24th – Ron and Lyn Day 1 – Stoke Bruerne
Ron and Lyn Turned up on the 23rd and stayed overnight on the boat. We went to the local Tesco and got a few beers, of course. We decided that we would play the whole trip by ear and see how we go, but sort of plan to get to Milton Keynes. Later that day we discovered that there is a ASDA on the canal in MK, so we’d aim for that. There are quite a few really good pubs on the canal, so we figured we’d end up sampling them! So, day one would be for Stoke Bruerne which has a good write up in our guide book.
We were told once we get through the tunnel, there is mooring immediately after, however it is normally busy and you would be lucky to get in anywhere. Most people told us that you can normally moor between the 2nd and 3rd lock as there is quite a gap there. When we arrived, the place was empty! We could have moored almost anywhere, but as it was so hot we decided to moor right after the tunnel (see the yellow highlight on the right) as it was tree-lined and nice and cool!
Before we go through the locks we decided to check out the local pubs and make sure they were up to standard. In fact, we decided to do all 6 locks in the morning as it was getting so hot during the day.
Artful Dodger 