Another night of fireworks and music into the early hours, thankfully the fair shuts down promptly and we didn’t get too much footfall past Oleanna afterwards. This morning it was very much time to move on, we’d stayed an extra night and had only just managed to tick off the top things on our list. We may need to return as there is the Fitzwilliam Museum and a David Hockney exhibition to go to amongst other things, oh and some more chilled medication needs sampling!
Booze from a punt
A top up shop was needed from the nearby Co-op, once this was stowed we pushed off and headed up towards Jesus Lock to do the necessaries, water and yellow water. We’d been pipped to the post by a hire boat, so we waited and watched the daily trip by the chaps with a bar on a punt, two fridges packed with beers, Pimms and Gin and tonic.
Once we’d finished our chores we pushed Cambridge away, winded and headed down stream. Novice crews sat in rowing boats being shown how to move their oars. The fair had it’s shutters down, resting before a busy Friday night. Tilly took up position on top of our washing that had been drying under the pram cover.
Heading downstream was that bit quicker. We swapped sides by Fen Ditton, the moorings at the pub filled with the two local hire boats. Cormorants sat drying their wings, they just look so evil to me!
Going down Baits Bite Lock
Baits Bite Lock was in our favour so we just slid in and I stepped off, closing the guillotine gate behind Oleanna and then lifting the bottom paddle to empty the chamber. If you are coming to Cambridge in the next few months it looks like there will be a sculpture trail along the river bank which might be worth keeping an eye out for.
There was space where we’d moored at Clayhithe but we hoped for a space at the GOBA mooring where we’d met NB Cleddau last weekend. As we approached we could see one, then two narrowboats and a cruiser. We knew you could fit three narrowboats along the mooring so Mick called out to the chap in the middle to see if he’d mind nudging up. He pulled back, the chap from the cruiser in front came and took a rope from the bow then hammered in a spike for us at the front as the bank was very uneven to get off with any ease. Brilliant we’d got a space, just a shame it was going to be too windy to have a barbeque!
Might there be enough space for us?
Shortly after we’d moored up, Tilly was allowed out. The covers on the boat next door look interesting so she needed to be discouraged in her calculations. Then the smell of the woofer next door brought her inside, just as I was putting down the covers. I heard a sploshing noise, had Tilly fallen overboard? Had she tried jumping onto our cratch cover and fallen in? I looked round, no sign of her in the water, maybe she was under the hull? But there were no ripples in the water. I turned round to see her standing in the doorway Some people have no faith!It was the water tank overflow, even I knew that! But what was more worrying was the two Toms heading straight for us aided by their big blue sheet!
Beware Toms with sheets
Once Tilly had got past the flood bank we didn’t see her for the remainder of the day until DingDing time. I got on with writing up blog posts, it’s hard to find the time when there is so much to see and do, in fact I’m writing this post before the one before!
It smells of woofer!
1 lock, 5.92 miles, 4 meals planned, 1 full water tank, 1 empty yellow water tank, 1 wind, 1 windy day, 2 gaps made into 1, 1 swimmer, 1 Kamikaze dinghy, 1 Friday night roast chicken, 1 blog post still to write.
When in a University city such as Oxford or Cambridge we feel we should visit a college or two. With a lot to choose from we chose two which couldn’t be more different from each other.
The choir
First was the tourist attraction of Kings College. I wanted to visit the college as it is where a chorister kicks off Christmas Eve singing Once in Royal Davey Daddies City. To be honest I hadn’t come across this until Mick came into my life, now every year either the TV or radio are on for us to listen. The chapel is also quite a visual treat.
The way in
Entrance is best booked in advance, if you can book a week in advance you’ll get £1 off your ticket. The entrance is down Senate House Passage which leads to the north door of the chapel.
Just look at that!
