‘Elderly ducks’ on a nostalgia cruise

Stoke Bruerne to Slapton

“So you’re obviously retired,” said an elderly gentleman on the towpath outside Leighton Buzzard’s Globe Inn..Yes – but was he referring to crew appearance, the age of the boat or the summary of Cleddau’s  mooring locations…?It was as a young(ish) boat that Cleddau first came this way. She would have been about 7 years old when in 1996, after a first mooring at Evesham on the River Avon,      she was moved to Bletchley where she spent the next three years.     For a while the Grand Union Canal in the Milton Keynes area became Cleddau’s local cruising route.Cleddau is 35 years old now - and this trip south has been something of a memory cruise for a boat of more mature years and her ('elderly ducks') crew... First, it was down the 7 Stoke Bruerne locks, partnered by nb Quidditch, a boat also moored at Crick. Great crew cooperation, a lock keeper at Top Lock and one further down, made it an easy and pleasant run. Canals don’t all look the same – but here at the bottom of Stoke Bruerne is one of those impressive overspill weirs remembered from this section of the Grand Union. The church tower at Grafton Regis hove into view: the village was a crown possession and once had been favourite hunting grounds for King Henry VIII.There’s an effective notice at Kingfisher Marina (not that the marina was here in 1996…)  But just past Bridge 64 is the Taverners Boat Club. (Didn’t the Taverners have some show biz or BBC link at some point…?) Onwards, under Solomons Ornamental Bridge at Cosgrove and down through the single Cosgrove Lock.Next comes the fine Iron Trunk Aqueduct (1811) which amazes boaters as it soars above the River Great Ouse, replacing the four locks down and four locks up that were needed to make the river crossing… There was a shopping pause at Wolverton, a famed railway town (Tesco and Asda are close by).  There is a first glimpse here of Milton Keynes’ passion for public art. Interpret this: railway lines angled at the sky, a leap into the future, a train in hand… Then the canal passes the long Wolverton Train Mural (created in the 1980s, cleaning and restoration completed in 2018).     Onward, across New Bradwell aqueduct over a road, past moored boats (“Cleddau! I’m from Llansteffan,” said the lady on Delilah),  past The Black Horse pub  (“Remember meeting the crew of Chouette for an evening meal here once…?”) Old bridges, modern bridges for an expanding city, herons perched and poised for a fishing catch, pristine parkland, old houses tucked between modern developments and poplar trees that line the eastern bank along many stretches. Was this the bridge where a pair of hotel boats used to have winter moorings? Fenny Stratford Lock is just as remembered, the shallow lock (about 12 inches) with a swing bridge across the chamber which is much used by locals. Look, on the bridge behind, probably a train on the Bedford – Bletchley line. Onward, past more new housing of course, to reach Water Eaton and Willowbridge.   Just think, this was where Cleddau had major surgery on the front cabin, one window removed and her front deck raised – and where The Captain one hot July changed her livery…From here on, heading south, was a favourite weekend jaunt, up to the hills… Stoke Hammond Lock first, where the Grand Union fit-for-purpose pumping houses were remembered… “We’ll wait for you at the next locks,” the Captain said to the recent owner of Pride of Sherwood. His weekend helpers, novices, were Royal Opera House construction staff, young, agile and keen to pick up boating tips. The Soulbury Three can be a busy spot, and under the watchful eyes of voluntary lock keepers boats played do-si-do as they swapped from chambers 1 and 2,  and 2 and 3… The canal weaves on, heading for Leighton Buzzard. Train noise disturbs the bird song and at some point The Great Train Robbery (of August 1963) is recalled. It was up here, or hereabouts, that the audacious Great Train Robbery occurred during which (from Wikipedia)£2.61 million^[2] (calculated to present-day value of £69 million - or $73,547,750^{[citation needed]}), from a Royal Mail train heading from Glasgow to London on the West Coast Main Line in the early hours of 8 August 1963 at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn, near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, England.^[3]It’s a crime story that’s fascinated and appalled the public for over 60 years…On past the popular moorings at and near The Globe Inn (call in on the way back, maybe?) and continue through Leighton Lock and past the attractively painted Wyvern Shipping Company hire boats.A 2 hour shopping mooring at Tesco in Leighton Buzzard is a boaters’ boon indeed - and then it’s onward, past the sand industry and old wharves, past a boatyard with boats at strange angles, along to Grove Lock. There’s a pub here, and on a Saturday there were lots of gongoozlers. Beside the top gates two fathers were inflating a canoe  (“Are we in your way?”. No – but thankfully between them they had enough brute force to help Boatwif wind up the very stiff ground paddle). Above here is a series of offline moorings. Then on to the Church Lock and a helpful C&RT lock keeper. Up here you feel you can really breathe,  there are glimpses of the Chiltern hills and a flash sighting of the Whipsnade chalk lion.  There is no noise intrusion from road or rail, just the sound and sight of waterfowl and birds on the wing.One more lock to (this) journey’s end. There at Slapton a father and son were fishing from the lock landing.“Caught any?” the Captain enquired.“Yes, 41, but they were all little ones,” the lad replied.Up on the lock side was another family encampment. “We just come out here to read our books,” the older lady said. And where had they driven from? “Oh, Letchworth.”One of the ‘readers’ preferred to wield a windlass: “No I haven’t got a boat - yet, but I do have two windlasses…!”Up through the lock, under the bridge, where the boat was turned in the winding hole. The outbound destination had been reached, that long ago Willowbridge cruise habit reprised…Then Cleddau was headed back to the lock, where the windlass-owner beamed again as he lowered boat and crew back to the pound below. A sunny overnight mooring beckoned, bright views of the Chilterns glimpsed through a hedge… Crick to Slapton - it had been a really good memory trip!Stoke Bruerne to Slapton (including Slapton Lock twice): 29¾ miles, 18 locks, 0 tunnels, 2 aqueducts, 1 swing bridge Crick to Slapton (inc. 2 x Slapton Lock):  51 miles, 2 tunnel passages, 32 locks, 1 swing bridge2024 Totals: 141¾ miles, 10 tunnel passages, 80 locks, 2 aqueducts, 5 swing bridges   *2024 Monkton Moments* (Monkton Moment*- a reference to / recognition of Cleddau’s Pembrokeshire connections) – now 12 (1. from lock companion: “spent time at Manorbier Youth Hostel”, enthusing about South Pembs beaches; 2. Boater recognition of St David’s flag)Tudor Rose enquiries: 1. “Why have you got a Welsh name and an English rose…?”Next time: New Sightings