To the summit of the Grand Union Canal
I have now made it to the Grand Union canal summit in Tring. From here it's all downhill to beyond Milton Keynes before the canal starts climbing again on its way to Birmingham. A summit sounds grand and it is indeed hard work with all the locks. But the summit is "only" 121m above sea level on the edge of the Chilterns. Lifting boats up to this height is no mean feat though. As promised I am going to focus a bit more on canal history and engineering on this cruise, but first a brief recap how I got here. I started off in Cowley in West London when the lockdown lifted. Between Cowley and Tring I went up 45 locks. Around Hemel Hempstead and Berkhamsted the locks are spaced at such distances that there is only a few minutes crusing between them. So it is a constant stopping and starting, getting on and off and waiting for locks to fill or empty. On some days I made less than 2 miles progress with all the locks. In the past I have always invited crew over to help me with thi