As soon as you walk in the ceiling and stained glass grab your eyes. I love fan vaulting so I was always going to enjoy our visit. A sit down was needed to appreciate the pleasing structure way over head. One area caught the eye, a very smiley sun just off symmetry, a helium balloon that someone had lost grip of. I wonder how long it will take for it to loose it’s attraction to the ceiling?
King Henry VI laid the foundation stone in 1444, King’s one of his two ‘royal and religious’ foundations, the other being Eton. Both the school and college were to admit a maximum of 70 scholars drawn from poor backgrounds, boys from Eton were guaranteed entry to Kings. From his original plans only the chapel was ever built and that took almost a century. Subsequent Kings took on the college, it’s building paused during the Wars of the Roses.
Lots of light and detail everywhere
The anti-chapel is overwhelmingly carved. Half crowns stand out from the walls, back lit. Tudor heraldic emblems fill every space left around the stained glass windows.
The west window
The dark oak screen which houses the organ was a gift from Henry VIII and bears his and Anne Boleyn’s initials. It’s not as elaborate as many choir screens, but not many date back to this time. He also commissioned the stained glass windows for the north, south and east sides of the chapel, split in two with Old Testament at the top and new Testament below. Sitting looking up at them there is a lot of bright blue sky.
You get big choirs in Cambridge
The choir stalls line the sides, seats going on forever, no wonder the choir is famed.
Rubens
Below the East window stands The Adoration of the Magi, painted by Rubens in 1634. During my A level Art I studied Rubens, I think the best essay I ever wrote at school was about his portrayal of naturally curved women.
Dodgems at Dawn
You then get the chance to walk around some of the outside areas. Today the Front Court was off bounds as the May Ball was being cleared away. It appears that this years thing is bumper cars, we came across them elsewhere in Cambridge today too. The gatehouse and screen, separate the college from the city’s streets and it’s people, the architecture ornate and delicate dates from the 1820s.
Flower meadow
Behind the court lies the Back Lawn, the majority grass. Don’t stand on it whatever you do! Then directly in front of Kings Chapel the grass has been sewn with wild flowers, a sea of waist high daisies with paths leading down to the River Cam. Very pretty and tasty for the bees.
As we crossed over the Bridge we looked back, the whole place shouted MONEY at us. We’d done THE tourist college with it’s spectacular ceiling and old masters, and Keep of the grass signs, now it was time for something very different.
Murray Edwards College
On the north west side of the city, up Huntington Road lies Murray Edwards College. Originally founded as New Hall in 1954, the first year had just 16 women students in buildings on Silver Street, it set out to try and address the low number of women undergraduates at Cambridge University . It was able to relocate to Huntington Road when the Darwin family donated their home The Orchard. The college buildings were opened in 1964 with the capacity for 300 students. In 2005 the college was renamed after it’s first President Dame Rosemary Murray and Ros and Steve Edwards who made a large donation to the college.
Fountain Court
Architects Chamberlain, Powell and Bon had designed the Barbican and Golden Lane Estates in London, they were chosen along with the builders WC French who had built the original motorway bridges on the M1. See, I told you it was completely different.
The Dome
The dining hall known as The Dome is made up of precast concrete, 4 inches thick, flanged so that they overlap each other with glass panels in between. The dome soars high above the first floor, your eye naturally pulled to it’s centre. Four staircases spiral down to the ground and lower floors, one in each corner.
More of the Fountain Court
Large wooden glazed doors invite you into rooms where the texture of the concrete has either been left ruff almost like the sea bed, or polished smooth. Cream brickwork on curved walls surrounds the Fountain Court with its blue lined troughs of water and of course it’s fountains.
Long glazed corridors with large windows, many open today for fresh air create open walkways from parts of the college to the next. For me this was reminiscent of parts of York University and parts of the house my Dad built as our family home.
The Porter was very friendly, gave us both a sticker for the Women’s Art Collection along with a big white folder with details of where we could go and the artworks held within the college and it’s 14 acres of gardens, and yes we’d be allowed to walk on the grass!
