We’re taking the slow boat...to Milton Keynes
TO paraphrase Ratty and Mole, there’s nothing quite as nice as messing about on the river. With these words ringing in our ears, the Nichol family boarded a canal boat at the Wyvern Shipping Company yard in Leighton Buzzard for a weekend of fun on the water.
We chose a Maple class six-berther, so there was more than enough room for me, my wife Suzie, daughter Sophie, 12, and our dog Ted.
After a quick tour of the facilities, we headed north towards the deep blue yonder (or Milton Keynes, as it is better known). Our playground for the weekend was the Grand Union Canal, which stretches for 137 miles from the heart of London to Birmingham’s suburbs.
With only three days and travelling at just 3mph, our journey was going to be somewhat limited but the simple pleasure of watching the world float peacefully by was a holiday in itself.
Our goal was to get to the famous Iron Trunk Aqueduct over the Great Ouse river near Cosgrove. Built in 1811, it resembles a very long horse trough – it is about 15ft wide and just over 100ft long.
Towering 40ft above the river, it provides spectacular views. Though it is a most unusual experience to be ‘flying’ a 62ft canal boat above a valley, on a somewhat more worrying note we learnt that the original structure collapsed in 1808.
After reaching the aqueduct, we performed a smart U-turn (no mean feat) and began the sedate journey back to the boatyard. We stopped by a park for lunch and later, a canalside hostelry for dinner.
Returning to the boatyard twoand-a-half days after we had departed, it transpired we had covered just 36 miles, a distance you could easily do in a car in half an hour.
But those miles had been tranquil, fun and hugely enjoyable. Messing about on the river had been a wonderful family experience.
John Nichol’s new book Spitfire: A Very British Love Story will be published next month by Simon & Schuster.