The second half of the Grand Union main line - down and up again

By now I have come down from the Grand Union summit at Tring, cruised for a long time at the bottom (mainly around Milton Keynes forever) and have come up again to another little summit, just before reaching Braunston, the end of the Southern Grand Union. I have finally reached the point where I turned off to new places I have not travelled to before. So this feels like I should write another post about the rest of the journey on the Grand Union.

At the summit in Tring I had some work done on my boat by the very helpful Darren at Cow Roast. My plans to open a training centre for boat handling courses (RYA Inland Waterways Helmsman courses) on my boat were abruptly stopped in March, when the lockdown happened. I was close to launch at the time, but had to have some minor safety improvements done on the boat that I couldn’t do myself. Finally now in June I was able to find an engineer to do the work. Everything is so much easier (and cheaper) outside of London, where demand outstrips supply massively. Now I am waiting once more to hear from the RYA, which needs to approve my application. I can’t run courses on my boat right now anyway, as social distancing is not really possible on a narrowboat, but at least I could advertise and get my name out there.

So finally I was all set to go downhill from Tring. First the lovely Marsworth flight which goes down alongside the reservoirs mentioned in my last post. These were actually my first locks going down since leaving Limehouse and I even felt a bit out of practice! The reservoirs are very popular with the locals and it was a Sunday, so there were lots of people watching (and occasionally helping). This time it turned out to be surprisingly windy. It’s always a bit stressful with a large audience, but this time especially as I was pushed around by gusts just as I was entering locks. Not my finest hour, but at least I avoided any serious crashes. But it did take me three goes and a longer and longer run up to get into one particular lock.

After the Marsworth flight the canal was lovely and rural with some interspersed locks until I reached Leighton Buzzard.

Some dramatic skies in the windy weather

Bridges at locks in this area are double arched as the canal company was planning at some point to build two locks side by side to speed up traffic. That never happened, but the bridges are very picturesque.

Double-arched bridge

Ivinghoe Beacon in the distance

The aptly named Church lock

On my way to Leighton Buzzard another problem came to the forefront again that I had kind of ignored for a while: the engine running unevenly and sometimes seeming to struggle. Facebook is great to get advice from experts and the consensus after some discussion was that I should get my diesel and tank cleaned. I researched and found some specialists who came to Leighton Buzzard. I won’t link them here as they were really great, but very very expensive too. I could have gotten this cheaper elsewhere, but I like to think that at least I got a premium quality service. They circulated my diesel under pressure for more than 2h through three sets of filters to flush the tank and clean the diesel of water, rust particles and diesel bug. Honestly the stuff coming out of the tank and the filters looked horrendous (see below)! Unsurprisingly they were also great at upselling and left me with some additives and two curious “sausages” that I am supposed to put into my tank to absorb any water. I hope that I can get them safely out again!

The diesel cleaners arrived with a lot of equipment

Rust from my tank stuck to a magnet

The sample on the left is from my tank. The muck at the bottom is water, rust particles and diesel bug. On the right is what good diesel should look like!

Diesel samples

I was sternly advised from now on to always ask for a sample of any fuel before putting it into my tank. I had the opportunity to try this approach right the next day. I was prepared to be apologetic about showing such a lack of trust in the business, but in fact the lady who served me was completely fine with it. I guess she knew that her diesel was pristine.

For the cleaning operation I was moored outside the Globe Inn in Leighton Buzzard, which happened to open again after lockdown on the same day. In addition to that I coincidentally ran into another boatwoman I know from London. So what better way to brave the first tentative steps toward normality than having a pint outside. Wonderful!

From there on it was almost lock-free to Milton Keynes and beyond. The broad locks on the Grand Union are hard work, so I appreciate some leisurely cruising without locks. But I have to say that I find the 3/4 of a circle all around Milton Keynes for many hours a bit boring. The canal was there long before Milton Keynes and the town planners incorporated it by building parks all around. From the canal you don’t see anything of the city other than some older villages, now suburbs (Bletchley and Wolverton).

Crossing one of the many grid highways in Milton Keynes

Long railway mural in Wolverton

Shortly after Milton Keynes the canal crosses the river Great Ouse on an iron trough aqueduct (built in 1811) near Cosgrove. Although it is only 12m above the river it feels very high, probably because there is no ledge beside the canal on one side. It is just the trough and then straight down to the river. As much as I find it fascinating, I am always glad it’s not very long as I would certainly get vertigo. (I will never go over the Pontcysyllte aqueduct. If you don't know it, find a pic on google!)

Looking into the abyss

After the Milton Keynes area it is on to the lock flight up to lovely canal village Stoke Bruerne and then through one of the big tunnels in Blisworth. By now I have done quite a lot of these tunnels, but I am still not a huge fan. Sure enough I met three boats coming the other way, which is always a slightly tense moment. No banging into them or the wall this time fortunately. Phew!

In the Stoke Bruerne flight

The swan family at Stoke Bruerne likes to sit on the towpath and scare people

Near there I also met up again with a group of boaters who I knew from London (I had last seen them in Cow Roast). So many boaters have left London for the summer and have gone exploring the wider network. I bet the London canals are much less crowded than usual now. By coincidence I passed the group just on the day that they were planning another meet up in a field to have a fire and watch the sunset. It was lovely to see some them all again and catch up. It is astonishing how often I see boats and people this year that I already know. Canals are a small world (or a linear village) after all. One woman in particular I have met at least six times since Watford. Now that I have branched off this is going to be less likely, but who knows!

A whole garden on the lock gate

A boat crane in the middle of a field??

After Stoke Bruerne there is only one more lock flight before the junction where I turned off: the seven big locks in the Buckby flight. These are some of the heaviest locks on the Grand Union - or so I have been told. This was my fourth time here and I have never touched a single lock gate in this flight. Twice I have had my own crew along for help, twice I have managed to hitch a ride with another boat and an enthusiastic crew. This time I shared the locks with a family consisting of a couple with two teenage children and the father’s mum. They were English, but have lived in Cologne for 20 years and had come over especially for this narrowboat holiday. The teenagers and their mum were so energetic, they ran from one lock to the next to get it ready by the time we arrived with the boats. I sat back, just occasionally putting my hand on the throttle to move forward a bit. Sadly the New Inn pub at the top lock that I had been looking forward to as the reward for all this hard work was still closed. 

Family doing all the work in the Buckby flight

Right after the top of the Buckby locks I left the Grand Union main line and turned onto the Leicester branch. For now Leicester (and the canal running through it) is locked down due to a covid outbreak, but I am still 30 miles away and that takes a long time on a narrowboat. I have no particular reason to visit Leicester itself, but the Leicester branch allows me to do a loop round several places I have not been to before. Several staircase locks and two rivers coming up too, which is exciting. So stay tuned!

Sunset near Gayton Junction