Friday was food shopping day, so Karen and Buddy ran the 6 ½ miles
into Aylesbury and I followed later in the car.
I picked them up at the basin which was still quiet; apart from Liz’s
boat and her trip boat there was only one other boat on the pontoons. That was one that was there when we arrived on
December 1st so I can only assume he has an arrangement with CRT as
the pontoon moorings are limited to 14 days.
We popped into the supermarket on the way back by which time
it was lunchtime. We needed to get water
– well, we could have waited another couple of days, but Ann was visiting us on
Saturday. We were planning on having a
roast lunch which creates a lot of washing up, therefore we wanted to make sure
we had plenty of water.
Getting
water from this week’s mooring in Marsworth entails a 1 ½ mile cruise including
going down and back up a lock. The
nearest water point is about ¼ mile behind us, so we have to find somewhere to
turn first. There used to be a winding
hole the other side of the bridge where we are moored but it has long since
silted up. This means travelling further
on to a pair of locks, down the first lock and then turning in the pound
between the locks before coming back up again, past where we were moored, past
the water point, turn at Marsworth junction, get water and back to our mooring.
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| The pound where we winded before heading back into Marsworth |
We were
soon back into Marsworth and heading past where we have been moored since
Monday. We then reached Marsworth
junction where the Aylesbury arm heads west into Aylesbury. This is a nice wide junction and therefore
easy to wind in. After turning yet again
we were soon at the water point. After
filling up it was back to the same place we had left a couple of hours
earlier. Spot the difference…
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| …before we left for water and… |
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| …after we got back |
Karen’s
suggestion about taking a trip up to Northampton had been preying on my mind all
day and later on I suddenly realised why.
I had a look at the winter stoppages and found the Northampton arm is
closed for maintenance from 28th January until 15th
March. As it happens that won’t matter
as it gives us plenty of time, after the arm reopens, to get into Northampton and back to Gayton (at
the start of the Northampton arm) by 25th March, our craning out
date.
So, we
will stay in this general area for a few more weeks with a few car/train trips
visiting family and friends before we leave.
A week or so into March we will start heading north up through Milton
Keynes and, at Gayton junction, turn off to Northampton. We will also stop off at Bletchley Park,
which is just before Milton Keynes, as we still haven’t made a visit
there.
The map
below shows the general Marsworth area.
“Home” is where we are currently moored, and the dark blue line is where
we cruised up and down today. The Aylesbury arm heads off to the west from
Marsworth junction. The Wendover arm
leaves the Grand Union a bit further down at Bulbourne junction. Some of the reservoirs that feed this part of
the Grand Union can be seen at Tringford (mis-spelled Tringforde) and Wilstone
Green. The services where we got water
are by Church Lane bridge just above Marsworth Junction.
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| The Grand Union, Aylesbury arm and Wendover arm at Marsworth |
Saturday
was yet another relatively mild day and Ann came over to visit us. This meant we could be lazy and just stay
indoors although we did take Buddy out for a couple of short walks. On one of the walks we went down the locks
where we turned the boat on Friday on our way to get water. The pound between the locks was about four to
five feet lower than on Friday and would have presented a problem if we had
wanted to turn. We would have had to let
water through the lock to raise the level in the pound before we could turn
without grounding.
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| The pound a lot lower on Saturday compared with Friday |
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| Karen winding in the wind… |
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| …it was also her turn to use the lock ladders |
Although
we had topped up with water a couple of days ago, we topped up again as we
passed the water point at Marsworth junction.
Well, we had to wait as there was another boat using the services, so we
had some coffee and cake whilst we waited.
The couple taking on water have been moored just up from us this week
and every time they walked passed us with their daughter they had to stop as
she was mesmerized by the butterflies on the side of our boat.
Just
before our tank was full, Duncan and his partner and daughter turned up on
their boat as they needed water too. Unfortunately,
they were caught by the wind when they were mooring up to wait – there is a gap
between a couple of houses where the wind whips through. They just managed to throw me a line so I
could hold them whilst they sorted themselves out. I say they arrived on their boat, but they
had three – two breasted up together and a rowing boat tied to the back. Duncan is a chippie so stores waste timber on
the rowing boat.
We were
soon on the way again and heading up the seven locks of the Marsworth
flight. It had started drizzling (but
not for long) and we were reminded that it has always rained whenever we have
used the flight. It must be really
pretty when it’s dry and clear as the flight overlooks the Marsworth
reservoirs.
 |
| Approaching the bottom lock at Marsworth |
The narrow
locks on the Grand Union were replaced with double width locks around 1929 to
help improve traffic flow. On the flights
between Braunston and Knowle, most of the single locks remain in some state or
other. Those on the Marsworth flight
have been completely filled in and there is not much left to show that they ever
existed. The bridge on the left in the
picture above is where the original cut ran and there was a narrow lock the
other side of the bridge hole.
 |
| Leaving a lock half way up with one of the reservoirs in view (yes, we did close the gate) |
After the
fourth lock we saw a boat coming down in the lock above us – always a welcome
sight as it means we can leave our lock gate open and the same for the guy
coming down.
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| Welcome sight of a boat coming down in the lock above us |
Even with
the dismal skies and the occasional drizzle, there were plenty of gongoozlers
out and about. It must be a nice place
to take the family for a walk as there are the attractions of a lock flight and
also the reservoirs to walk around. Not
to mention the pubs and café in Marsworth awaiting their return to the village.
 |
| Gongoozlers at the fifth lock |
We were
soon in the final lock of the day at a place called Bulbourne junction. This is where the Wendover arm heads off west
to Wendover. Well, it used to run the
seven miles to Wendover but only the first 1 ½ miles is navigable at
present. The local canal trust is doing
a grand job restoring the whole length and there are many stretches in water
further down towards Wendover.
 |
| Moving over in the top lock ready to turn right down the Wendover arm |
The
building on the left in the picture of the top lock above covers a dry
dock. The dry dock was originally the
narrow lock that was replaced in the 1920s and was also the dry dock where we once
had our previous boat blacked.
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| Turning onto the Wendover arm |
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| Milepost at the entrance to the arm |
The arm is
very shallow but also very clear and not many boats use it. When Karen ran down here the other day there
was only one boat on the arm and that was moored at the end. We were only going half way down to start
with, to a point where we knew there was some Armco to moor against. With the arm being so shallow it makes the
going slow but that in turn makes it even more peaceful.
 |
| Gangplank required at our Sunday night mooring |
All in
all, it was a busy boat day as we saw six on the move, well eight if you count
Duncan’s two extra boats. In all, we
cruised three miles through nine locks on Sunday.
We will take
a walk down to the end of the navigation in a day or two and, if there’s room
for us, take the boat down and moor there for a few days.
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