The 11 mile lock-free pound round Milton Keynes which started at Fenny Stratford comes to an end at Cosgrove Lock, with it’s modest 3’4” rise. En–route one passes over the Great Ouse Aqueduct. Crossing it is reminiscent of the spectacular Pontcysyllte Aqueduct: it’s an iron channel with no protection on one side. But being much shorter, not so high and wide enough for a broad-beam boat (so you don’t have to go quite so close to the edge) it’s rather less terrifying and vertigo inducing for the helmsperson, but still a novel experience.

Just past it, coming up to Cosgrove Lock we saw a rather old Dutch sailing Tjalke: not something very common on the canal system!

And just past the lock is Solomon’s Bridge. A very ornate job, the reason for which is lost in the mists of time, or something.