London Calling Week 4 - Cosgrove to Aylesbury Basin

Monday 24th June - Cosgrove to Fenny Stratford

We left our mooring in Cosgrove on a rather overcast morning and I and Toby walked down to the lock.

The Buckingham Arm stretches across to the right and is now undergoing restoration, with a nature trail following the disused canal. 

This is The Great Ouse Aqueduct, which carries the canal over the Great Ouse via an iron trunk aqueduct.  Built in 1811, it is a square cast iron trough carried on stone pillars, which replaced a brick structure that collapsed in 1808 and before that  a series of nine locks which were abandoned due to the risk of flooding.

There are a number of sculptures in Milton Keynes - this one is called 'Reaching Forward' and is at the start of the vast new city of Milton Keynes.

This mural on the wall commemorates the history of Wolverton which continues to be home to the royal train.

We stopped off on our way at Great Linford and took Toby for a walk through the park.  During his time as owner of the estate, Sir William Pritchard provided a school house, at that time stated as for the education of local boys, and three almshouses each side for six unmarried poor people of the parish. These ancient buildings, which overlook the Water Gardens, along with the nearby renovated thatched barn, and the pavilions, are occupied by the independently-run Milton Keynes Arts Centre.

The centrepiece of the park is Great Linford Manor.  The Manor was built by Sir William Pritchard, who later became the Lord Mayor of London in 1690. The estate passed to his relatives, the Uthwatts, who extended the house during the 1700s to its present size, employing a number of tricks to make the house look more impressive. For instance, the wing nearest to the village was originally a single storey ballroom, but false windows were put in to create the impression of an 'upstairs' and preserve the building's symmetry.

Along this stretch of the canal is a new marina, but it is also the proposed starting point of the new Bedford and Milton Keynes Waterway. The Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust was established in 1995 to promote the development of a  broad waterway park, which will link the Grand Union Canal in Milton Keynes to the river Great Ouse in Bedford through a series of waterway parks.

This heron has a wonderful vantage point from this bridge.  He continued to follow the boat, flying over and beside us as we cruised towards Fenny Stratford.

The lock at Fenny Stratford is unusual because it has a swingbridge in the middle which must be opened before you can go through the lock.  The lock has a rise of 1ft 1 inch!

A lovely example of a mile post for the Grand Junction Canal Company.  This company was merged with the Regent's and Warwick Canal companies and became known as the Grand Union Canal Company in 1929.








11 miles, 1 lock, 4 hrs and 30 mins cruising time.




Tuesday 25th June - Fenny Stratford to Leighton Buzzard


A chilly grey sort of day, we left Fenny Stratford and made our way through the lock and swing bridge before filling up with water and disposing of rubbish.

At the Soulbury locks we were met by three volunteers, John, Richard and David, who helped us up through the three locks.

The restoration of the historic pumping station at Soulbury Three Locks is being carried out by the Canal & River Trust with the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund, who are contributing £391,100 to bring the historic building back into use. 









We got to Leighton Buzzard and it was very busy with very little space to moor.  We eventually found a space past the town bridge and moored up for the night.  After a walk into town to do a small shop, too far to carry a lot of shopping, we settled down for a quiet evening on board.

8.25 miles, 5 locks, 1 swing bridge, 4 hrs 48 mins cruising time including putting on water.



Wednesday 26th June - Leighton Buzzard to Marsworth Lock

Set off from Leighton Buzzard on another cool and damp morning.

At this lock is a three-bedroom house which started life as a church and, when it was in use, was known as the smallest in Buckinghamshire. St Michael and All Angels, in the hamlet of Grove, near Leighton Buzzard, had room for only 50 parishioners.

This unusual craft is a converted oil rig lifeboat.  It was tied to the boat in front, so must make added living accommodation.

This extra arch at this lock is the remains of a duplicate narrow lock which was installed alongside the original wide lock in an effort to reduce the amount of water used by single boats.

In the distance are the Chilterns and it is possible to see the chalk Whipsnade Lion cut into Dunstable Down in 1933 to advertise Whipsnade Zoo.









We moored just below the Marsworth Locks for the night and met up with friends for an evening at the Red Lion.

7.25 miles, 9 locks, 4 hrs 36 mins cruising time.


Thursday 27th June - Marsworth Locks to Aylesbury Basin

Today we set off from our mooring to head up through the two Marsworth Locks.  It took us over an hour as the pound between the two locks was practically dry and Dave had to fill the pound before I could leave the first lock.

Here we turned off the main canal onto the Aylesbury Arm.  A narrow canal with 16 narrow locks all the way into Aylesbury.  It opened in 1815 and working boats used it for about 150 years.







  

We passed a boat with Market Drayton on the side, the first we have ever seen!

The channel narrowed considerably and the towpath disappeared from view, all very peaceful apart from the whispering of the tall reeds as we passed.

The Yellow Water-lily is a common plant of still or slow-moving water and grows in ponds, lakes, canals and ditches. It has large, lily-pad leaves that are up to 40cm across, and grows in water up to 3m deep; the leaves and flowers float at the surface, while the rest of the plant is submerged, growing from the mud at the bottom. It flowers during the summer, from June to September, and smells like the dregs of wine, hence other common names like 'Brandy Bottle'. Water-lilies are good plants to add to a wildlife-friendly pond, providing shelter for frogs and early nectar for insects.

Ducks standng on the lock gate as the lock emptied below them, 

A beautiful mooring in the basin, 14 days absolutely free, all the facilities you could possibly want and a short walk into the town.  









6.75 miles, 18 locks, 6 hrs 36 mins cruising time.



Friday 28th June - Aylesbury Basin

In the town under the arch we found a statue of Ziggy Stardust which plays one of 2,000 David Bowie tracks on the hour every hour throughout the day.  David Bowie launched Ziggy Stardust in Aylesbury 45 years ago.








After a haircut and an early evening meal, Dave and I went to the Waterside Theatre to see the Illegal Eagles in concert.  It was an amazing evening, brought back loads of memories from our student and early teaching days of the music of The Eagles.  

Saturday 29th June - Aylesbury Basin

The hottest day of the year so far - spending a quiet day on the boat trying to keep Toby cool

Liz runs the small trip boat moored beside us.  She is planting water lillies in the basin and told Dave she was praying to them as someone told her that was the key to success!

An aerial view of the Basin and Ella from the carpark above Waitrose.  The trip boat is getting ready to take out a 30th birthday party, you can see the balloons being loaded onto the boat.






Sunday 30th June - Aylesbury Basin


We hired a car yesterday for 2 days and are spending Sunday in Linton and Cambridge and Monday in Totton.





Today we drove to Linton and met up with Lizzie and Bea and had a walk around the village.  A beautiful place with a scarecrow festival going on.  Bea has found The BFG.

Then we went for lunch at The Dog and Duck, where we were joined by Laura and Amy.  After lunch we went to Cambridge and then called in to see my mother in Wootton on the way back to Aylesbury.







All in all, a busy day, but very enjoyable!