These are very, very familiar waters — in fact it feels a lot like coming home, although in this case we won’t be turning in to Thrupp Wharf Marina tomorrow and we’re still only about halfway to where we’re going. Macc enjoyed having Campbell Park on his doorstep, and on yesterday evening’s walk he had a good chase around with a black lab and both dogs tired themselves out. This morning we got under way at about 9, creeping past the other boats moored at Campbell Park. This widebeam had better hope another one just like him doesn’t come past.
Yesterday I was surprised by the lack of boats in certain places in MK; today, there were loads of boats everywhere. It means continually having to slow down, and everything takes an age. Some of the bridges are in a bad state, and these ones don’t even have traffic going over them.
The wharf house at Great Linford always looks nice, and today was no exception.
At New Bradwell, the house that has been imaginatively extended over the years with a tower and other embellishments still isn’t finished. I somehow doubt it ever will be.
The first aqueduct of the day was Grafton Street. Once over that, it feels as if you’re escaping the clutches of Milton Keynes.
We stopped at Wolverton to go to Tesco. There actually wasn’t any space, but the last boat appeared to be getting ready to leave. We asked them, and they were. Then the guy asked about the podcast, and it turned out he’s an avid listener, which was really nice. It turns out that Lawrence and Wendy have a YouTube Channel, LoveTwoTravel about their journey from Texas to the canals, so we ended up having quite a chat. Once they had headed off to Milton Keynes, we moved back onto the rings and I went to Tesco. We’ve had quite a good run of convenient supermarkets recently, but for the next few days there’s virtually nothing, so we needed a stock up of fresh stuff to keep us going. We set off again at about 12, with the fairly short hop to the moorings past Wolverton Aqueduct. The water level is a bit low, although the pump up from the Great Ouse is bringing a lot of water up. Even so, we’re tied with the stern well out because there’s not enough depth to get it close to the bank. After lunch, we took Macc for a walk in the Ouse Valley Park, where he met a couple of boisterous labradors, and found that he could get down to the river for a drink. The Great Ouse is very low; it’s amazing to think that sometimes the whole area is flooded. Right now, half the river bed is visible.
The park also gives nice views of the aqueduct. Now that we’re north of the Ouse, we’re in Northants which means we’re back in the midlands!
7 miles, 0 locks. (162 miles, 115 locks)