Tuesday 5 September 2017

A Lock Free Day



Today we wended our way round Milton Keynes....


a very green corridor edged in various parks and woodland.....


not to mention loads of blackberry bushes....


and numerous moored boats.


The canal side art kept us entertained.





Will it be Braunston or Whilton Marine....who knows....we have a couple of promising enquiries from Apollo Duck.


Leaving Milton Keynes behind we are in open countryside.


Our resting place tonight beyond New Bradwell and the plank is out.

6 1/2 miles 0 locks

Highlights of the past few days




Leaving Cook's Wharf we encounter a swing bridge- we have had very few of these this trip.


We are heading for Leighton Buzzard where Richard is leaving us to return to Northampton.


It was somewhere over yonder in this remotest of countryside that in 1963 the Great Train Robbery took place.  The Glasgow-London mail train was hi-jacked at Sears Crossing and relieved of it £2.6 million booty at Bridego Bridge.


We are starting to see a provision of extra arches at some lock bridges.  In the early years of the Grand Junction water shortages were alleviated by a sequence of narrow beam chambers duplicated alongside the original wide locks thus permitting single boats to use less water and enabling the canal to cope better.


Low water level.


A spot of dredging going on.


The slurry is being used to repair and back fill the bank. Would you believe this project is costing £650,000


Canalside Leighton Buzzard


While we are filling with water this lovely couple stopped chatting and it turned out that he was from Trev's home village of Wyke. As you can imagine much reminiscing went on. 


Stop me and buy one - boater's style.


Fenny Lock has a swing bridge between the lock gates.


Very Strange!!!!


Moored for the night by Pear Tree Bridge where there happens to be a Carvery and Pizza Bar.....
be rude not to!!!