Yardley Gobion to Hemel Hempstead

On Sunday morning we left the countryside near Yardley Gobion and headed into Wolverton on the outskirts of Milton Keynes.  Here we stopped on the visitor moorings which are surrounded by new flats but no-one seems to stop on them overnight.  They are however useful for Tesco and when we returned with our shopping 3 other boats had also pulled up. We continued east though more Milton Keynes suburbs and then the canal turned north into Stanton Low country park which is a good place to stop.  I enjoyed a good walk with Bess and Brinny and spotted a kestrel in a tree; it stayed put for a while as I tried to creep up closer for a photo.  

The kestrel perched in its tree as I tried to creep close enough for a photo

  The next day the canal took us on its winding course round Milton Keynes.  We saw some of the new towns residences in a variety of styles but the majority of our route was flanked by public parks and footpaths.  At Fenny Stratford we encountered our only lock of the day but with a climb of only 1 foot it hardly seemed worth having a lock there.  We sailed on a couple of miles to find a quiet spot to moor up.  

On Tuesday we passed the Wyvern Shipping Company hire boat base at Leighton Buzzard and judging by the number of boats strung across the canal there weren't many hire boaters out.   

Wyvern Shipping Company leaves a small gap for boaters to pass.

Shortly after the town we stopped for the day.  On our afternoon walk I spotted the large white chalk lion carved on a slope at Whipsnade Zoo.

Whipsnade Zoo's chalk lion

The canal then cut across open countryside with locks at regular intervals.  At Seabrook Lock we were surprised to see a cat strolling casually across the lock gates.  It stayed to watch the proceedings as we went through the lock and luckily Bess and Brinny were fast asleep inside.

The cat at Seabrook Lock

We continued on up through Marsworth Locks and this took us onto new waters; in 2014 we turned back between these locks.  We passed the recently developed Marsworth Wharf and up the 7 locks to Bulbourne Junction where one of the old waterways buildings is now a decorative ironworks.

Kev's photo of the ornamental ironworks on display at Bulbourne Junction

After Bulbourne Junction the canal starts to descend steeply on its journey south and on Friday I used the bike to go ahead to set the locks.  The canal wasn't in a good state of repair; the towpaths were muddy and rutted and most of the lock chambers were leaking so badly they had to be left empty. This meant none were in our favour and we had to fill each one before before we could go down.  At Berkhamsted a large rubbish bin was floating in the lock but as it stayed against one corner we were able to pass through without a problem.  

Hemel Hempstead was the next town on our route and once again the bike came in handy for working the locks.  The visitor mooring outside Sainsburys was useful for shopping but as we prefer somewhere quieter to moor up we continued to the outskirts of the town.  And here we stopped for another day, after 2 busy days coming down 24 locks we decided to have Sunday off.  

Our journey from Yardley Gobion to Hemel Hempstead