Sunny Sunday

Home on Monday to look after a spotty granddaughter!

We spent a very wet Saturday on aA  couple of buses to take us from Bulbourne Junction to Milton Keynes via Aylesbury to pick up the car and then deposit it at Cowroast Marina ready for our return to Chi for a couple of days.

Proud family

Sid found a new car while waiting for a bus in Aylesbury!

Online Again at last!

Well, we are back on board but have not been anywhere with a signal so this is a brief update of where we hav been and wee will fill in greater detail later.

Back on board on Saturday on glorious, hot sunshine.
Sunday: once again moored at Campbell Park. Out for the day on bikes exploring Milton Keynes. We found it a fascinating place.
Monday: turned round and made our way to Fenny Stratford, the nearest mooring for Bletchley.
Tuesday: Cycled to Bletchley Park and had a brilliant and most informative day. An excellent place to visit. Highly recommended!
Phone call from Janice, Emily has chickenpox!
Wednesday: Continued our journey to Leighton Buzzard.
Thursday: Overcast and rain threatening so we had a look around the very pleasant market town, did a bit of window shopping and returned to boat just as it started raining. THEN the thunderstorms began! And what a storm it was, reminiscent of our French trip!

Now, in a very nice pub, the Grove Lock at Grove lock a little way out of Leighton Buzzard. We needed the walk!! A very nice drop of London Pride as well!!

Jenny at the Peace Pagoda, Milton Keynes

(Note the shorts got an airing)

Sid at the same place and he had his shorts on but we decided that was a sight you will have to wait for!

A Leighton Buzzard oddity, of which there are many!

Milton Keynes

The Stoke locks took an age thanks to two boats in front of us who decided that they would not close the bottom gates on the last five locks. This is very uncurteous and Jenny became a grumpy old woman who had definitely lost her sense of humour. We were delayed further at the bottom lock, where some CRT chaps were trying to pressure wash the gates. Unfortunately for them the full lock was overspilling. They asked us to go into the lock and then open one of the bottom paddles just  little, then to close it again. This allowed them to do the the outside of the closed bottom gates. When this was done, some 25 minutes later we were able to empty the whole lock and proceed. Sadly, for the boats behind us the CRT pressure washers then informed them that the would be 45 minutes to an hour doing the inside.

Whilst waiting Jenny was busy taking photos and watching the workers whilst Sid and boat sat in a three quarter filled lock. It was a strange sight which warranted some photos!  Jenny was asked, rather brusquely, by one of the chaps to stop taking photos. We wondered why this might be!!! What didn't they want on film??!!  We decided to insert one anyway!

CRT workers pressure hosing the lock gates

On to Cosgrove in warm sunshine, which was most welcome having started the day in rain! We took a short walk through the 'horse tunnel' which took us to the Barley Now where we just had to enter in order to ensure the quality of their ale was up to standard. It was! However, no wifi again!

Both ends of the Horse Tunnel at Cosgrove

It was a beautiful evening with sound of church bells ringing across the fields and at last a lovely sunset!

Next day we continued on our way towards Milton Keynes.  

Hunters Moon is now moored in Milton Keynes Marina while we have a very brief visit home.  We are looking after Emily on Friday and after tidying the garden, sorting the post, catching up with a few bits and pieces and visiting Jenny's mum we will return to MK on Saturday and resume our trip.  We hope to spend a few days in and around MK to explore and also to visit Bletchley Park so our next post may well be in code!

Sorry Matt and Wendy we almost forgot to say a big THANK YOU for collecting us at MK Marina and taking us to Fenny Compton to collect the car.  If these knights in shining armour had not offered us a lift it was going to take us nearly 5 hours to get to Fenny by public transport.  It was good to catch up with them after their honeymoon and share some time with them.

The next photo is especially for Pete and Sara:  This is the New Inn at New Bardswell which is the pub that has a parrot!  Sadly, we did not visit it to check!

Stoke Bruerne

Another very challenging few hours on the water bought us through Blisworth Tunnel (the third longest on the system) to Stoke Bruerne, a centre piece of canal history. The canal museum is full of interesting facts, figure and general can information and history.

Having come through here last summer when there were several CRT Volunteers helping with the locks it was a bit disappointing when the only volunteer we encountered was one who materialised from nowhere to take a photo of our boat and her details as we moored up to ensure we didn't over stay our welcome! Hey ho!

Picturesque and historic Stoke Bruerne

on a very windy day

A slow start on Saturday

Sid and Jenny woke to the sounds of the nearby railway and wind rushing through the trees! The very strong winds that halted us early yesterday had not abated so we were in two minds about venturing further, so we had very lazy, slow start.

We were both a bit low and down in the dumps when suddenly the mobile rang and on the other end was our little Emily. She can now speak into the phone and say hello Nana and hello Gandad, which is lovely. She has known for a while that we live inside the phone!!! She always says Nana and Gandad in there!! So, we had a chat and we also spoke to Janice!! We both got a lovely bye bye from Emily and felt much brighter.

