Canal Basin Aylesbury
Canal Basin Aylesbury, Albert outside the Inland Revenue (HMRC)
The Aylesbury Canal Society were having their monthly clean up and were litter picking along the stretch up to Lock 15. One of the pounds near Puttenham was very low and Albert scraped along the bottom and lurched a lot. It appears, from talking to the lock keeper at Marsworth, that a stone has caught under a paddle mechanism and it is leaking badly. They will have to get out the stop planks at some stage and declare a stoppage.
The damsons, which are sweet when eaten raw, were a disappointment when stewed. Despite loads of sugar they were bitter and left a difficult after taste. We wonder how they should be cooked.
We lunched at Wilstone at then followed NB Mithra up the flight to Marsworth. They had been delayed fixing a broken tiller. We saw two kingfishers on the way and loads of very plump blackberries.
Climbing the Marsworth Staircase locks
Turning up the mainline we moored up by the reservoirs at Marsworth in a howling gale. We needed a lot of help to avoid being blown across the cut. We battened down the hatches had an evening watching TV, eating a delicious chilli and rice, and drinking red wine. Amazingly we managed to get digital TV reception on the boat for the first time!
Full moon at Startops End
Today we plan to investigate the Wendover Arm for the first time.
