Fenny Stratford and Wolverton

After stopping for two nights in Leighton Buzzard, Sunday was a cruising day. Rachael and I were slow to get going, enjoying a lie in before a cooked breakfast and then a 300m cruise to the water point, which is just past the winding (turning) hole.

While we were waiting for the tank to fill we were entertained by a hire boat attempting to wind. I let him go for about fifteen minutes before Rachael told asked me to help out. Actually, I think it was more the forlorn look on his wife's and her friend's faces that Rachael felt intervention was required. I am always a little hesitant to help out these days as many boat hirers usually only get one or two chances to wind and they like to do it themselves. Anyway, with a little guidance (and a lot less throttle) he managed to turn the boat around and take his happy passengers back towards there hire base 20 minutes down the canal. By the time the entertainment was over the water tank was full and it was another short hop to the two hour moorings to pick up a few more bits and pieces from Tesco. When the supermarket is right next to the canal it is an ideal time to pickup heavier items; bottled water in particular!

We are starting to get a lot of cloudy, overcast days lately but Sunday was an exception, bright and sunny. We were heading to Fenny Stratford today, just a nice three and half hour, five lock cruise. The cruise was most enjoyable, the scenery picturesque. We arrived around 3 o'clock and had a choice of moorings, we took a 14 day mooring expecting to stay for a couple of nights.

On Monday Rachael and I strolled up to the train station and made the 10 minute trip to Bletchley, Bletchley Park is only a short walk from the station. We spent an interesting 5 - 6 hours getting to know more about the allied code breaking efforts in WW2.

The Headquarters, a beautiful old mansion.

The  machine/computer used to help break the code enciphered on the German Enigma machine.

 

Another short cruise today,  just over three hours to Wolverton on the northern side of Milton Keynes. Saw this boat along the way, not my first choice for a boat name!

Interesting place Wolverton, a main street with a mixture shops, many in old and some new architecture, looks like it was a village before it was absorbed into the City of Milton Keynes. The moorings are very suburban with a block of flats on one side of us and the town centre on the other.

Surrounded by some nice sculpture, this one, train tracks form the shape of a person reaching forward with a train in its hands. 

This one cycling, reaching forward with the development of cycles from the unicycle on. Just guessing here but I think roads form the shape of the human.