Marsworth to Puttenham Top Lock 10 on Aylesbury Arm.

Travelled 1.2 miles, worked 9 locks in a time of 1 hour 55 minutes.

I cannot remember the last time I got a cold, but yesterday evening I began to feel like I had a gravely throat and a head full of cotton wool, which meant a cold was on its way, so I dosed myself up with Paracetamol and was in bed just after 9pm. I slept really well until 5am and having got up with Keith also awake, I made us a cuppa and then went back to sleep until 8am. I got up with a mushy head, but my throat was not bad and my cough was pretty quiet, so having walked Paddy, eaten breakfast, made up the fires, we made a move in the snow.

Keith reversed the boat from our mooring and back to the junction, we then turned on to the Aylesbury Arm.

We fell west through the first 9 locks, which were all pretty easy to use.

 

There was no lack of water. Three of the locks we had to leave a bottom paddle up to keep the lock empty.

It is said that it is remote and isolated, in many ways it is, there are lock cottages and houses and a shop at Wilstone. We saw plenty of walkers with their dogs and the odd cyclist. It is very pretty even at this time of the year.

By the time we had done lock 9, I did feel as if I was beginning to wilt with what I think is a cold dragging me down. We had been told by the Aylesbury Arm chairman that we can moor above lock 10.

We were lucky that there was a mooring at the end of the pilling above lock 10. There is a boat in front of us, which is all locked up, but we are moored in the middle of nowhere, with snow flurries still falling.

We will stay here for the rest of the weekend and then head down into Aylesbury Basin on Monday.