IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Samian Way, AYLESBURY, HP22 5WJ

A far cry from most people's idea of a diary. With those fences, silos and domes it looks more like a particularly sinister remnant from the Cold War. There was even a helicopter flying around overhead.

View from the bridge over the canal, looking West

The Aylesbury Arm of the Grand Union Canal is six and a quarter miles long and has sixteen locks. It runs west from Marsworth Junction to the centre of Aylesbury.

The left side lock chamber wall suffered a major structural failure in March 2013, with the wall bowing substantially into the lock and the ground behind it subsiding to leave a long hole behind the deformed wall. The collapse effectively closed the canal and isolated the Aylesbury end of it from the rest of the canal network. The repair work took longer than the Canal & River Trust had expected, primarily because the investigation work into the cause of the collapse, and the design work involved in devising the best method of repairing it, took longer than had been anticipated. The lock wall was eventually completely rebuilt and strengthened with steel piles to give it extra support. Over 7,000 bricks were used and over 450 tonnes of concrete were poured during the repair. When the new wall has had a chance to weather in, it is hoped that it will blend in with the rest of the lock. The lock and the canal to Aylesbury were eventually reopened in November 2013. For a view of the lock prior to its collapse please see Image Floating tussocks of reeds are generally a nuisance to boaters on much of the Aylesbury Arm, and this lock seems to attract more than its fair share as evidenced by the piles hauled out and left on the lock sides.

Image To the West: Image To the East Image

the view is to the South, towards Buckland. Coombe Hill can be seen in the distance.

This is the view of the rapidly burgeoning Arla dairy taken from College Road just to the north of the recycling centre / dump. See shared description below. See also Image] and Image]

The enormous Arla dairy under construction to the north of Aston Clinton adjacent to the A41. Taken from the same bridge as Image] See shared description below.