A Small Bear in Milton Keynes

Although I am enjoying my adventures in Stoke-on-Trent with my little bear buddy Hanley, I am starting to miss being a boat bear.  There is something very special about looking at the countryside across a canal, listening to the birds and enjoying the sunshine. from the roof of a boat.   

When Uplander II got back to the Grand Union main line from our adventure to Aylesbury, we carried on north towards Milton Keynes.  On the way, I saw how canals have to be dredged to keep them deep enough for boats to use and how the mud can be used to make the banks stronger.

Because there are some big boats on the Grand Union, it probably needs more dredging than smaller canals!

At a place called Fenny Stratford, I saw a very funny lock.  It was only shallow, but it had a swing bridge across it, so we had to open the bridge before we could put the boat into the lock and work through it, then we had to close the bridge again.  I thought this was a very complicated arrangement - bears wouldn't build something so silly! 

Fortunately, we had help to do everything we had to do with this funny lock and bridge, because there was another boat with us, crewed by a very nice lady and her two clever human cubs who were on holiday from the United States.  The little girl seemed as strong as a superhero, as she could open and close the lock gates as easily as Polar and her brother could play the violin beautifully.  If you ever read my blog, Sterling and Ridley, "Hi!" from Sonning the Boat Bear!

Then we were in Milton Keynes.  I thought going through a New Town might be dull but there was lots of green space in between the roads and houses, people walking along the towpath, human cubs to wave to, and it really was a lovely sunny day.  I found a new place to sit, in front of the lifebelt, as I watched the world go by.

At a place called Wolverton, just as we came out from under a railway bridge, there was a fantastic mural of a train with all kinds of things in and around the wagons.  I tried to count them but I'm only a small bear and got confused after the first ten.  

Then things got even more exciting as we went over a huge, long aqueduct, with a big river underneath. 

By now, it was late in the afternoon and Polar and Grizzly were looking for somewhere to moor.  I was very pleased when we stopped right under an apple tree, but I couldn't eat the apples fresh as they were sharp little crab apples.  Instead, I helped to pick some to make jam later.

We had reached a town called Cosgrove.  I think humans do live there, although it seemed to be entirely full of geese that evening, wandering around the fields honking at each other and the boats before flying away over the river.  There were hundreds of them and they were very noisy, but I had enjoyed such a busy day that they didn't keep me awake, and I was soon tucked up in my cosy little bear bunk.