Bedford Bound.

I was very frustrated this morning as I walked the boat back down the pontoon to the next boat astern and I was about 2' short on the hose for taking water. No matter, we were sooner off up river.

Another superb day and a joy to be on the river. The water is deep and the weeds at a good depth or near the banks. The flow is not much to right home about and there are plenty of bends and other obstacles to keep you busy. There are occasional views and we certainly weren't bored.

As we approached the A1 we passed under the new south bound carriageway and saw under the old bridge, the north bound, that there was a pontoon and we passed through on tick over. It seemed they were doing underwater filming of the stone work. On the west side of the bridge was this inscription. It seems that until 1736, and the coming of the turnpikes, there was only a ford across the river.  A six arch wooden bridge was built in that year, and the approach roads were raised in 1770. In 1814 reports stated that the bridge was unsafe and designs were taken. The first few were deemed too expensive. In the end James Savage was awarded the job at about £1,000 cheaper quote. Royal assent was given in 1815 but bu 1817 the work had not proceeded very far. The original constructor was a William Allen and he was duly sacked and and Johnson's brought in in 1819 and the job completed in 1820.

At Roxton Lock we caught up with two boats travelling in company. Unfortunately it wasn't wide enough, or long enough for them to fit in together so there was a bit of a delay as we worked through.

This is just to prove that I do get off the boat occasionally. At the top end the locks are more of a mixture with mitre gates both ends and a guillotine occasionally. They are deep to cope with increased river levels but it makes life a little more awkward for getting on and off the boat in the lock.

At Great Barford Lock there were a couple of wild swimmers. I must say with the heat it looked really inviting. They said they had never been to this stretch before, but would be back.

After passing through Great Barford the boats ahead of us stopped for lunch and we continued through the bridge,another that was on a skew for river traffic. Just as we were half way through I was puzzled by a real loud noise. It turned out that it was an helicopter taking off from a lawn just on the right through the bridge.

There are wide straight reaches and then a series of bends with the ever present weeping willows.

Willington Lock was out in the sunshine once again. This was taken from the weir bridge. The locks are getting narrower as we get closer to Bedford.

This old railway bridge is now part of the Ouse Valley Way that is a long distance footpath that starts in Buckingham, the source and passes to Kings Lynn, the sea. and is 142.4 miles along the river, so not too bad walking at all.

As you approach the Bedford you could be forgiven that you have made a wrong turn and ended up on the Nile when this pyramid appears. It turns out that is the roof of a swimming pool!

The arrival into Bedford is through what looks like parks and waterways. The last lock is in the middle of a park and lots of people about. It wasn't really like what I had expected. Mush better than entering a city on a canal. I suppose it is because with it being liable to flood industry never was built up to the water so it still looks green and 'wild'.

As you turn left after the lock you lock towards the city centre still with the park on your left.

If you look to the east there is a tree lines road with nice houses on the land side, all very Victorian in outlook.

The only moorings marked were on Sovereign Quay. We went down there and took on water but thought that it lacked views as it has an island close by.

Instead we moved over to the park area where there were bollards and another boat moored up. This was also partly because a trip boat we met in the lock had asked us to moor on Sovereign Quay to leave them space. Neither of us could remember what they said, so we left it clear for them.