Spring Cruise: Day 7

First thing this morning, I walked up to see if there was any news on the canal re-opening.  There wasn’t.  After breakfast, we acted on a suggestion of Paul Balmer of Waterway Routes, and took a train two stops down to Wendover, where we found the end of the Wendover Arm.

We have boated the other end of the arm, which leaves the mainline at Bulbourne Junction and goes a couple of miles to a big winding hole.  The middle section is being restored and is not currently in water, while the Wendover end has water in it, but of course isn’t connected.  There will need to be some work raising bridges and moving pipes before any boats can use this end.  The first bridge is one of the narrowest we’ve seen.

At Halton, there’s another bridge that’s too low for a boat, which carries a road.

Just behind is Rothschild Bridge.  The Rothschilds were big landowners in the area.

The sunshine had given way to clouds and the odd spot of rain, so we returned to Wendover, which is an attractive town with a market in the High Street.  We had tea and cake at a cafe; a small-scale anti HS2 protest was going on.

As we waited for a train back to Aylesbury, a CRT stoppage update came through saying the Arm was now open again, although the towpath remained closed.  When we got back to the boat, we immediately made preparations and set off, up the two locks and onto the crime scene — where the police tape was still across the bridge.  I went to speak to the police on duty, who knew nothing about any opening; I then phoned CRT, who called me back a little while later to say that they’d been told by the police they could re-open the navigation, but that on double checking the police had now changed their minds.  It meant we had another reverse and turn to do, before returning to Aylesbury Basin.  Adrian was at the helm for the difficult bit this time.

During the day there have been a few updates.The man arrested is under guard in hospital, the woman arrested has been released on bail, and the victim’s name has been released.  His family has released a statement.

3 miles, 4 locks.  (39 miles, 42 locks)