Just 2 locks and we were on the summit :-) We stopped for water at Cow
Roast lock and then moved a short way along the canal as we were taking the bus
to Aylesbury (quicker than doing 16 locks down and then the same coming back!). It is only a short walk from the canal to The
Cow Roast Inn where the bus goes from.
Why Cow Roast? Well the
'Berkhamsted and District Archaeological Society' began excavating the area of
Cow Roast in 1972 and found a number of Roman artefacts along with a number of
different bones were found from a variety of animals however the most commonly
found bones were that of cows with over 40 being discovered. This is likely due
to it being used as a drovers' route so that cattle could be taken to London to
provide meat; the cows and their drivers would rest overnight before continuing
their journey onward. The current name "Cow Roast" is believed to
have come from the corruption of its original name "Cow Rest". The area is one of the most important Late
Iron Age and Roman industrial landscapes in England” despite being almost
completely unknown and unexploited by tourism.
Anyway back to Aylesbury! We had
moored there back in 2010 and I knew that it had all changed but was rather
surprised at what I found – a mass of concrete “wharf”.
In front of the Travel Lodge/Waitrose is a “marina” which looks as if
it is a secure one using, I assume, a C&RT key to get in and out of. However, it is in full sun surrounded by
buildings and the few boats that were visiting Aylesbury were on the
canal. I do get the feeling that the
local Council have missed out here as there were no cafes or bars to use the,
what could be, lovely area. The old tax
office, which we moored beside last time, is being converted into flats but I
can’t find any details online about them.
We walked into town looking for a lunch spot and found a market :-) I bought raspberries, strawberries and
apricots which looked lovely. It was
then to the Harrow Pub for lunch. The
men had ham, egg (3!) and chips and I had a brie and field mushroom
burger. We can certainly recommend the
pub.
On our way back to the bus stop Richard bought us all an ice cream and
we sat next to this lion and ate them. I
just love the way he is sleeping next to the meat van – let alone his hat!
We just missed a bus but they run every 20 minutes so we didn’t have to
wait long. Disaster struck us though as
we went to get off the bus. We were all
sitting on the back seat and Richard and I went to walk down the bus and were
followed by Jim who, somehow, missed his footing (there was a step) and fell
flat on his face! There were only 3
other people on the bus, thank goodness, and they all rushed to his
rescue. He insisted that he was unhurt
and got up though he did admit that he was shaken. Of course Jim was carrying the fruit and
there were strawberries and raspberries all over the bus floor!! These were duly picked up and put back into
the bag! When Jim felt OK we got off the
bus and he sat in the bus shelter for a while before we headed back to the
boat.
As we had eaten at lunchtime it was just bread and cheese for
supper.
I was worried about Jim all evening as he had hit his head but he kept
insisting that he was OK though by 9pm he wanted to go to bed.
These are just two more photos I took in Aylesbury.
3.17 miles
2 locks
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