Cosgrove to Milton Keynes in the wind

Thursday, 23 October 2008 19:36

It was a grey and windy day today!  We stayed put for the morning to see if it would cheer up. It didn't

However intrepid travellers that we are we set off after lunch towards Milton Keynes. After the station and the huge railway bridge there is a "new" aqueduct built in 1991, crossing one of the many dual carriageway roads that criss cross Milton Keynes.


The canal leaves the outskirts of the town (actually city now) for a short while executing a sharp right hand bend around some wild parkland. To the left are the lakes of Haversham cum Little Lindford, the wildfowl centre and the Great Ouse River.

At Black Horse bridge the conurbation returns but is kept away from the canal by paths and grass. Some of the bridges still retain a rural feel too.


We watered up at Bridge 78 and I popped to the store there in Giffard Park, avoiding the hoard of Mum's and children from the school there!

Bridges follow in quick succession, road bridges and footbridges. Milton Keynes has a reputation for being one huge suburb and arriving by car it appears very urbanised, a New Town for the masses. However arriving by boat is a different matter as the canal is mainly around the outskirts.

The town planners have my reluctant admiration for keeping the houses away from the canal and making a feature for the public to enjoy. However at times it feels rather manicured and manufactured countryside and a world away from the  naturalness of a canal.


We remember coming here for an IWA rally and I began to recognise the area as we came across moored boats at Campbell Park. We tried to moor on the park side but it was far too windy to get the stern in.

We managed to moor opposite after a little bit of trouble! The wind pushing us in well and truly

As we moored John thought there was something on the prop. He dived down the hatch once we were secure and there was a silver tarpaulin snugly wrapped around the prop! This would explain why Epiphany was not responding to the helm and we found the maneuvering so difficult! The canal is a little dirty around here and in places before we moored, so I suppose it is not surprising.

It started to rain pretty soon after we moored and as the wind is also increasing it was good timing.

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