Lovely Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes isn't all concrete

After a quiet night in a lovely spot at Fenny Stratford we woke to bright sunshine. We had two most welcome visitors Mari and her delightful 21 month old daughter Erin who loved feeding the ducks and calling Graham "daddy". After coffee and a super catch up chat they left us and we travelled through Milton Keynes which was absolutely lovely and without locks!

The view over the side of the Great Ouse Aquaduct

There were some lovely views en route but this view from the aquaduct was made slightly more interesting by the wind which was gusting strongly and pushing us towards the edge.

Today's cute animal is...... a cow!

As we were heading towards Thrupp Warf we communed with this cow. We sruggled to moor due to the wind but have a lovely spot opposite the Marina. Mari visited again this time with daughter Niamh who was fascinated that it had taken us so long to cover a ten minute car journey. Thank you for visiting us and for the buns and flowers.

Locks are like buses

We awoke to bright sunshine and a view across fields to distant hills. A quick check of water levels, oil etc., and we were ready to hit the road  river. Made a note to sort out the problem that meant the tunnel light and horn only work intermittantly - we have a 3000 yard tunnel coming up in a couple of days, and that won't be much fun without a light!

A small flight of locks

 The number of locks we need to pass through has dropped significantly today, and we had several sections of 2 or 3 miles without a stop, which was a blessed relief after the past few days. And then 3 come along at once! The above flight looked really dramatic from the top but was quite straightforward to get through. A taster of what is to come - this flight has 3 locks, but we possibly face one with 21 locks as we return south later. We spotted a mandarin duck today, but alas Angela was too busy feeding anything that moved to get anything more than a distant shot of it, so we have spared you any water foul pictures today.

Need to get the order right here!

Our last lock before stopping for the night was this one, which had a swing bridge over it. You have to move the bridge before entering, and put it back in place after leaving, to avoid leaving the local population stranded! We spent the early evening cleaning the boat inside and out, fixing (hopefully), the tunnel light and horn, and noting that now the bilge pump has stopped working - something to look at over the weekend! Weather looks nice for tomorrow and looking forward to our journey through Milton Keynes. After 10 days we are now North of Harlow.

What ate all the bread?

Formation narrowboating

We woke to find the loaf of bread which Angela had left on the rear deck to feed ducks, reduced to a few crumbs and a plastic bag with holes in it. Still not sure what animal was the culprit- suggestions please! We left Tring in the sunshine, still in convoy with Pat and Bob on The Andrew. Pretty soon, we were at the top of the Marsworth flight - 7 locks in quick succession with a short pound between each one. We decided that to save time, it would be fun to enter and leave the locks side by side, leaving only a few inches of space each side! We managed this (most of the time), but surprised one or two boats coming the other way when they found us bearing down on them from each side - it was a lot of fun.

Along the side of the flight of locks were several beautiful lakes.

 

Hitching a ride

We stopped for lunch at the bottom of the flight, in Marsworth, where we saw the scene above - yet another cute cygnet, but this time, riding on its mothers back. We also saw loads of large carp, which came up to the surface and made great slurping noises!

After a pub lunch, we said farewell to Pat and Bob, who were heading for Aylsbury, while we headed north. We shall miss their company and humour, and hope to meet up again at some point. We ploughed on into the rolling countryside west of Luton, with some great views, including the white lion carved on a hillside. As the light started to fade, we were running out of options for a mooring, and finally found a nice spot just before a lock to the south of Leighton Buzzard.

We reach the summit level of the Chilterns after 76 miles and 80 locks

 Idyllic overnight mooring 

After a peaceful night,apart from geese landing at 5a.m., we awoke to a lovely views and ducklings outside the cabin window. We set off in cloudy conditions with Bob and Pat in The Andrew. The weather threatened rain, the wind a little chilly but the scenery made up for it. We were heading up the Chilterns and therefore the locks were frequent and the water levels low in places.

 A heron from 1 metre away

As always the bird life on the canal was fascinating and this very assured Heron first of all flew at a low level over our heads (we didnt see him until he squawked loudly overhead) and then landed in front of the boat on the bank.

 The centre of Berkhampstead

This bridge commemorates a Canal Duke, Sir Francis Edgerton 1803, where, a little way after, we spent a lunch time and filled with water. Shortly after this bridge, Graham attempted a death defying leap from the top of Banjo onto the lockside above, and whilst indeed cheating death, he sustained a gashed knee and will be a little less ambitious in the future!

And then the rains came 

The heavens opened with heavy drizzle as we headed towards Tring. We managed to get some very expensive diesel at a Marina and were greatful for a lovely spot to moor, dry off and watch The Apprentice.

Hello to all the people who are still following our progress and not yet bored by our ramblings and endless photos of birds. A special mention to some year 9 students from Oakgrove School (Tayla, Zophia, Prescilla, Lauren, Megane, Saeed, Glen, Joe and Jack) who are taking interest in our progress.

