Soulbury

Today's Canal - Grand Union

The weather this morning was remarkably sunny and warm but by lunch time the temperature dropped considerably, perhaps in advance of the coming storms forecast for late Sunday and Monday morning. Although cloud gradually covered the sky, we only had the merest hint of rain on a couple of occasions.

It was not far from our overnight mooring into Wolverton where we have often stopped for supermarket shopping. There is now an Asda as well as a Tesco. The former is closer to the canal, just, and so we went there. However, it is worth remembering that it is - for Asda - a small store and sometimes choice is limited. However, we were able to find almost all that was on our shopping list but we also have the option of stopping outside Tesco in Leighton Buzzard tomorrow.

Back at the boat and we set off along what is a rather long pound, over eleven miles. There are no locks at all in the main part of Milton Keynes until reaching the very shallow one at Fenny Stratford.

We have not see many herons this past week but this one kept flying ahead of us and waiting until we caught up.

Crossing Grafton Street Aqueduct

Cruising through Milton Keynes is now quite familiar but it is not tedious - although there are few significant landscapes. The urban development is mostly hidden from the canal user by the extensive tree-linings, which have now matured to a substantial size.

The severe weather warning for Sunday and Monday raises the possibility that we may not be able to make as much progress then as planned - there may even be stoppages for fallen trees. As a precaution we decided that we should press on today and tomorrow as much as possible. With no locks, it was straightforward to have lunch 'on the go'.

Blue skies made occasional re-appearances during the afternoon as this photo near Milton Keynes Marina at Peartree Bridge shows.

Stoke Hammond Lock

After Fenny Stratford we passed through only one 'proper' lock at Stoke Hammond as clouds gathered and daylight started to fade. As a result we made no attempt to go through Soulbury Three Locks as it would be close to dusk by the time we reached the top, and moored just before the flight.

The last thing we have to do today is to remember that the clocks go back tonight - and then we will really be into autumn!

15.4 miles - 2 locks