Marsworth

A very pleasant day - a bit grey and chilly to start with but the afternoon and evening were sunny and sometimes rather warm.

We began by completing the three locks to the summit at Cowroast where we were able to empty the elsan whilst filling the lock (this would not be allowed on the Thames but here there is not much alternative as the only spaces above the lock were occupied apart from a small length for a lock landing)

After completing the lock we turned into Cowroast Marina to fill up with diesel. They also had an excellent chandlery shop where we bought a replacement lightweight lock handle, identical to the one which was lost over Easter. Mike also treated Christine to a long handle version to see if this will make raising paddles a little easier. (The offset is that the longer handle makes it more effort to lower them and may also have clearance problems on some locks but we shall see.) They also stocked chimneys - our existing one is falling to pieces, they probably do not have a very long life. Until you have a close contact with the output of solid fuel fires you do not appreciate how gungy and aggressive the smoke is! Unfortunately we later realised that we do not have the right sort of bolts to fix the Witch's Hat (aka Coolie's Hat, both names are probably not pc any longer but that is how they are known!) to the main chimney. For now, then we will extract what life we can from the old one.

The Tring summit pound was subject to some improvement works a few years back and is most pleasant. Apparently at that time the vegetation was cut right back but has now matured to a degree that make the cutting attractive. One wonders whether the current level of maintenance (or not) will eventually see it once again too overgrown for comfort.

We pulled in for lunch just above Bulbourne. We took the opportunity to check the engine bay and found that there was still a small leak from the calorifier and so we needed to use our new handpump once again. However, we opted to screw it to a wooden base before too long as this makes it much easier to use, but these simple things always take a little longer than anticipated.

The former BW workshops at Bulbourne have closed and the attractive buildings adapted for other uses. The main part is currently a workshop for a garden sculpture maker.

As we arrived at Marsworth Top long, another boat was just preparing the next one down and they waited for us so that we continued down the flight together. These locks are described as pleasant to operate and we did indeed find the experience a whole lot better than some of the uphill work of the past couple of days - much less rope work is needed to control the boat in the lock, especially when sharing it with another boat!
 
Having made better progress than our schedule to reach Stowe Hill as planned, we were able to stop a little earlier and have roast vegetables for dinner.These take rather longer than at home as the oven is not fan-assisted! Turned out better than last time but it did need the three hours allowed.