(With both boats - posted by Alan
(Retrospective Post for Saturday 2nd June)
A quick trip back to base, with me on "Flamingo" and Cath on "Sickle", (other than through Blisworth Tunnel, where David took charge of "Sickle" to allow Cath to be inside "Flamingo" with the dogs).
No pictures taken. it seems.
Stoke Bruerne to Weedon
Miles per boat: 9.8, Miles both boats: 19.6, Locks:0
Total Trip Miles: 257.0, Locks: 138
Saturday, 30 June 2018
An easy day until the very last bit.
(With both boats - posted by Alan
(Very retrospective Post for Saturday 2nd June)
Things have slipped again! The push to get ready for the Braunston Historic Boats event, where we needed both boats present, each ready to accept guests, has meant that I failed to write up all of the previous trip.
Not a lot to say really - just a gentle plod back to base with both boats without rushing too much.
We like stopping in Stoke Bruerne, so decided to go no further than that on this day.
Not recorded in the pictures is the major fight we had to get up the upper reaches of the Stoke Bruerne flight. Levels in the "long pound" were so poor that I grounded totally with both boats abreast, then had a major fight to get David back on board, to free ourselves, and proceed with them singled out. Even then Flamingo grounded totally when approaching the lock outside the Navigation, and it was necessary to send down several large flushes of water to get her off, which was only achieved with some difficulty. It seems that low levels in all the major flights up here (Stoke Bruerne, Buckby and Braunston) are now accepted as the norm ny CRT. At the worst bits, it can make working boats of the draught of "Sickle" ot "Flamingo" an order of magnitude harder than it ought to be. A very disappointing situation, but increasingly the norm.
Great Linford to Stoke Bruerne
Miles per boat: 11.4, Miles both boats: 22.9, Locks: 8
Total Trip Miles: 237.4, Locks: 138
(Very retrospective Post for Saturday 2nd June)
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| The rather lovely ex Stewarts and Lloyds "Gerald" passes before we set off. |
Not a lot to say really - just a gentle plod back to base with both boats without rushing too much.
We like stopping in Stoke Bruerne, so decided to go no further than that on this day.
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| Not a good place for this to be if coming through that bridge with a full length boat! |
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| Make up your mind! - Welcome or not? |
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| About to enter Cosgrove lock. |
Not recorded in the pictures is the major fight we had to get up the upper reaches of the Stoke Bruerne flight. Levels in the "long pound" were so poor that I grounded totally with both boats abreast, then had a major fight to get David back on board, to free ourselves, and proceed with them singled out. Even then Flamingo grounded totally when approaching the lock outside the Navigation, and it was necessary to send down several large flushes of water to get her off, which was only achieved with some difficulty. It seems that low levels in all the major flights up here (Stoke Bruerne, Buckby and Braunston) are now accepted as the norm ny CRT. At the worst bits, it can make working boats of the draught of "Sickle" ot "Flamingo" an order of magnitude harder than it ought to be. A very disappointing situation, but increasingly the norm.
Great Linford to Stoke Bruerne
Miles per boat: 11.4, Miles both boats: 22.9, Locks: 8
Total Trip Miles: 237.4, Locks: 138
Monday, 11 June 2018
Some rather good photos.
(With both boats - posted by Alan
(Retrospective Post for Monday 14th May)
When we were boating down the Stoke Bruerne flight a few weeks ago, I was aware we were being regularly photographed.
So I had a word with the photographer, to see if he publishes his pictures on the Internet. He is called Geoff Murphy, he does publish his photos, and they are really rather good.
Once I had seen them, I asked Geoff if I could put some on the blog, but initially missed his reply dues to the intricacies of Flickr. However I can now see he said this was OK, so I'm posting a selection here.
As I need them in quite low resolution on the blog, if you are interested in seeing Geoff's whole album at a higher quality, you can view it here.
As usual clicking an image in the blog should show it larger.
(All photos copyright Geoff Murphy, but used with permission)
(Retrospective Post for Monday 14th May)
When we were boating down the Stoke Bruerne flight a few weeks ago, I was aware we were being regularly photographed.
