To Aylesbury

It's not far from the reservoirs to Marsworth Junction, where the Aylesbury Arm meets the Grand Union Canal. Stopping for services meant over-shooting the turning, but then it was a simple reverse and forwards left to join the arm. We had no preconceptions and little knowledge of this bit of canal. We simply wanted to find out for ourselves. We anticipated we'd make the journey down into the basin a two-day trip.

The first two locks are a bit different from normal. They form a two-step staircase where the top lock empties into the bottom lock from which boats are lowered onto the next pound. The winding mechanism to open and close the paddles at the middle gate stands alongside the top lock.

Middle gate open

I was too busy walking between locks and operating them to take many photos.

The canal was pleasant and peaceful. The weather didn't always play along, though, and we got pretty wet at times. There were other water problems, too; some quite bad water-level problems, with water overflowing both top and bottom gates at some locks, and dodgily low water levels in some pounds, and though there are several locks with very new gates, some of the others are in a sad state and difficult to manage.

After a few hours, we thought we'd found a good place to moor to have lunch and then to stay on overnight. Most of the bank so far had been unmoorable but this was a stretch of armco in what seemed to be a nice setting, and we were glad to see it. We tied up, had lunch, then realised that there was a factory the other side of the tree-lined hedge; a factory that gave off a persistent,  unpleasant rumbling noise and a nasty smell. We moved on.

The problem then was that we found nowhere else where we fancied mooring for the night, and the time came when it became obvious that we'd have to continue all the way to the basin at the end of the arm. So, six miles and fifteen locks from Marsworth Junction, we arrived in the basin and moored at around half-past five, the journey done in one day, rather than the preferred two. I was more than a little weary!

 The university campus is still under construction

  Waitrose was a minute's walk away

 A ship-shaped theatre loomed in front of us

and a Travelodge watched over it all

We settled in for a couple of days' stay. A strong wind was blowing, and the forecast promised more. This looked like a good place to be.