September the 7th 2015. Cosgrove to central Milton Keynes.

7 miles and 1 lock today. We shared Cosgrove lock with a cygnet, not something we would usually want to do but its a shallow lock and we were told that the whole swan family use it as a lift to get to and from one stretch of water to the other!

Open the doors please!

We also saw this little boat which managed to stay afloat despite all the big boats going past it.


And the Borrowers are also heading for Milton Keynes!

Shortly after the lock we stopped to admire the Great Ouse Aqueduct, walking down underneath it to admire the river itself as well as get a view upwards.

The aqueduct was the first wide iron trough aqueduct to be built.
You can see here that it is literally a big trough full of water supported by pillars! 



The river running underneath the aqueduct was lovely, and full of fish; lots of food for this
handsome fellow on the opposite bank.

Robin took pictures of the views from the aqueduct and we took Harold across, where immediately there was a sign welcoming us to Milton Keynes.





The view to the West on the aqueduct - note no fence, just a
tiny lip and then a sheer drop!

And to the East, the towpath side thankfully has a fence.  

We spent the rest of the day following the canal gently round the town, very few houses in sight, mostly parks and greenery (just the same as from the road) and coming to rest near to the town centre for exploring tomorrow. We were lucky to bag the last mooring space near to the shopping centre so in general very pleased with our day. The tow paths and surround, and the canal itself were all remarkably clean and litter/graffiti free considering it's centre of population; so far Milton Keynes is holding up well!