TRIP REPORTS

EARLY SUMMER 2007 - NORTHWARDS FROM LONDON

Part 2 : Berkhamsted to Great Linford

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We resume the story after a few days at our friends Lindy & Bryan's mooring in Berkhamsted.

After the evening before, it wasn't surprising that we were late starting, at 11:01. As we were setting off, a single-hander came up Raven's Lane lock, and we agreed to share locks with him. He was taking his partner's boat to Willowbridge to be sold. He himself was a Nene boater. It was very slow going, despite meeting lots of downhill boats, one of which turned a lock round in our faces. There were a lot of showers, some of them very heavy. By the time we reached the summit we felt tired so decided to stop for a rest and some lunch. We tied up at 14:24, a little way above Cowroast Marina in some of the worst rain yet. By the time we'd eaten, I'd slept, and the weather had cleared, it was 17:00 and we couldn't feel confident of finding a mooring at Bulbourne, so decided to stay put for the night.

We weren't able to do any boating as Tilly decided to stay out until it was too late. This was most frustrating as it was a nice sunny day. On the one time Tilly did make a short visit back, Mandy was out. When finally they were both back, around 18:00, we closed the cat-flap to be sure of a get-away next day, in the hope of a longish day aiming at Leighton Buzzard.

We set off at 10:0, making a slow run along the summit because of all the moored boats. As we were approaching Bulbourne, a chap on cruiser Shiralee proposed joining us for the locks, to which we agreed. He was a single-hander called Jeff, very energetic and efficient, and his cruiser was a vintage one, 47 years old. Part-way down the flight he was joined by his sister and brother-in-law. They stopped below Startopsend lock.

Cheddington swing bridge was occupied by a bunch of teenagers, fishing and working the bridge for passing boats. We tied up just beyond it for a rest. I had an hour's kip and felt much revived.

As we were setting off again and about to close the gates of the first lock (Seabrook top), another boat appeared, so again we had a partner. It was the Wyvern hire-boat Primrose, crewed by two men (whose names we never found out) with two beautiful long-haired retrievers. They also turned out to be an efficient crew, so once again we made good time through the locks. Primrose had planned to stop at Grove Lock and eat at the eponymous pub, so we decided to stop as well, as by this time (19:00) we couldn't be sure of getting a decent mooring at Leighton Buzzard. We felt too tired for a full meal, so just snacked on board.

Wendy was up in the early hours and found both cats in, so closed the cat-flap. In the morning the weather was not at all inviting. We set off at 12:10 in light drizzle, which we hoped might presage a break in the weather long enough for us to get to Leighton Buzzard. We had a partner for Grove lock, then the rain started again and got steadily heavier, with some thunder.

Just before Leighton Bridge we saw the boats Astra & Joe Gilbert, friends of ours from our stay at Oldbury in the first weeks of 2005. Bridget was out shopping, but Dennis was there working at his forge. He's doing the Linslade show and one in Stourbridge later on, then he'll sell Joe Gilbert and retire. They'll live on Astra.

At Leighton Buzzard water point we took on water (still in very heavy rain). When we arrived there was no space on the 14-day mooring beyond the bridge, but the first boat there was our partner from earlier, who said they'd only be there a few minutes, and indeed they moved off just as we finished taking on water. So we moved round onto the mooring and tied up at 13:33. As soon as we'd tied up, we dived into the cabin to dry off and left the hose to its serpentine existence in the well-deck.

We 'phoned our friends Mike & Lynda Ede and arranged to meet them for a pub meal that evening. We did a lot of shopping, Wendy at both Tesco and Waitrose and me at Homebase.

In the evening the weather had cleared up, but the pub where Mike & Lynda had suggested we eat wasn't doing food because their kitchen was flooded, so the four of us walked into the town centre to see what we could find. The first place we tried was an Italian restaurant, but they were fully booked until later than we wanted to be, so we went to the Litten Tree to eat. The food was fairly plain but good and they served a good pint of London Pride. When we arrived the place was brightly lit and almost empty, but by the time we'd finished eating (about 21:00), it started filling up with young people and loud music and the lights were turned down, so we removed to The Roebuck for the rest of the evening, which was much quieter and to our taste.

Wendy did a final shop at Tesco, then we waited suspiciously for the weather before setting off at 10:10. We had partners at all the locks - not always the same ones. We tied up on the visitor moorings below Fenny Stratford lock for a rest and something to eat. We set off again in dry weather, but the rain soon came back and became very heavy despite a light sky. We paused for a moment at the Gifford Park moorings to see if there was a pump-out machine - there wasn't.

We stopped at the Black Horse, Linford, at 18:34 because we'd had enough and because the bad weather has caused emergency closures at Braunston (a landslip) and Stoke Bruerne (flooding, presumably from the River Tove).

There was no news in the morning about the Stoke Bruerne stoppage, so we decided to stay here. I went to the pub at lunchtime for a couple of pints. He thought the place a bit pretentious. Frustratingly, the weather was dry for most of the day.

On Monday morning I went off very early for a day at the Museum.

When I returned to the boat, I was free of museum commitments for a lomg time, so we'd be able to do some genuinely continuous cruising.