{"id":4549,"date":"2016-01-04T14:48:25","date_gmt":"2016-01-04T14:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/?p=4549"},"modified":"2016-07-28T16:08:54","modified_gmt":"2016-07-28T16:08:54","slug":"kings-cross-to-birmingham-via-the-grand-union-canal-stage-8-milton-keynes-to-iron-bridge-aqueduct","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/2016\/01\/kings-cross-to-birmingham-via-the-grand-union-canal-stage-8-milton-keynes-to-iron-bridge-aqueduct\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand Union Canal hike : Milton Keynes to Iron Trunk aqueduct"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This is the eighth\u00a0stage of the\u00a0<a href=\"\/2012\/09\/kings-cross-to-tring-along-the-grand-union-canal\/\">Grand Union Canal Expedition<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"dropcap\">O<\/span> n the map below\u00a0the little blue hiking icon shows where I&#8217;m up to (green line), more than half way I&#8217;d say! \u00a0The red line to the right is the route of my hike along the <a href=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/2014\/12\/the-great-ouse-odyssey-introduction\/\">River Great Ouse<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The two paths cross each other at the blue hiking icon.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/u\/0\/embed?mid=zoYyilYPr4S0.k1Mn08DW87Fo\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I couldn&#8217;t face the walk from Milton Keynes (MK) station to the canal so I caught a cab to the towpath and set off towards Birmingham.<\/p>\n<p>After an hour&#8217;s\u00a0hike through MK I reached the far-flung suburbs and the day began to brighten up a bit.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4546\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4546\" style=\"width: 2000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-4546 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/towpath-outside-MK.jpg\" alt=\"towpath outside MK\" width=\"2000\" height=\"622\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4546\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Onwards to Brum!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>An aqueduct, built in 1991,\u00a0took me over Grafton Street<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4538\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4538\" style=\"width: 1023px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-4538 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/aceduct-over-road.jpg\" alt=\"Grafton Street aqueduct \" width=\"1023\" height=\"714\" srcset=\"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/aceduct-over-road.jpg 1023w, https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/aceduct-over-road-300x209.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1023px) 100vw, 1023px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4538\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Grafton Street aqueduct<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At Wolverton I enjoyed a marvellous mural, painted\u00a0in 1986 by local artist Bill Billings.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4541\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4541\" style=\"width: 1365px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-4541 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/mural.jpg\" alt=\"Wolverton Train Mural\" width=\"1365\" height=\"315\" srcset=\"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/mural.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/mural-300x69.jpg 300w, https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/mural-1024x236.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1365px) 100vw, 1365px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4541\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wolverton Train Mural<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Only 72 miles to go before a slap-up curry in Birmingham!<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4542\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4542\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-4542 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/mural-brum-72-miles.jpg\" alt=\"detail from the mural saying 72 miles\" width=\"410\" height=\"395\" srcset=\"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/mural-brum-72-miles.jpg 410w, https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/mural-brum-72-miles-300x289.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 410px) 100vw, 410px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4542\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">72 miles!!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>By midday I had\u00a0reached my destination, the magnificent Iron Trunk\u00a0aqueduct, beneath which flows the mighty River Great Ouse.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4543\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4543\" style=\"width: 1244px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-4543 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/ouse-from-iron-bridge.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Trunk aqueduct with the Great Ouse passing underneath\" width=\"1244\" height=\"700\" srcset=\"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/ouse-from-iron-bridge.jpg 1244w, https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/ouse-from-iron-bridge-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/ouse-from-iron-bridge-1024x576.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1244px) 100vw, 1244px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4543\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Iron Trunk aqueduct with the Great Ouse passing underneath<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Opened in 1811 as the fourth attempt to cross the Great Ouse, this marvellous example\u00a0of Victorian engineering is the oldest &#8216;iron trough&#8217; aqueduct in the UK.<\/p>\n<p>This is how it looks from the banks of the Great Ouse.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4539\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4539\" style=\"width: 936px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-4539 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/iron-bridge-from-ouse.jpg\" alt=\"Iron Trunk aqueduct from the Great Ouse\" width=\"936\" height=\"713\" srcset=\"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/iron-bridge-from-ouse.jpg 936w, https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/iron-bridge-from-ouse-300x229.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 936px) 100vw, 936px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4539\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Iron Trunk aqueduct from the Great Ouse<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I was so impressed with the aqueduct, it was without any doubt the highlight of the hike<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4545\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4545\" style=\"width: 540px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-4545 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/selfie-on-iron-bridge.jpg\" alt=\"Happy hike on the Iron Trunk Iron Trunk aqueduct\" width=\"540\" height=\"746\" srcset=\"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/selfie-on-iron-bridge.jpg 540w, https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/selfie-on-iron-bridge-217x300.jpg 217w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4545\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Happy hike on the Iron Trunk Iron Trunk aqueduct<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I enjoyed a hearty lunch on the banks of the Great Ouse.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/lunch.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4540 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/lunch.jpg\" alt=\"lunch\" width=\"518\" height=\"404\" srcset=\"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/lunch.jpg 518w, https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/lunch-300x234.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 518px) 100vw, 518px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I strolled along the river path\u00a0for half a mile or so (I&#8217;ll be returning here as part of the <a href=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/2014\/12\/the-great-ouse-odyssey-introduction\/\">Great Ouse Odyssey expedition<\/a>) before heading back to MK.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/ouse-valley-way-marker.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-4544\" src=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/ouse-valley-way-marker.jpg\" alt=\"ouse-valley-way-marker\" width=\"887\" height=\"499\" srcset=\"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/ouse-valley-way-marker.jpg 887w, https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/ouse-valley-way-marker-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 887px) 100vw, 887px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>All-in-all a fine day&#8217;s hiking along the Grand Union Canal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is the eighth\u00a0stage of the\u00a0Grand Union Canal Expedition. O n the map below\u00a0the little blue hiking icon shows where&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[24,12,151],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4549"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4549"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4552,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4549\/revisions\/4552"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}