A much better day today as it wasn’t raining, although it was still quite murky when we set off at about 9. The first Seabrook Lock was only a couple of hundred metres ahead.
The middle Seabrook Lock has one of the Northern Engine pump houses alongside, which Adrian has always thought would make a lovely house. It would need a lot of money though, no least because there doesn’t appear to be any access.
The top Seabrook Lock had a pair of boats coming down. Adrian had walked ahead, and as I arrived with the boat I could see lots of arm waving going on. There was a swan in the lock, that Adrian and the other boater were trying to persuade out before they emptied it. It resisted all efforts to get it to move, so as the two bots were tied together and one was much shorter than the other, they concluded that there was space for the swan to go down too. When the lock was empty, it swam out as if this was the plan all along. The cygnets, six of them, were already on the lower level, but the other adult then stumbled down the steps at the foot of the lock and then fell in the water in a very ungainly fashion.
While we were in the lock a man walked down and asked if we were going through the swing bridge up ahead, and could he come with us as it’s really tricky for a single hander. We were, and he could. In fact, he did.
The railway bridge just ahead is almost identical to the one at Blisworth. I guess they probably date from the same time.
Immediately beyond that is Pitstone Wharf, a busy little boatyard and moorings.
Through the next bridge is the Dunstable and District Boat Club, with moorings for short boats. Then come the two Marsworth Locks. The bottom one was empty and there were a couple of boats coming down the top one, but the pound in between was extremely low — if fact we wondered if we’d get over the cill, so some water was run down from the top once the two boats were out.
The moorings through the next bridge were busy, but we found a space just before a dangly tree. For once, the rings are spaced quite nicely for us, but there’s concrete under the surface so the tyres have been deployed. I took Macc for a walk back to the locks and he went crazy running about carrying a stick he’d found. After lunch we walked the other way, to the junction, and later still I went for a look round the village of Marsworth. The Red Lion pub is having a lot of work done as their kitchen burned down. Across the road is the church.
After staying dry today it looks as though we’ll probably get wet again tomorrow, because an unsettled week is forecast.
2 miles, 5 locks. (55 miles, 39 locks)