Retirement with No Problem

Mailers Meadow to Brampton Mill, River Great Ouse, Less than 1 mile. 1 lock

Lucy and Meg, the K9 girls, had a long walk this morning in the rain.  I went back to the lakes that I saw last night, and sure enough a lone black swan was there along with three egrets.  I did take some pics, but the light was not good this morning, and anyway, they were too far away..

Then I wandered further and had a look at the huge complex at Buckden Marina with its wooden lodges built on stilts overlooking both the Great Ouse and the huge lakes.. one of the lakes even has a ski water jump ramp.. but not much going on today, August it might be, but the weather is more like October!

So pins pulled after lunch today, well, we had hoped the rain would ease, but no luck so off we went to do the epic journey of just under a mile!

I went slow enough to make sure the whole trip took an hour.. we had a lock to go through too.  I had a reason for that hour.. I have bought a new breadmaker which, on it’s turbo program, will bake a loaf of bread in just one hour!..

This is the only lock of the day, and you can see the extra bit that has been built into this lock, like many on the Gt Ouse they have been extended sideways…

To the right is the cut out bit, and on my left is Moore2Life, so you can fit in 2 narrowboats and a couple of cruiser boats all at the same time.

My hour was just about up as we put the pins in just the other side of Buckden Mill.. and I was delighted with the outcome…

Now that looks delicious.. not tried it yet as we went out for dinner this evening at the Buckden Mill Pub to celebrate 19 years of marriage. 

I really do recommend this place.  One of the best steak meals I have had in ages, and if you order the meal before 6.30 you get it as a very much reduced rate.. it went down well with a couple of pints of Abbots Ale too!