The collection is formed of modern and contemporary art by women, the largest of it’s kind in Europe. It was founded in 1986 and has expanded since then with donations and loans from artists. The college houses more than 500 works, including pieces by Barbara Hepworth, Tracy Emin, Rebecca Fortnum to name just a few. Every corner you turn there is another work, at the bases of staircases sculptures sit.
As we left we turned round, numerous potted plants sitting on the front steps a black cat lurking in there somewhere, we decided that we preferred it here to Kings. More inclusive, relaxed, warm, arty, airy, grass between your toes friendly. Well worth a visit and it’s free! Thank you Bridget for pointing us in the colleges direction.
Todays Menu
We now walked back into the city, one last thing on the list of essential things to do in Cambridge to tick off the list, Jack’s Gelato!
That’s better!
The queue was far shorter late afternoon and it was just the right length to have made the very hard decision of which flavour to have. To save any bickering between us we both chose Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt. Mick had a standard waffle cone, I paid the extra for a gluten free one, a rare thing! We sat down on the wall outside King’s College our backs turned towards the money and enjoyed our well earned chilled medication.
0 locks, 1 walked over twice, 0 miles, 7 miles walked, 2 colleges, 513 years apart, 1 spectacular ceiling, 1 mesmerising ceiling, 1 organ screen, 1 walkway of roses, 1 Ruben, 2 Tracy Emin and a Barbara Hepworth, £11, £0, 2 chilled medications well deserved.
Last night Cambridge was treated to a firework display, sadly we could only just make out the wizz bangs and flashes from behind the trees on the common. This was soon followed by what sounded like a concert somewhere in the city. Maybe Bruce Springsteen!? If it was he did a bad cover of Live and Let Die, the other songs were unrecognisable as we tried to drop off to sleep with the aim of getting up early. The May Balls in Cambridge have started.
The No 7 bus was late arriving, in fact it was embarrassed of the fact and came incognito as the No 5, changing itself whilst we weren’t looking! As other people headed to the bus who’d also been waiting we went to check, managing to stop the driver from heading off without us. Then we wanted a Cambridgeshire Multibus ticket which the driver had never heard of, so this took another five minutes at least to sort. Would we make our connection? The answer to this was no! By the time we reached Sawston we’d missed the 7A by at least five minutes. What to do now? There was still quite a distance to go and there was over an hours wait for the next service.
Thankfully the next bus got us that bit closer, dropping us off in the village of Duxford. From here we found a footpath that took us across a field, from where we could see our destination, a very large hanger on the other side of the M11. After a mile and a half walk we’d arrived walking underneath the wings of a Spitfire at the gates of the Imperial War Museum Duxford.
Lots and lots of planes
With some birthday money Mick had decided to treat us to a visit to the airfield. The museum is vast as you’d expect being on an airfield, stretching out almost as far as we could see. Today would be a long day making the most of our visit.
Trident Two
First we headed for the British Airliner Collection, looked after by the Duxford Aviation Society. Mick had been in contact with them via Facebook a couple of days ago and a chap called Jim had offered to come and open up one of the planes for us to have a look inside, they are only open up when there are enough volunteers about. We loitered on the tarmac whilst Jim unlocked all the doors, then we were shown inside, the Closed signs put back in position behind us. We’d have the plane to ourselves for a while.
This Trident Two was flown by Mick’s Dad fifty years ago shortly before he retired from being a pilot. This year Peter would have been 100, so this was a visit we just had to make.
Jim and Mick in the cockpit
Jim showed us into the spacious cockpit. The Co-pilots seat would be easier to get into as there was no jump seat behind it, but Mick wanted to sit in the left hand seat, the pilots seat, saying ‘Hello Dad’ as he sat down.
Jim ran us through all the instruments, although Mick knew most of them anyway. Stories were exchanged and of course photos taken.