So I had a word with the photographer, to see if he publishes his pictures on the Internet. He is called Geoff Murphy, he does publish his photos, and they are really rather good.
Once I had seen them, I asked Geoff if I could put some on the blog, but initially missed his reply dues to the intricacies of Flickr. However I can now see he said this was OK, so I'm posting a selection here.
As I need them in quite low resolution on the blog, if you are interested in seeing Geoff's whole album at a higher quality, you can view it here.
As usual clicking an image in the blog should show it larger.
(All photos copyright Geoff Murphy, but used with permission)
Friday, 1 June 2018
Milton Keynes
(With both boats - posted by Alan
Some canal boaters like long lock-free pounds, where you can travel maybe 10, 20 or even more miles without working through any locks. Other canal boaters like working through locks, and prefer stretches of canal where they come fairly regularly. Generally I fall into the second of these groupings - I like taking the boats through locks - though I will admit that with the passing of years, and me not getting any younger, trying to knock off thirty or more fairly heavy locks in a days boating no longer holds the appeal it did when I was in my teens or twenties!
Even now I like to take things a bit easier, though, I am not a huge fan of travelling relatively local stretches of canal that I know well, but which have no locks and which I need to cover on a regular basis to access destinations further afield. The stretch of the Grand Union that takes a fairly circuitous route around Milton Keynes is such a stretch. (OK, strictly the canal didn't exactly choose to be routed around Milton Keynes because it was there getting on for 200 years before most of Milton Keynes was - it just happens that Milton Keynes has been built so it now looks like the GU passes around much of it!)
There is nothing really wrong with this stretch of canal as a cruising route, in fact much of it is quite pleasant, and some of what it passes through is very nice indeed. But once you have left Leighton Buzzard and the locks at Stoke Hammond behind, it is all one lock-less stretch, other than the very shallow lock at Fenny Stratford. Even as you pass out of Milton Keynes through Wolverton, there is still only one fairly shallow lock as Cosgrove, before several more miles to Stoke Bruerne, the first point at which you get to start working again.
We find that for overnight stops in Milton Keynes it is well worth getting to know the "best" bits near some of the old villages it swept in as it grew. Favourite overnight moorings with us include Stantonbury - still very rural, with a walk out to a derelict church, although new housing is now changing this area.
However even better is Great Linford, particularly if you can get on one of the very few "Parks" 48 hour moorings on the non tow-path side. This time we couldn't, and consequently struggled to find anywhere deep enough on the tow-path side to tie up our deep draughted ex working boats. without having to get the dogs to walk a plank to get on and off. However once we were finally moored, we were still able to walk a circuit across two different bridges, so the dogs got to enjoy the rather nice park anyway, (even if Odin was a bit miffed at not being allowed to swim in a pond that looked like more mud than water!)
Leighton Buzzard to Great Linford
Miles per boat: 14.3, Miles both boats: 28.6, Locks: 6
Total Trip Miles: 214.5, Locks: 130
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| Latest boat found drifting in the middle of the canal |
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| One of CRT's this time - at least there was some (just) usable rope! |
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| Quiet passage through "Three Locks" |
We find that for overnight stops in Milton Keynes it is well worth getting to know the "best" bits near some of the old villages it swept in as it grew. Favourite overnight moorings with us include Stantonbury - still very rural, with a walk out to a derelict church, although new housing is now changing this area.
However even better is Great Linford, particularly if you can get on one of the very few "Parks" 48 hour moorings on the non tow-path side. This time we couldn't, and consequently struggled to find anywhere deep enough on the tow-path side to tie up our deep draughted ex working boats. without having to get the dogs to walk a plank to get on and off. However once we were finally moored, we were still able to walk a circuit across two different bridges, so the dogs got to enjoy the rather nice park anyway, (even if Odin was a bit miffed at not being allowed to swim in a pond that looked like more mud than water!)
Leighton Buzzard to Great Linford
Miles per boat: 14.3, Miles both boats: 28.6, Locks: 6
Total Trip Miles: 214.5, Locks: 130
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