It went far better than expected.
The temporary repair on the water cooler held and Hallmark went through thirteen locks (the most in a day) and twelve of them with Dick and Gill on their boat 'New Chapter'. I am following them below.
So again just after seven o’clock Hallmark slipped away from its mooring.
It was a cold damp start and there were a few drops of rain. Who was going to predict the really hot and sunny day that materialised..
The main plan was to beat the hire boats returning to their base near Linslade and be ahead of as many boats as possible climbing through the many locks that had to be passed today.
Yes, today we are going to climb up the Chilterns on our roller coaster ride back to London and the Thames at Brentford. On some sections of today's trip there are double arched bridges built for some planned doubling up of this climb.
Almost all the day was really rural and you realise what greta countryside the Grand Union passes through. This is interrupted briefly first by Linslade and then by Leighton Buzzard. At the start of the day there are some solitary locks ‘interupting’ progress..
Then the serious climbing begins. This starts at Slapton and then Horton, followed by the two Ivinghoe Locks and then after the Seabrooke Three we were on the famous Marswoth Flight..
Hallmark will not complete the flight today. We are aiming for lock 39 and will do the last six tommorrow.
The journey on parts of the final miles of the climb to the summit is wonderful.
It seems totally isolated and remote.
There is peace everywhere!
The old boaters called this place ‘The Fields’.
On this stretch there are super views over the Chilterns.
Suddenly it is all over and you get to Cooks Wharf and the course you have to follow is unclear. There seem a number of ways but these are only entrances to Dunstable and District Boat Club. When this occurs I have ‘learnt’ to just let Hallmark sit in the middle of the stream while I think and work it out……….
Marswoth or Maffers as the working boatmen called it is a key location on the old Grand Junction route from London to Braunston.
Late in the day Hallmark went through Marsworth Juntion which is the turn to the Aylesbury Arm. This narrowbeam canal with seven foot wide locks and very tight bridges. It starts with the only staircase lock on the southern Grand Union Canal.
We went down to the terminus on a hire boat from the Slough Arm. That was me, Maggie, Jim and John almost thirty years ago!
At the entrance to the arm is a large British Waterways depot
At lock 39 we caught a boat up and New Chapter kindly waited for me. We agreed that I could join them again tomorrow (day 16) on their journey to Berkhampstead.
I moored up, really very very tired.
The good news is that just down the cut is The White Lion. The bad news is they shut on Monday! Never mind there is plenty of food to each on board Hallmark and loads of beer too!
Tomorrow is some more of the Marsworth Flight (locks 40 to 45 a drop of 42 feet) and we will go past Bulbourne Junction which is immediately at the top chamber of the Marston Flight. Off this junction is the Wendover Arm.
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