Leighton Buzzard

We had moored overnight at the top of the Marsworth flight ready for their scheduled opening at 10 am. Just after 9:30, as a misty morning was beginning to clear, we moved the boat to the junction to find that the locks had already been removed and we could make a start. Entering the lock, Mike knocked the pole from the roof into the water and as he was retrieving it we were joined by a working boat making a delivery of building materials to a cottage three locks down.

Early morning mists

As we locked through, Christine chatted to a man taking photographs of the unused side ponds. It seems that BW are looking at plans to turn them into nature reserves. OK so that is a good idea but perhaps it might have been even better to restore them to operation and save some of the precious water whose lack is causing the extensive closures!

Lock cottage for deliveries

Low water in reservoir

fter the first three locks we continued on our own and were pleased with our smooth progress - the seven locks took us under the one and half hours normally allowed for the flight. Near the bottom we had a clearer view of the reservoirs and the extent to which they are lacking water this early in the season.

Approaching Pitstone we met a very wide beam trip boat out with a lively group who seemed amused at the though of us photographing them photographing us!

Bridge 125

Unusually for this canal, the bridge just north of the Pitstone railway bridge is a swing bridge. It has to be kept across the canal as a public footpath crosses the canal at this point.

Seabrook Pumping House

At Seabrook, back pumps were keeping the upper pound topped up - although the modern day pumps only occupy a small part of the original pump house.

Whipsnade Chalk Lion

We were keeping an eye open for the Whipsnade white lion, carved into the distant hillside in 1933 to promote the wildlife park, but it was a little further north than we remembered. Still, we did eventually catch it on camera!

Lock sharing

At Slapton Lock we met the first of the Wyvern Shipping hire boats out from Leighton Buzzard. They asked where was the nearest place they could turn around and Mike remembered that it was just under the nearby bridge so we waited for them and shared this and the next couple of locks as they headed back at the end of their first-time holiday. He was just retiring from the police service and was planning a celebration meal at the Grove Pub so we left them there and continued on to Leighton Buzzard itself.

St Michael and All Angels

Church Lock is named as a result of being adjacent to a small church - we have not really thought much about this on past journeys this way but today Mike took a look and discovered this helpful explanatory notice.

Just before Grove Lock, the non-towpath side of the canal has obviously been subject to extensive erosion in the past as this small stretch of one-time bank edging shows.

Bank erosion

Mike needed to be close enough to catch a train next morning as he was attending a weekend conference in London - and Christine was going back to Apsley to collect the car from where we had left it earlier in the week.

We were moored by late afternoon and Mike managed to make contact with one of the local computer repairers who agreed to meet and collect our laptop, hopefully repaired the next day. We also walked to the station to buy our tickets rather than risk being late in the morning.This was just as well as it took more than a few few moments for the lady in the ticket office to work out how to generate the correct ticket for Mike's journey (because the Docklands Light Railway was closed over the weekend and a less obvious alternative was needed) Christine's ticket was much simpler!

Walking back we tried to identify a parking place for the car over the weekend but, so close to a commuter station, all the streets have parking restrictions aimed to ease life for local residents. However, close to our mooring we struck lucky: there is a lot of parking spaces on old industrial land which was being used by a fitness club in one of the buildings. Asking nicely, Christine was given a parking permit card which especially helpful. Well done energie!

8.5 miles - 18 locks