We have seen more moving boats today than in the past ten days or so combined. The day started with a bit of a shock, as Adrian found he’d had a load of missed calls overnight from his brother. It turned out there had been a fire in his block of flats in Weymouth, and they’d all been evacuated. Everyone was ok, but they won’t be able to live in the flat for a long while by the looks of it. We set off at about 8.30, with the aim of getting to below the area of tomorrow’s stoppage — so beyond Stoke Hammond. There were very few hire boats in at the Wyvern Shipping base; I know they have sold quite a few so maybe that explains it.
When I’d walked down with Macc at Breakfast time, Leighton Lock had been full. But as we approached we could see a widebeam boat was coming up, so there was a short wait while they rose. When we got down, the pound below was a bit low, and it felt like a bit of a struggle in places. On the bend near Old Linslade church, the level was low enough that I could see how the bank was made, of concrete sandbags.
At around Bridge 109 we caught up with a very wide widebeam which was going quite slowly. Before the next bridge they waved us past, which was good of them considering how close the locks were. We passed a boat coming the other way, so when we got to the Three Locks, all of them were still almost full. There were also a couple of volunteers on duty who set ahead for us, so we flew down the flight.
Interestingly, one of the volunteers told Adrian he couldn’t really see the point of a 24 hour stoppage. When Adrian told him that we’d been told it could be extended, he thought that was quite likely. The Stoke Hammond pound, which is often a bit short of water even when there’s no drought, actually had a decent amount in it. And a boat had not long come up the lock, so it was again almost full. There’s only one bottom paddle working though, so it took a long while to drain. Just past Willowbridge Marina is Bridge 99, and Adrian said this is where you really feel you’re entering Milton Keynes; we concluded it’s because of the tall trees along the towpath, which are a feature thoughout the city.
We passed numerous boats going the other way, including quite a few Wyvern hire boats. This was the biggest boat we saw, and the bow looks very intimidating as it approaches.
At Fenny Lock there was another Wyvern coming up. Bearing in mind that this lock has a rise of less than a foot, we couldn’t really understand why they had bow and stern ropes deployed, and numerous people on the bank apparently walking the boat out of the lock. It seemed to take them ages just to leave, before we could go in. At least swapping meant the bridge was already swung.
The pound through Milton Keynes is the sump pound; we’ve come down 158ft since the Tring Summit (but we’re still about 220ft higher than we were coming off the Thames at Brentford). We stopped in the first available space on the moorings, which was the one just off the lock landing. It’s a nice sunny spot so the solar has been doing well. After lunch, Macc and I went for a walk, and took a path from the lock which went under the A5 and arrived at Caldecott Lake. There were people sailing, and the paths were busy with walkers.
About halfway along the lake there was a sign for a miniature railway, so we went to have a look. There’s an oval of track which even has a girder bridge, but although there were a few people around there didn’t seem to be any trains running.
The windmill behind the railway is part of a restaurant which is attached to a Premier Inn! We walked back via a bridge over the River Ouzel, then took a path under the A5 again which eventually came back to the towpath.
It was quite a long walk, and Macc was flagging a bit by the time we got back. Also this afternoon, Adrian has walked to Pets at Home, which is only about 15 minutes away via a route which takes you along the platform of Fenny Stratford station. Meanwhile I have made a crumble with some of the apples and damsons. There have been loads of boats passed too, maybe because it’s Sunday (and a nice sunny one at that) or maybe other people are also trying to beat the Three Locks stoppage.
8 miles, 6 locks. (151 miles, 115 locks)