Aylesbury Basin to Bridge No.12.

2.3 miles, 3 locks, 1hr 20mins.

We said our farewells to Aylesbury basin this morning, and set off to the water point, about 400metres from our mooring! Once full we then headed off for a country mooring for the weekend.

Taking on water, the new Travelodge taking shape alongside the canal.

Above the first lock No.16 we moored up to go shopping at Tescos.

Leaving Lock No.15.

The piling is leaking here. It was at this point along the canal that we saw 2 Red Kites flying, typical with Jo’s camera away for repair, which apparently has been fixed and dispatched to my sister from whom we will collect it soon.

Perhaps one day Jo will get a great photo of a Red Kite like this one.

We are moored against plastic piling, yes plastic piling, which looks exactly the same as the steel piling, but instead of the Armco this has a plastic beam.

This must have been experimental, but as far as we know has never been taken up elsewhere.

Keith.

Les Misérables

 

Jo and I went to the Odeon Cinema in Aylesbury today to watch Les Misérables which was brilliant.

I even qualified as a senior, which was £2.40 cheaper than the adult ticket , made my day.

We had lunch out at The Bell Hotel, A Wetherspoon establishment, before we went to the cinema. Jo had the Wiltshire ham, egg and chips and I had the chilli con carne from the 2 meals for £6.59 menu.

Keith.

New Cushions and mats.

It was time to update our saloon cushions.

We also bought new coir mats for the engine room.

 

These will be put in place once the engine room floor is painted.

 

Aylesbury

We had a good walk around Aylesbury today.

The Farmers market was on today.

St Mary’s Church.

Some of the buildings around the church.

The entrance to the county museum.

Some of the many squares in Aylesbury.

We had a very nice lunch in the Peking Inn.

Waterside Theatre, unfortunately they are not showing anything we fancy seeing.

In front of the theatre is this statue of Ronnie Barker. Not sure who he is sitting next to though! The hoarding behind is the new Waitrose and Travelodge they are building between the theatre and the canal basin.

Keith.

Puttenham Top Lock to Aylesbury Basin.

5 miles, 7 locks, 2hrs 55mins.

A coldish morning, but not too bad really.

At least there is plenty of water on the arm, nearly all the locks have been overflowing like this.

Bates boatyard, which specializes in wooden boats.

New earthworks and fencing to hide the new largest milk processing plant in Europe. Unfortunately this also hides the view of the Chiltern Hills.

Work on the new moorings for the Aylesbury Canal Society boats is coming along nicely, they hope to be moving there in May.

The last 2 locks into the town.

Approaching the basin. There wasn’t a lot of room to wind before mooring, but I managed it in the end, there are far more boats moored in and around the winding point than in the map above.

Keith.

Marsworth Junction to Puttenham Top Lock, No.10 on the Aylesbury Arm.

1.2 miles, 9 locks, 1hr 5 mins.

Snow has returned this morning, but only very light stuff, settling only in patches. A big adventure today, this is the first time I have ever ventured onto the Aylesbury arm.

First lock on the arm, which is the top lock of a staircase of 2 locks.

What we have seen so far of the arm is rather nice. We have a good deep mooring for the remainder of the weekend before continuing down into Aylesbury itself.

Keith.

The Reservoirs.

This morning we thought we would take a walk around the reservoirs.

Startops End is a little low on water according to the gauge.

The hide on the dam between Startops End and Marsworth reservoirs.

Tringford reservoir.

The Anglers Retreat as seen from the wall of Startops reservoir. Les and Jac were on-board so we called and had a good old chin wag over mugs of coffee.

Keith.

Great Seabrook to Marsworth Junction.

2.1 miles, 2 locks, 1 swingbridge, 1hr 5mins.

A typical winter’s day, cold, but pleasant, less windy than yesterday, which made it seem warmer today. Just a short journey today as we were luck enough to get a mooring at the junction, I didn’t think we would, but we have. We popped up to see if Les and Jac, who are moored above the first lock, were on-board, but they weren’t, we will catch up with them at some point.

A couple of photos of Startops End Reservoir, which has plenty of water in it. We were not surprised to the the White lion has closed down. We were not impressed when we ate there a few years ago, meal was ok, but very expensive for meatballs and spaghetti. Prices might be right for Central London, but not Marsworth.

later we took a quick walk around the village.

All Saints Church, which very unusually has no wall or fencing around it.

The Red Lion.

The stocks outside the Red Lion.

The school.

The Anglers Retreat.

Duck pond behind the Anglers Retreat.

Keith.