APRIL 6TH--13TH

We left Stoke Hammond on Wednesday, and pressed on
through the three Soulbury Locks, and the Leighton Lock.
Our plan had been to stop at Leighton Buzzard, as the guide book gave it a good write up,
but there was nowhere to moor, so went on and out into the countryside again.
At last the scenery is becoming more attractive. Up to now it's not been anything special.
We moored up for lunch, and, whilst we were eating, a boat came by and hooted.
It was Phantom, the one with whom we'd come through the Stoke Bruerne Locks.
We had a quick chat and then they were off.


BELOW CHURCH LOCK, ON THE GRAND UNION

We continued and moored up for the night at Slapton Lock,
as the guide book had given the pub a good report.
It was a little distance to the pub, and, when we arrived, there were the people from Phantom.
They really are phantoms, they keep on popping up everywhere!!
However, the pub had changed hands and, although the meal was good,
the pub was empty and the landlord was a little disillusioned about it all.

On Thursday, we set off through nine locks for Marsworth Junction, in company with Midnight Owl.
The locks on the Grand Union are all double width and,
wherever possible, one should share them to save water.
We shared these locks with a family who were out for the Easter Holidays.
There were two daughters, but we only ever saw the younger one,
as the other one was about to do A levels and was "down below" studying.
She had an offer of a place at Oxford, and was obviously determined to get there!

At Marsworth Junction we turned right on to the Aylesbury Arm, a cul-de-sac of a canal,
just six miles and with sixteen locks.
We moored for the night just below "Gudgeon Stream Lock" what a lovely name.
It was a delightful spot, so peaceful, there was just no noise at all.


A VIEW FROM THE CANAL

The next day, Good Friday, we set off for the end of the canal.
I recalled that this was a much better Good Friday than last year--then I fell in the canal.
I don't think I mentioned that in my diary last year.
I was so fed up about it, I didn't want to talk about it.
But now I have lots more confidence and experience, hopefully I shan't do it again!
The rest of the canal was equally as pretty, until the last few locks,
where it went through a rather rundown area, and there were padlocks on the locks
to stop the local wildlife from opening them and letting the water out.

As we approached the last lock, we could see a group of people, and a fire going, and a tent.
I got the binoculars out to see if we had a 'situation' ahead,
but it looked like a family party, so we continued on to the lock.
It really was quite amusing; the "adult male" of the outfit was about forty
with a skin head haircut and obviously pretty drunk.
His partner looked a good few years younger, and she didn't seem the worse for wear.
There were also two children, a boy about eight and a little girl about two.
There was also a very gangly youth, aged about eighteen who was definitely in his cups.
Skinhead decided he would help with the locks.
This seemed to involve an awful lot of bad language, and the others also joined in!
When the gate was ready to open, the gangly one was adamant that it should be pushed one way,
whilst the rest of us were equally sure it should go the other!
Despite his inebriated state, Gangly One had quite a bit of strength,
and it wasn't until he lost interest in the whole proceedings
and went off to find another tinny that we were able to open the lock gate and proceed!!
Skinhead told us that he'd brought them all out to show them
how people used to amuse themselves in the old days, just simple pleasures, no telly or computers.
Really, it was a very commendable idea, but why he had to do it in the middle of Aylesbury,
right on the edge of the canal where the children could fall in,
was a little less easy to understand.
We managed to escape at last, but only after Trev had nearly lost his arm
with it being shaken so warmly and lenghtily,
and Trev had promised to see him in The Ship later in the evening!

Eventually we arrived in Aylesbury Basin, and received the warmest welcome we've ever had.
The Aylesbury Canal Society run the Basin and the moorings,
and they are also the people who have worked so hard over the last twenty-five years
to get the Aylesbury Arm restored and working again.
We were shown to a mooring spot, helped to moor, lent a tv aerial cable,
shown the club facilities, and all in all it was very pleasant.
We stayed here for three nights, it was just short walk in to town for shopping.
Our friends the postmen came to see us on Saturday,
and we went to a village pub and had an excellent meal.

It's interesting to reflect that the mooring at Aylesbury was free.
When I compare this with the reception we used to get at Braunston
whenever we went in the office--usually a blank stare or the impression
that we were interrupting something much more important,
and remember that we paid £2,400 for the privilege, it's an interesting comparison.

We joined the Aylesbury Canal Society whilst we were there, as a way of saying thank you for everything.

On Easter Monday, we set off back up the Arm and stayed in the same place as when we went down.


EYE LEVEL VIEW OF A SWAN AS I WENT UP THE LOCK

We walked to the pub which we had visited with our friends on Saturday,
but sadly they weren't doing food this evening, so we drowned our sorrows,
went back to the boat and dug something out of the freezer to eat.

On Tuesday, we got up and each had a shower, but the shower pump didn't seem to be working properly.
On investigation, we found there was a hole in the bottom of the pump
and it had been pumping the water in to the bottom of the boat,
as well as out through the side of the boat which it is supposed to do.
We had planned to stay for another night at the same spot,
but now we set off through the rest of the locks for the junction with the Grand Union.
We were aiming for the delightfully named Cow Roast Marina, where there was a pump in stock.

We came up the Marsworth flight of locks and on to the the "Tring Summit".
Apparently, every boat going up to the summit and dropping down, disturbs 200,000 gallons of water!
There is a couple of reservoirs at the top to provide the water.
We moored just above Cow Roast Marina, and Trev went down on the bike to fetch the pump.
He fitted it in and Hey Presto, we can now shower again.

The guide mentioned a pub by the marina, so we went down for a meal,
having been thwarted the night before.
The pub had changed hands since the guide was written, it seems to be a regular occurrence.
May be we should treat ourselves to a more recent edition, yet ours is only three years old.
However, although it was no longer a "family pub" (heaven be praised) it is now a Thai restaurant, and we had an excellent meal.

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