This helped us to make the decision to move and see how we got on.  An hour down the cut and we gave up! The wind was dangerous and had not long moored up before a boat came along and was blown right into the back of us! We had obviously made the right decision!

Hence we find ourselves enjoying an afternoon drop of very fine ale in the convenient pub opposite our mooring in Bugbrooke.

Jenny has spent the early afternoon downloading some photos! Here are a few.

Jenny lock wheeling in the rain at Watford Locks

Sid wanted one this size at the top of Foxton Locks!

Made it to the top of Foxton in the sunshine

Sid in the sunshine!

Pete, the happy helmsman!

CRT Volunteers

We have once again received nothing but help and kindness from the friendly CRT Volunteers during our trip. These lovely people give a day (and sometimes more) of their time to aid and assist boaters along the cut, usually at flights and staircases of locks. We are always delighted to see them, always recognisable by their blue sweatshirts and life jackets, because an extra pair of competent hands is very welcome. They always show an interest in our travels and often impart useful information. Must are boat owners or used to be but some just have an interest in our amazing inland waterways systems.

Jenny and Andy at Foxton Locks

A rather wet John at Watford Locks!

Back in touch again!

It seems an age since we have managed to get a WiFi signal so it is good to feel we are back to civilisation.


We have arrived at Weedon Bec( in the sunshine), which is where the offices of Rugby Boats are situated and it was through Rugby Boats that we bought Hunters Moon.

We are both missing family at the moment and plan to get back home within the next week or so.

It was so good to catch up with Sue and Pete and we had a lovely days cruise with them on Monday.

Pete, Jenny, Sue and Sid at Market Harborough

Sadly, with the weather breaking we have got wet, been buffeted by gusty winds, found a pub with no wifi (but it did have a ghost called Matilda), discovered that Jenny has weekened since last year when she just could not close one gate on the Buckby locks, had a lovely wedding anniversary, got wet again and found a brilliant farm shop. We are eating Doris the Gloucester Old Spot for dinner tonight and Larry the lamb for Sunday lunch! Sorry to any vegetarians reading this!

Flora and fauna

It has been wonderful watching spring burst forth throughout the countryside and the oak is definitely before the ash!  I think that is supposed to mean we are going to have a good summer.  I personally forecast the summer by the number of dandelions about.  There are loads so my forecast is also for a good one.  It has certainly been glorious for the past couple of days but the evenings and nights turn very cold so much so that we are still having fires!

The whole country seems to be yellow at the moment with fields after fields covered in oil-seed rape.  We have seen so many different birds: wrens, sparrows, tits of various types, blackbirds, red kite, crows, herons, ducks and lots of ducklings, skylarks and one beautiful thrush but we still haven't heard a cuckoo!!

Majestic Horse Chestnuts

Most of the trees are green now except for the poor ash and some sycamore trees.  The Horse Chestnut look majestic and willows are are weeping.

The yellow Leicestershire Countryside

As far as our waterway journey is concerned we found two beautiful 'arms'.  The Welford Arm and the Market Harborough Arm.  These both proved to be little gems with delightful basins at the end.  We plan to explore a bit of MH tomorrow morning having arrived here this afternoon in warm sunshine and we do need to do some shopping.  Shops are few and far between on this part of the network which runs through such remote and stunning scenery.

Saturday took us to the Foxton staircase of locks.  It is one of the wonders of the canal system and celebrates it 200th anniversary this year.  The area is also famous for the incline plane. a magnificent piece of engineering which was in use for just 11 years and dismantled and sold for £250.

Hunters Moon descending the Foxton Staircase

Remains of the Incline Plane at Foxton

We had visits from Simon's Godparents, Sue and Pete and their son, Matthew, his wife Gemma and 20 month old Joseph.  It was lovely to catch up with them all and to watch the experience of an inquisitive and lively little boy on a 57 foot narrowboat.

Gemma and a worried Joseph

The Loneliness of the Lovely Leicester Line

The Leicester Line of the Grand Union is remote and quite beautiful.  We only came across three other boats moving today. Maybe because it was a rather, cold and overcast day - a biting northeasterly blowing!

                       A heron takes flight on the Leicester Line

On Thursday we encountered the amazing Watford Locks and with the help of John, the very helpful CRT volunteer, we ascended the staircase successfully and didn't have to queue too long.

The Watford Locks

A four chamber staircase

We were halted at Braunston bottom lock on Wednesday due to an unexpected closure! Half the canal folk knew it was going to happen and the other half, including the CRT people at Braunston Stop House didn't have a clue! So, we spent the day moored alongside David, Cathy and Wilf, their wire haired terrier, waiting for the flight to open at 4.00pm, along with lots of other folk! It was a glorious day, almost short and t shirts again!

We were moored outside Wharf Narrow boats, so Sid kept popping in and out planning and costing his next job.  Do was delighted to have hi company!


The locks eventually opened at 4.30 and we were the first bots up. A long day!

Tomorrow brings our third tunnel and should see us to Foxton Locks - one of the wonders of the canal world! Then on to Market Harborough!

Look who Sid found at the end of the Welford Arm!