Another sunny day but at times with a fresh breeze. Out of the wind the sun was very warm indeed.
Mike was having problems with the mobile phone hotspot and the contortions of an overseas call centre where even the simplest question seemed to require reference to a supervisor! In the end it appears that we have 'misunderstood' the deal we have bought into. What we were originally told was that the 1GB top up was a one-off and when used it could be replaced by another. However, it seems that all we have done is increased our monthly charge to allow 3GB each month rather than the standard 2GB. The next billing cycle starts on Monday and we have just 52MB to last until then. Hence this blog, and probably tomorrow's, will have to wait until we have the capability to upload it.
The upshot of all that was that, despite waking up quite early, we were later than usual in casting off from our overnight mooring.
The first activity was not a lock but a swing bridge that carries a public footpath across the canal. There are very few swing bridges on the Grand Union however this one was not too heavy to operate.
At the second lock we could see that paddles were open at both ends, running water through the lock to the pound below. Although we could see that the lower pound was well below its normal level, we filled the lock ready to go down. Before the lock was ready a CRT chap arrived - he was sorting out low water levels caused by someone leaving a paddle open overnight. It is always a surprise to some people just how quickly water is lost when paddles or gates are left open.
We then had a succession of locks, usually one at a time, which were quite easy, except that a boat ahead had gone through leaving a bottom gate open each time. Despite the fact that some folk still think that this is OK for a single hander to do - see above!
We spotted a small group of sheep taking advantage of the shade of a small may blossom tree.
Below Church Lock we pulled in for lunch. Although there was a suitable space between several other boats moored to the armco piling, this slot was very shallow and it took a bit of effort to come alongside, not helped by wind in the wrong direction. Setting off again was no less difficult.
In the next pound several indications stuck up out of the water to indicate where the offside bank used to be. In this case, a few concrete piles are abandoned mid stream!
In the next field there were quite a number of black lambs with several different mothers.
Grove Lock was busy still serving lunches so we had plenty of onlookers. One even came to help Christine! As we were about to leave below the lock, two young girls who had walked up the towpath but wanted to cross over to the pub. The only way is across the top of one set of gates. One lass went over easily but the other just could not make it. So Mike used the stern of the boat as a ferry to take her across - but we have no idea how she will get back! Perhaps Dutch courage will help.
Just before the town we saw the remains of several former loading wharfs. what we had not spotted before on one were the remains of a rail track for wagons, presumably to tip into waiting narrow boats. Alongside the canal was once a thriving sand and gravel industry, much of the wealth of the town once came from this activity and the canal, later the railway, enabled the producers to access markets much further afield.
Looking up possible churches for tomorrow morning gave us a quandary. We thought that we would make it to Stoke Hammond where we went once before. However, they have changed their pattern of services (perhaps a new vicar does not approve of churchwarden-led worship, which is what we experienced before) and so there is no service there tomorrow. Instead we looked at the church in Linslade - slightly nearer and less formal than Leighton Buzzard - and so opted to moor for the night on the southern approach to the town.
This gave us plenty of time to wander around the shops although Waitrose was pretty much the only place that was of any use. The butcher shop had already closed for the day - at 3.30!
We also discovered that until very recently the parishes of Linslade and Leighton Buzzard were in different dioceses but have now combined, along with several other villages, into a single group.
A sculpture is a reminder that at one time fighter planes were built in the town on a site now occupied by a Tesco supermarket. In the ground around the base of the sculpture are carved the many different names which the town has had over the centuries.
7.1 Miles - 8 Locks
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