This Trident Two flew with British European Airways from 1968 to 1972, when it was leased to Cyprus Airways. Damaged by gunfire during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, it was abandoned at Nicosia Airport. In 1977 the bullet holes were repaired and after a complete overhaul it re-joined the fleet in what was by then British Airways until it was retired in 1982.
Captain Geraghty and Co-pilot Leckenby
Tridents were built with ‘blind landing’ capabilities, the plane able to land in thick fog, enabling them to be a reliable passenger service. It had a range of 2,700 miles and could carry 115 passengers at a cruising speed of 580mph.
I’d been expecting Jim to be older, volunteers at museums like this tend to be. But Jim knew his stuff, he holds a pilots licence and has worked around airliners and is most definitely a plane enthusiast. As he showed us into the cabin a chap came saying he was wanting to give the Trident a wash and hadn’t expected it to be open today. With our leisurely tour over Jim locked the plane back up and moved over to open up the plane next door.
We walked up the line of British Airliners. A Viscount, Peter may have flown this plane too, along with the last plane in the line an Airspeed Ambassador which became known as an Elizabethan after the newly crowned Queen, it is the last one in the world.
B52
Planes were taking off and coming in to land, the runway in constant use, we didn’t feel the need for a flight at £45 a go, what we now needed was a cuppa and a snack whilst formulating a plan for the remainder of the day. A cafe in the American hanger provided us with refreshments and we plotted ourselves a route back towards the entrance, picking and choosing what we’d see.
If Mick’s Dad hadn’t retired he would most probably have moved on to flying the BAC I-II which was designed and built in Britain and was the most successful, 244 were built. Jim showed us round this plane too, a much more compact cockpit, no navigator seat required. A much narrower plane with no first class seats. Having a door under the tail meant that turn arounds could be swift. The plane could land, luggage off loaded, refuelled, new luggage and passengers were on board and ready for take off in the blink of an eye.
Propellers
Thank you so much to Jim for volunteering, opening up the planes and giving us a lot of your time.
The Battle of Britain Ops Block told the story of those who worked at Duxford. The base supported the defence of London with several squadrons flying out from here. The Dowding System was employed where the country was divided into groups, then subdivided into sectors, each sector having a Sector Station with an Ops Room.
The table
Wing Commander Alfred ‘Woody’ Woodhall, who was found to be short sighted in one eye at the beginning of WW2. Pilots were not allowed to wear glasses, so he got round this by wearing a monocle and continued flying for some time, later becoming Duxfords Station Commander.
Squadron status boards on the wall
The Opps Room is laid out how it would have been and accompanied by a projected film, lighting and recordings relives what it was like as five squadrons took off to head off the Germans.
Butternut squash salad and brisket burger
Lunch was taken in the Workshop Restaurant as Spitfires and Hurricanes flew past.
We walked round the Battle of Britain hanger.
Around privately owned planes, a bus and a German one-man submarine.
Then we headed for the Air and Space Hanger. Lined up outside was a vast array of Classic Cars, there was an auction taking place. We headed to the balcony over looking the bids, below a few rich people bid for vehicles. Sadly we missed how much the star of the sale went for a 1969 Ferrari 365GT Rebodied in the style of a ‘Pontoon Fender’ Testa Rossa, estimated at £350,000 to £400,000! No wonder it had ropes round it!
Spitfire and a Hurricane?
Away from the cars we learnt all about man and flight. In 1853 George Cayley designed a man carrying glider which successfully left the ground for 130m, a British aviation pioneer from close to Scarborough.
Looking across the hanger at all the planes, some suspended above others, we spotted another we had to spend time with, another plane that Mick’s Dad flew, the Lancaster. What a difference from the airliners, at least he was a pilot who got some heating unlike most of the crew.
Look at those Ugg Boots! Peter in the middle
To while away a bit more time we went to have a closer look at the classic cars, one had shouted out to be owned by me so we had to see what it was.
