Water Eaton (Bletchley Park next time then)

Tuesday was tunnel and lock day again.  This time we had to go through the 1 ¾ mile long Blisworth tunnel followed by the seven locks at Stoke Bruerne.  It really was a November morning; fog coming in and it felt cold even though it wasn’t frosty.

Leaving Bugbrooke in the murk

After a couple of miles, we went through Gayton junction where the Northampton arm goes up to Northampton to join the River Nene.  The River Nene is navigable for 88 miles right up to the Wash.  It also provides access to the waterways of the Fens (Middle Level Navigations) at Peterborough with yet another 100 miles or so of waterways or ‘drains’ to explore.

Gayton is where we are having the boat craned onto the lorry next March which is only four months away now 😊

Going through Gayton junction

Signpost at Gayton junction – Braunston is already 17 miles away

When we got into the tunnel, we could see the tunnel light of a boat coming the other way, but we were OK as it’s a two way tunnel.  Well, it’s two way for narrowboats but we were slightly concerned as the approaching boat, which was probably about ½ mile away, had two lights at the front.  For a brief moment I thought, oh no it’s a wide beam who doesn’t know the rules.  Wide beams have to make prior arrangement with CRT to make a passage as the tunnel has to be closed in the opposite direction.

I assumed that it wasn’t a wide beam as, if it was, the driver would have started flashing his lights when he saw us coming into the tunnel.  His lights were extremely bright and were pointing directly ahead which makes it very difficult for approaching boaters to see; lights should be aimed slightly to the right and also slightly upwards.

In the end it was yet another very new boat – when I reached him, he was hardly moving, and he told me that he was really nervous as he had never been in a tunnel before.  I told him it’s safer to be nervous and move slowly than be over-confident and try and rush past another boat.  I did tell him that his lights were very bright and the angle should probably be adjusted and he laughed saying, ”Yeah they’re OK for me but I suppose you’re right”.

Entering the tunnel with a leggers’ rest hut on the left

Leaving the tunnel with stables on the right

Stoke Bruerne is one of the most touristy places on the network but not so on a foggy and cold November day.

Looking back at the tourist trap of Stoke Bruerne from the top lock

By the time we got down to the penultimate lock it started raining and it didn’t stop for the rest of the day.  At least the afternoon didn’t feel as cold as the morning and we made good progress, mooring up for the day just past Thrupp.

We had had several abortive attempts to moor before Thrupp but the sides were far too shallow.  Even so, we still had to use a gangplank where we eventually moored.

Moored for Tuesday night

A heron was fishing from the towpath just where we pulled up and didn’t seem keen on moving.  He ended up just behind the boat and kept eyeing me up as I was making the boat fast.

With strong winds forecast for later on Wednesday we made sure we were away by 9 o’clock as we wanted to get through and out the other side of Milton Keynes by the end of the day.

As we cast off, the heron from last night was still next to us but this time totally ignoring us:

  

It certainly was windy as predicted and there were occasional very strong gusts that kept taking us unawares.  It was the sort of day where you wanted to be able to hover in front of locks whilst they are set.  Otherwise it would mean mooring up at the side and then finding it really difficult to get away when the lock was ready.

The first lock was at Cosgrove where a branch used to leave just above the lock and go down to Buckingham.  A local society is active in restoration as with many other disused waterways around the country.  It always strikes us that it takes a special type of person to be involved in these works as, in nearly all cases, they won’t live to see the end result; they are doing it for future generations.

I saw a boat coming behind us in the distance, so we waited for them to join us in the lock.  I was gesticulating that we were waiting but the driver seemed to be totally ignoring me.  Once he was closer, he put his glasses on and when I mentioned I had been waving at him he apologised as he could only see a short way without his glasses on.

There were two youngish lads on the boat and they were really excited as they had just bought it and were taking it down to Bath to live on around there.  They were also excited as it was their first lock – that’s three new boats in three days that we shared with or saw going into their first locks.

We were then lock-free for the next twelve miles or so as first we went over the River Great Ouse and then wound our way around Milton Keynes.

Crossing over one of the Milton Keynes boulevards

As we were passing through, we were on the look out for Jules Cook on her fuel boat.  Her area is from Stoke Bruerne down to Berkhamsted, so we had been in touch to find out where they were.  As luck would have it, they were heading north, and we met up to take on diesel and coal.  Off course, we met them on a blind bend but, as there was no boat traffic around we just moored up across the cut together.  They had their boat and butty breasted up too so there was no way anyone could get past us.

Jules preparing our bill

I was surprised to find that we had room for 98 litres of diesel as it had only been 11 days since we were filled up be Lee & Roberta at Etruria.  Without the sun in the evening in the winter, to top up the batteries, we tend to run the engine in the evening.  I keep forgetting that this uses fuel too ☹

Jules Fuels off on their way again

A new marina is being built at the point where the proposed new 20-mile canal to join the Great Ouse at Bedford is scheduled to be built.

Yet another new marina going up (or down)

The proposed canal, the Bedford & Milton Keynes waterway, if ever constructed, will be a broad canal.  This would mean that for the first time ever the north and the south would be connected for broadbeam boats.  Up until now only narrowboats have the freedom to cruise both the north and the south.

Looks like the writing was handwritten

At the far end of Milton Keynes, near Bletchley Park,  is a place called Fenny Stratford where there is a lock with a swing bridge over it.  We had both forgotten about the swing bridge and were entering the lock and realised at the last minute before any damage was done.  Amazing that two of us could get a lock set and start taking the boat in without either of us noticing a metal road swing bridge across the lock!

We have never stopped off to pay a visit to Bletchley Park (the home of the WWII codebreakers) but when we are on our way back up to Gayton next March on our way to France, we should have plenty of time.  It is one of the places we have both wanted to visit and we should be on a more leisurely mission to get to Gayton so there should be no excuses.

About a mile later I was passing some moored boats and a guy leaned out of a window shouting and swearing that I was going far too fast.  I was really taken aback as I was on tick over, there was no wake and the cut was wide and deep at that point.  I just concluded that he was just someone that always did that whatever speed the passing boat is doing.  This was further reinforced by cheery smiles and waves received from other boaters moored near him.

Water Eaton is the final suburb of Milton Keynes and we moored up as soon as we found some Armco.  We wanted to make sure we were secure with the high winds forecast and didn’t fancy using mooring pins.   As we were mooring up, Buddy seemed very interested in something in the hedge.   

He had found a stone cat and appeared to have thought it was real at first

Moored at Water Eaton for Wednesday night (a bit shallow as you can see!)

Over the last two days we have travelled 25 miles through nine locks and, weather permitting, are still on schedule to be in Aylesbury by Saturday.