Walk Around The Iron Trunk, Cosgrove

On a bright(ish) winter's afternoon we took a walk along the River Ouse from Wolverton Mill to the Iron Truck aqueduct at Cosgrove. So often we go across the aqueduct by boat that we though it might be a good idea, for a change, to see boats crossing the aqueduct from below. Because the late afternoon sunshine was particularly good, I took my SLR.

The Ouse looked delightful in the winter sunshine.


Heron roosting by the Iron Trunk, Cosgrove

As expected, the canal was iced over, but it was not very thick, and I managed to photograph three boats crossing on the Iron Trunk.


Crossing the iced-over Iron Trunk, Cosgrove


Boat crossing the Iron Trunk over the River Ouse, Cosgrove


Walking through the tunnel under the embankment, Cosgrove

We also found that, just below the embankment, Milton Keynes Council had installed lock gates as a dummy lock to indicate the line of locks that predate the aqueduct. We had no idea that they had been installed there despite being on our "doorstep". The dummy lock appears to have been there for a few years!


Dummy lock showing the line of the old flight of locks, Cosgrove

The old locks led down to, and up from, a level crossing of the River Ouse. The interpretation boards are really quite helpful. The one by the dummy lock showed how the locks were used from 1800 to 1805 before the embankment and first aqueduct was built, and how they came back into use from 1808 to 1811 when the first aqueduct collapsed.


Old Wolverton Church in late winter afternoon sunshine

There are also good views of Old Wolverton church from the dummy lock site. Hats off to Milton Keynes for providing an excellent interpretation of our industrial heritage.

Steve Parkin