Willowbridge Marina to Leighton Buzzard

Travelled 5.67 miles, worked 5 locks in a time of 3 hours.

Cold old start to the day after the temperature got down to –4.6c over night. Fog shrouded us and everything until the sun began to burn it away and ice on the canal.

We enjoyed a quiet night and so were ready for the off at 8.35am.

Moored on the offside was NB Like Ducks 2 Water. Jacquie put her head out of the pram cover to have a quick natter as we passed by and Stein waved from the galley. They will be on the move in the next day or two, so we may see them again. The ice was not very thick, but it still made a wonderful crunching sound on the hull.

By the time we got to Stoke Hammond Lock the sun was out.

The Soulbury Three Locks were quiet, we had them all to ourselves.

I worked one lock ahead, having set the first lock, whilst that filled I walked up to the next lock to empty it, so Keith could bring the boat straight in, I then walked back to put the paddles down and shut the gates behind him, it worked like clockwork.

We passed by The Globe Inn and up through Leighton Lock.

On arriving at Leighton Buzzard, we were amazed to see the Tesco moorings empty and even the 14 day moorings were empty, so we decided to moor on the 14 day moorings and stay over night.

Having moored up, we locked the boat up and went food shopping in Tesco, thankfully we did not need a huge shop and so we filled our rucksacks and a couple of bags with our goodies, which were soon stowed away on the boat. I made us a late lunch and then we headed off into the town.

We last visited the town back in 2008 and it is pleasing to see that Leighton Buzzard seems to be fairing really quite well in this economic crisis, I only noticed a couple of shops empty. On Tuesdays they have a street market, which was busy.

All Saints Church looked stunning in the sunshine.

It is undergoing some restoration with a lot of work already having been carried out. In 1985 it was very badly damaged in a fire and since then it has undergone major work. In 1989 it was re-c0nstructed, but like with any grade 1 listed buildings it needs attention all the time.

Keith and I spent a lovely time wandering around the town, we did pick up a couple of things from the many charity shops. I got a pair of corduroy trousers for £1, and they are like brand new, I just need to turn them up. Keith got a nice M&S pullover for £2.99.

Back on the boat, it was time to stoke the fires and prepare dinner. Mog and Dog got fed before we did and then it was our turn. Now it is time to put my feet up.