. Vanguard went first, and we followed a few minutes later. 

Kathryn

Ray and Sharon

At the mouth of the tunnel, they had stopped to sort out a few things, so we went past into the tunnel. We made good time – 25 minutes from one end to the other. It was extremely wet inside, more than is usual, particularly by the ventilation shafts. I didn’t get my camera out.

Vanguard entered the tunnel five minutes behind us, but we never saw them again. We went as fast as was sensible, without causing a wash, or upsetting moored boats.

We passed Gayton Junction where the Northampton Arm leaves the main line, and this is followed by an excellent example of a turnover bridge, designed so that horses can cross the canal with having to unhitch from the boat they are towing.

Gayton Junction

The Northampton Arm

The turnover bridge

We passed a boat with a remarkably high aerial pole, and when we asked, we found out he was a radio ham. 

High pole 

Phone mast in disguise shows up at this time of year

 

Greylag Goose and Canada Goose 

Rabbit on the towpath

We took it in turns to pack clothes, food, and gadgets to take with us, so when we arrived at Weedon, we were ready. We had a good chat with Steve about the work he was going to do on the boat, and we turned everything off and drained most of the water tank. 

Moored at the boatyard in Weedon

We left in the car, and made a slight detour to see the entrance to the Royal Ordnance Depot. The gates were open, so we drove in to have a look around. It was built in 1802 to store and maintain canons and other weapons, and there was a side arm to connect with the Grand Union. There is still an isolated canal running between the buildings. The building with a clock tower at one end has an arch underneath where the boats used to come in. It is now a visitor centre (when the pandemic permits).

The old warehouses

The canal through the depot 

The boat entrance 

We were soon back at Steve’s as we had forgotten to pack the eggs and some fresh vegetables. We departed for good on the second attempt, and stopped for fish and chips in Winslow. They required cash, and we realised that we still had cash that we drew out at the start of the first lockdown in March last year. Almost everyone prefers credit cards today.

So, we arrived back in Aylesbury and returned to the apartment. Delivery voyage over.

7 locks, 12 miles. Dep 0830, arr 1345.

Next: a few weeks waiting in Aylesbury, with maybe a visit or two to see progress on the boat.

Leighton Buzzard to Cosgrove

Sat 6^th Mar  Leighton Buzzard to Water Eaton

The coal boats set off for the lock, hoping to be released by lunchtime. We saw Tudor several times. His boat looks good, and was repainted six months ago. We exchanged phone numbers.

We went up the High Street where a small market was functioning. We bought some samosas from a stall, and bought several items from an excellent “Aladdin’s Cave” shop. We returned via Waitrose.

James decided to walk up to the lock to see the work and take some photos.  He never got that far, as there was boat coming the other way. They said they had come through the locks, and the coal boats had already gone down. James walked briskly back to the boat, and we set off. When we arrived at the lock, there were two boats going down in front. Then one came up, and it was our turn. Another boat was waiting to come up when we left.

Progress was slow, as there were many boats moored up. We soon passed the fuel boats overtook one of the boats that had gone down before us, as he was operating a heavy boat, using an electric outboard.

When we arrived at Three Locks, a widebeam was starting to rise towards us in the top lock, and the other boat from the Leighton Lock was going down in front, just leaving the middle lock.  Sadly, there was no-one to share with, and no volunteers either. The middle lock has a top gate that opens by itself – the one furthest away from the pub. There was very tame heron fishing in the locks. He was not bothered by us and James was only a few feet away from him when he caught a fish. They are usually very shy birds.

At the bottom lock, as James was winding the ground paddle, a sorry mishap occurred. His mobile phone became a bit too mobile, and slipped out of James’s pocket, bounced once, and fell into the lock. So, we no longer have Tudor’s phone number, and there will now be some retrieving of data to be done, and an attempt to remember the diary entries.  This is why there are no blog photos yet today, as they were all taken on the phone. What pics we do have were taken on the camera.

Leaving Three Locks

After the trauma of Three Locks, there was another slow stretch with many moored boats, leading to Hammond Lock, which was against us. We moored soon after, at Water Eaton, where we are hoping to hold a Canal Ministries mission in June, if pandemic restrictions allow.

Lovely cruising weather

Moored at Water Eaton

Sunset at Water Eaton

5 locks, 6 miles. Dep 1355, arr 1725.

Sun 7^th Mar   Water Eaton to Cosgrove

We both had showers this morning, appreciating the excellent water pressure, which is better than in our apartment. We departed straight after breakfast, just as another boat was coming towards us.

Another boat on the move

Fenny Stratford Lock was against us, although we had met a boat a few minutes earlier, so we were expecting it be for us. The other boat may not have come through the lock. We soon set it again, and swung the swing bridge, and proceeded on our way.

We watched the Broughton Church live stream service on YouTube, as we cruised slowly round the outskirts of Milton Keynes.  As we sang along with the songs, some towpath walkers must have wondered about us. 

Church service on the roof

The unusual three-armed bridge by the new Campbell Wharf Marina

Campbell Park

After the service we joined the Zoom gathering with our life group.  We kept going round Milton Keynes, and people in our group said they didn’t recognise where the canal goes. Here is a map to clarify the route.

 Milton Keynes map showing the route of the canal

We spotted a lovely patch of Croci, and another heron to make up for the one we saw yesterday but whose photo is on the phone that is at the bottom of the lock. Also, a nesting swan.

A yellow crocus patch

Heron 

Nesting swan

We continued past the lovely old buildings at Linford. I had thought we would get a good view as the leaves are not fully out yet, but we discovered that there are landscaping works going on at the pond there, and an ugly fence is spoiling the view.

Landscaping works at Gt Linford

Gt Linford Church 

We passed our favourite MK mooring at Stanton Low Park. There were several boats there, including fuel boats Beverly and Ascot, looking very run-down. 

Beverly and Ascot

We continued across the Grafton Street Aqueduct and through Wolverton with its amazing mural.

Grafton Street Aqueduct

Looking down on the road

The railway mural

It has an engine at both ends

Some knobbly trees

The new apartments in Wolverton

Then we saw lots of people on the towpath before we crossed the Great Ouse on the Iron Trunk Aqueduct, noting that the river walk had been closed due some erosion damage sustained during the recent flooding. 

Towpath walkers

Great Ouse Aqueduct 

Looking down on the Great Ouse

The banks eroded away by the winter floods 

We went slowly past many moored boats on the approach to Cosgrove Lock. We had to empty this before using it.

Cosgrove Lock 

We stopped in Cosgrove where there are mooring rings. It was starting to get cold, even though it was still early afternoon. 

Moored in Cosgrove

The church silhouetted

Reflected trees 

2 locks, 12 miles, one swing bridge. Dep 0925, arr 1410.

Next: up the Stoke Bruerne Locks and through Blisworth Tunnel, ending at Weedon.