Saturday, August 15, 2009

Travelling with Maddy Rose

We moved off early and stopped at the Linford water point just as another boat was moving off. Enough room for one boat at a time here and the water supply was slow. Ann had time to nip off to the local shop for milk and bread. By the time the tank was full Maddy Rose and others were gathering in the queue. It proved difficult to get away due to the wind and passing all those boats! Next stop was at Campbell Park where luckily both our boats found a space.
Milton Keynes is a unique town in that it was designed and built from start to finish rather than developed and expanded like most of our towns and cities. Set out on a grid pattern with separate roads cycle ways and paths. Campbell Park occupies a large square between the canal and the shopping centre. There is a large duck pond which is kept filled with water runoff from the town. On the other side of the canal are the two Willen Lakes where the flood water is pumped back into the river Ousel. It was a sunny hot day when we walked round those lakes taking a picnic lunch with us.
When we returned Maddy Rose had left so we set off to catch them up eventually at Leighton Buzzard. Then we moved on to Marsworth. We had found many more good moorings since we came this way in 2005. Several new marinas are being dug out along the way but the linear moorings don’t seem to get shorter! Many of the boats are for residential use and the local councils are threatening them with charging rates even if in a marina.
Breaking news is that the Shropshire Union canal is closed at Shebdon Embankment being dewatered between Bridges 44 and 48 to stop a leak. Tyrley Locks, Adderly Locks and Audlem Locks are closed until a water supply can be restored.

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