Ducks and Dinosaurs

Waiting for two boats to clear a lock

We left Abbots Langley this morning, staying in convoy with Pat and Bob, and headed for Hemel Hampstead. Virtually every lock today was set against us, but we made good progress as we established a slick system for getting through in the minimum time.

Cute cygnets

We passed loads of little fluffy creatures on the way, and Angela fed every one!

Proud mum with her tyre house

It is fascinating to see the inginuity of water birds, building nests out of all sorts of modern day rubbish.

Washing in the conservatory!

We moored up in Hemel Hemstead, and did the washing - our little twin tub worked a treat. Angela and Pat then headed into town, while Bob went in search of a welder and I set about making a permanent repair to the front lamp, checked for leaks in the cooling system and stuffed the front of Banjo with damp washing. When Angela and Pat returned with bags of provisions (and clothes!) after quite a hike to the shops, we set off to find moorings for the night in the country beyond Hemel.

There are dinosaurs here!

As we left Hemel Hampstead behind, we passed this dinosaur, but then had a really close encounter with something a bit smaller. As we were about to leave a lock, Angela spotted a duck which had become waterlogged and was in danger of sinking. We set about trying to catch it and get it onto dry land. Alas we didn't have much to do this with, and manouvering two 15 ton plus narrowboats without squashing a small duck is not easy. Aided by a small fishing net and Bob's incredibly long boathook, we managed to encourage the soggy bird into the lock where we cornered it and I was able to grab it. Angela checked it over, and we left it sitting amonst weeds on the bank with a pile of wet bread. About a mile later, we found a lovely spot away from the road and railway, to moor for the night.

Banjo goes up in smoke!

Making new friends

A bright start this morning, and we celebrated it with a walk down the canal to.... Tescos!! We returned with bread (a loaf for us and another for Angela's friends above), wine and cheese and set off for the lock which lay a short distance away. We stopped there to fill up with water, and then headed north. After about 2 minutes, I noticed the temperature gauge was off the scale, followed by clouds of smoke from the engine compartment vents. We had lost our coolant and investigations, aided by a passing mechanic, revealved a small leak in a copper T piece. This was replaced by a collection of plumbing components and touch wood, we are now ok again.

Body building

We lost most of the day however, and so we pressed on in order to recharge the batteries and generate some hot water.

Lock buddies

We met up with Bob and Pat on The Andrew (above), and shared a number of locks with them which speeded things up. By 7pm we had a tank of hot water and so we (and The Andrew) are moored up just outside Abbots Langley. A meal of Cornish Pasties, peas and a bottle of wine, and the world looks rosy again....

The Colne Valley

More goslings

Woke to sunshine but it soon clouded over. Graham connected the solar panel and it was working with no freaky electrical effects! We walked down to Tescos for croissants amidst over 600 Jewish children on a sponsored 25k walk.
Set off facing a stiff breeze and light showers. As we approached our first lock of the day another boat was about to leave. The couple on the boat, Bracken, said they would wait for us at the next lock to share the work. Steve and Ann were returning to their moorings and knew the area well. We shared the next four locks whilst travelling through lovely scenery. By mid afternoon they reached their destination and we continued. The canal, like the others on this trip, is teaming with baby waterfowl. They are so lovely - a great advantage to travelling during May.

Lunch stop

We stopped for lunch in this pretty spot, then continnued through two more locks to Rickmansworth. We recognised the surroundings from Stockers Lock as we attended a boat festival in Rickmansworth last June. Found some pleasant moorings and settled down with the Sunday papers.

Solar Flare-up

Cowley as the light fades

Today, Saturday started well enough. The sun shone and we ate a hearty breakfast (in McDonald's!). We had decided to buy a set of solar panels from a nearby store where they were on special offer. This would help to keep the batteries charged when we were moored up for a few days. So, after a taxi ride to get the incredibly heavy box back to the boat, we set about mounting them on the roof. All went to plan and soon after, we had a shiny array of panels on the roof. I then set about connecting them into the electrical system. This too went well, and we soon had solar power flowing into the batteries. I decided to  sort out the problem we had had on Friday with the tunnel light, and apart from a small spark when accidentaly shorting out two terminals whilst connecting things up, this too was successful. That is the end of the good bits! A sort while later, and all the lights on the electrical panels were flashing and the control system reported rapidly discharging batteries and wildly fluctuating voltages. After disconnecting the solar panels, the problem remained. We decided to set off anyway, since staying put would have meant no hot water and no power by the evening. We pushed hard across west London, pausing only to remove debris tangled around the propeller. We made it to our planned destination at Cowley near Uxbridge and are currently moored in a pleasant stretch of canal by the Packet Boat Marina. Having spent most of the journey thinking about what might have gone wrong, I had a thought, and within minutes of tying up, the electrical system was back to normal. The spark I mentioned above, had blown an obscure fuse which lead to a seemingly unrelated set of faults - phew! With a feeling of considerable relief, we have therefore been able to sleep through the Eurovison Song Contest!!