Voyages of Gabriel: Milton Keynes to Leighton Buzzard

Thu 20th Oct Giffard Park to Water Eaton

We started with a full English breakfast at the Giffard Park, before continuing our journey through Milton Keynes.

There was beautiful blue sky in between the light clouds, and the sunshine picked out the autumn colours.

Milton Keynes Marina

Autumn Colours

Virginia creeper

Sadly, Hazel was unwell and wasted her breakfast. She has made an appointment to see the doctor when we return to Aylesbury.

We said farewell to Tudor as we passed him painting his boat under a main road bridge.

We negotiated Fenny Stratford lock and swingbridge. It would be interesting to know how many times a vehicle crosses over each day, as I maintain that it should be kept open for boats unless needed for vehicles.

That swing bridge over the lock

Clouds started to gather, making spectacular sights in the sunshine.

Where are the cherubim?

We moored on piling at Water Eaton by a row of poplar trees, and had a rain shower later.

1 lock, 6 miles

Fri 21st Oct Water Eaton to Leighton Buzzard

It was cloudy to start with as we left our mooring, and then sunny later.

Leaving Water Eaton

We had the locks to ourselves today – firstly Stoke Hammond Lock, and then Soulbury Three Locks. There was a volunteer at the Three Locks, which sped up our progress as the locks were all ready for us.

Under the bridge by Stoke Hammond Lock

Stoke Hammond Lock

Three Locks at Soulbury

The Globe Inn at Linslade

We moored above Leighton Lock by the park, where there is a hedge for Hugo. It is a pleasant walk from here via a riverside walk into the town.

We visited WH Smith to change our diary pages. No problem. However, they were a small store and had no printer ink.

We then looked at several of the many hairdressers and barbers in the town, and decided on Clippers, where we both had haircuts. Then to a coffee shop called Ollie Vee’s.

We tried a different route back, via the Stag, where we had sung in March, and across the meadows.

5 locks, 6 miles

Sat 22nd Oct

Lots of canoes came past early. Some went on below the lock, and others returned to their base. Blue Iris (BCF) came past and tooted and waved before going down through the lock.

Early canoes

Fuel barge Ascot came up through, and we hailed him to buy three bags of Homefire Ovals. That should be enough coal to see us through to Aylesbury.

Fuel Barge Ascot

We had a good music practice on board. Later we moved down to the shopping bollards to visit Aldi and Tesco for the heavier items like wine and cat food.

It is always amazing to see the vast number of ducks outside Tesco in Leighton Buzzard. They are fed by lots of people so they never go hungry. We haven’t worked out where they all make their nests.

Leighton ducks

Then to the water point, the rubbish point and the “Visitor Moorings”. There are no rings or bollards here, and the bank is a stone wall with a thin layer of grass covering it, so it is hard to get the mooring pins in.

There were fireworks going off somewhere, and in the flats opposite, a late party was taking place, with people chatting on the balcony until after midnight.

0 locks, 1 mile

Sun 23rd Oct Leighton Buzzard

We found our way to New Life Church, which started at 0930 in a school. There was a worship band playing some very dated worship music, and an excellent speaker, on the subject of healing. The proceedings started to wind down at around 1130, at which point we needed to depart.

In search of New Life

We set off at a fast walk towards the light railway, which was running today. We had gone most of the way there when James discovered he had left behind his shoulder bag. Hazel carried on, and James returned. Thankfully it was still there. That was an extra mile of unplanned exercise.

We had a bacon roll, a coffee and a piece of cake before going on the train. The line dates back to 1919, when it was built with war surplus equipment from WW1. It was originally used for moving sand from the quarries.