Stoke Bruerne

The day started with a cloudless blue sky and continues that way until sun down. Although chilly at first, it soon became very warm and layers of clothes gradually removed!

With no locks ahead for several hours and a need to go shopping, Mike set off just after eight o'clock, leaving Christine to finish her mug of tea in bed! After a while, we passed the ;point at which the proposed new canal to link with the Great River Ouse at bedford is likely to begin. We only hope that one day we will be able to see it for ourselves.

Cruising in these conditions is fabulous! And the design of the linear park around the canal is a lasting reminder of the skill and determination that went into the original Milton Keynes Development Corporation. All those who were involved must be proud of what they were able to create and that, unlike so many other new towns, Milton Keynes remains as attractive now as it did when it was built in the Seventies and Eighties.

Shortly before Wolverton, Mike made an attempt to photograph Christine and Take Five as they cruised over the Grafton Street Aqueduct - not as easy as he thought! Shortly afterwards we pulled in for lunch and a chance to enjoy the sunshine.

We arrived at Wolverton late morning and were pleasantly surprised by our planned mooring. Three years ago when we were last here it was a building site, with the old railways works in a derelict condition. Now, there are some attractive apartment developments on one side and, on the other, the refurbished railway workshops are close to being occupied as a multi-use retail, eating and recreational use. Hopefully, the next time we pass here we shall see it in full swing, as it were.

We walked the short distance to Tesco but spotted a farmers Market opposite. We bought items from several stalls - no doubt much higher ticket prices than in Tesco, but we hope that we will be rewarded by better flavours! certainly the special flapjack (3 for £5!) went down well at tea time. Still two to go . . . We treated ourselves to a joint of beef from a farm stall: tomorrow lunch when Andrew meets up with us at Stowe Hill to do the car swap should be all the better for it!

The solitary Cosgrove lock came shortly after we started off once more with another long pound to the bottom of the Stoke Bruerne flight of seven locks. There was a large number of people out enjoying the sunshine and many of them, especially the younger children, we more than willing to help open and close the lock gates and paddles. As a result we completed the first five locks in under and hour and the whole flight in ninety minutes.

Nowhere much to moor above the lock in the short distance before Blisworth Tunnel entrance so we pressed on. The tunnel is one of the straightest on the system given its length (over 2800 metres). (The circle in the left picture above highlights the other end, not long after entering the tunnel) We had the tunnel all to ourselves so no chance to practise passing in the dark! The tunnel was closed for several years a short while back and the repairs are still easy to distinguish from the original.

When we first started cruising the canals there was no way of knowing how far you were through - sometimes it can seem a very long time  - but now there are markers every 100 metres and, especially important, a midway marker.

Shortly after completing the tunnel we found a mooring spot with a fairly short run to Stowe Hill in the morning.