Marsworth to Grove Lock, Leighton Buzzard

Thursday 31st August

A glorious day and we set off just after 8.30am. 

 We passed this grand looking boat called Pullman which was painted in the same livery colours as the pullman coaches. I wondered if it was as grand inside.

 Soon we were passing the Aylesbury arm and turning right to stay on the main arm of the Grand Union canal.

We saw these clogs on the side of a narrowboat, maybe it was trying to be a Dutch Barge! (Sorry!)

 The old wharf buildings had been converted into smart new housing. 

 

 I fell in love with this boat and it was up for sale! 

 Yours for a mere £185,000!

 Dex was managing quite well with his waterproofed bandage bless him. 

 We carried on through Marsworth towards Marsworth locks 37 & 38

 

 Oops looks like someone else had trouble passing under this bridge!

Here you can see the grooves where the ropes pulling the horse drawn boats of the past have left their mark.

The countryside was really pretty

 We had to wait at the first lock whilst 2 boats went through.

 As we were waiting another boat came along which meant we could share - brilliant!

 This boat was called Molly-E and belonged to Hilary and Colin Moore and their dog Margo.

We soon got chatting and were delighted to find that they were travelling the same distance as us so we could lock share all the way. Half the work and with their great company it made a really enjoyable day.

Some of the lock houses were really attractive

 John and Colin were steering and Hilary and I did all the locks

 It was such a beautiful day to enjoy the countryside

 

 We were soon passing the Dunstable Boat club

 Then we passed Pitstone Wharf

Under the railway bridge

 At Seabrook swing bridge Hilary kindly opened it for us so we didn't need to stop.

 At the next set of Seabrook locks there were a couple of boats coming up so we helped them go through the lock before we went in.

 There was another pumping station.

Some of the lock keeper's houses were really smart on this stretch of canal and they had the dates on the front.

 

 Hilary and I had a good chat along the way whilst we were waiting for the locks to empty

 The scenery was lovely and we really enjoyed being out in the sunshine

John and Colin were happily chatting away in the locks

It seems to be a really good year for Damsons and we have picked lots, yummy stewed with custard.

At one lock we saw 6 cormorants sitting on a pylon

On through Ivinghoe bridge and through Ivinghoe locks.

It was great to see these donkeys grazing

At Slapton the canal was really shallow in places and then further up the canal was blocked by 2 work boats dredging the canal. We hadn't seen any warning signs and there had been no warning messages from CRT (Canal & River Trust). Of course we could see why they needed to dredge the canal and we just had to wait. After about 10 mins he pulled the container vessel over so we could get past. 

 

 

 They were dumping all the dredged soil onto the nearby fields

 Soon after we arrived at Church lock. 

 The church here has since been converted to a house but it still has a graveyard and a skeleton under a glass panel! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grove,_Buckinghamshire

 Oh there's the warning notice!

 Soon after we came to Grove lock Marina. 

 Hilary and Colin were mooring here so we said goodbye for now and we went on through the lock with another boat.

The Grove pub was beautifully adorned with hanging baskets and I liked the narrowboat holders. 

After we went through the lock we saw the beer garden and it looked very inviting. There was a mooring place so we decided it would be rude not to stop! 😁

Whilst we were enjoying a beer in the garden we saw these old work boats dating from 1936. 

We went back to the boat and sat outside in the sunshine. Later we met up with Hilary and Colin again as they were walking Margo. They joined us for a drink and brought nibbles and we had a nice relaxing time sat on the towpath. All in all a great day.