A 1937 Fiat 500 Topolino. What a pretty dinky car. A closer look and I spotted a few things that would bring the estimate down from £12,000 to £14,000, a bit of damaged paintwork and a missing centre to the steering wheel. I wonder how much I could have knocked off, oh and a missing wing mirror, but it still had trafficators. The auction was way past Lot 52 so I’ve no idea what it went for.
A quick look at the tat in the shop before we headed out the front to await the 17:07 7A bus. We waited and waited, some road works delaying the traffic. We waited some more as did other people. We had options. Wait, get a taxi, walk back to where we’d got off the bus this morning, walk to Whittlesford Station and get a train back to Cambridge. In the end we walked to the station another 1.8 miles to add to our tally for the day. We hopped on the first bus that arrived at Cambridge station and hoped it would get us some way back to the boat, which thankfully it did. More reliability and some bus route maps around Cambridge would help along with Google giving you information about them!
It would have been Peter’s 100th birthday a couple of weeks ago, Mick wrote a post about him here if you missed it. What a great day out to remember him.
Peter Geraghty
0 locks, 0 miles, 8 plus miles walked, 2 late buses, 4 planes with connections, 1 pilots seat, 1 star Jim, 3 cuppas, 1 coke, 1 flapjack, 1 millionaires flapjack, several millionaires bidding, 7 spitfire flypasts, 2 helicopters, loads of planes, 1 squash salad, 1 smoked brisket, £400,000 for a car! 1 submarine, 2 invisible 7A’s, 1 Lancaster, 1 Typhoon, 1 train, 3 buses, 1 very bored cat, 313 photos, 1 brilliant day.
Clayhithe Moorings to Fort St George Moorings, Cambridge
Clear clear water
The river was so clear this morning, all the reeds and plants intermingled with the fish below us. The sun was out again with the temperatures requiring shorts and shady hats.
We pootled our way in towards Cambridge, much of the journey we were surrounded by trees offering us some shelter. Baits Bite was to be our second lock of the week. Accompanied by a Lock Keepers hut and behind that a rather shy thatched cottage hiding behind high fencing.
Okay then
By The Plough Pub in Fen Ditton there are signs asking you to keep left, this means passing boats on the wrong side. A rowing boat came round the bend ahead of us, a touch too close to the bank and old man in the pub garden shouted across to them about a painting of the Bumps at this location.
Maybe this is the one he was on about. The bend here is known as The Gut, keeping to the left is because of the difficulty in steering a 60ft rowing VIII, as the boat ahead of us had just found out.
Wonder if these cows have better manors than those at Lechlade?
We’d been surviving on what water we had left since filling up at Prickwillow so we gladly stopped in between the moored boats along Stourbridge Common. Here cows graze right up to the river, leaving their calling cards on the banks. Thankfully today any cowpats were dried out making stepping off to tie up easier than it would have been otherwise.
Whilst the tank filled up I had a shower hoping we still had far enough to go to heat up another tank full for Mick later on. Some bins were found nearby, including recycling which was a relief as our rubbish mountain was getting close to engulfing us.
Under Riverside Bridge where two lanes cross the river, one for pedestrians the other bikes. Past Cambridge Museum of Technology with it’s high brick chimney. Terraced houses were soon replaced with boat houses, one for each college, the river narrower than the Thames through Oxford, but still full of boats.
College Boat Houses
We kept our eyes peeled for spaces, the first one too close to a bridge and right outside a pub. Midsummer Fair was set up on Midsummer Common ready to draw in the crowds later this week, maybe we’d be better further in. Then a space with some wonderful shade, we couldn’t let that go to someone else!
Only a few poles to tie to meant the spikes came out. Mick bashed them into the ground, on the final hit the hammer flew out of his hand and straight into the river! A mental note was taken to it’s location and the Sea Searcher magnet earnt it’s keep assisted by the river clearing a touch and the handle of the hammer being bright yellow!
Despite Tilly’s protestations the doors remained shut for her. The amount of foot fall, bikes, scooters and proximity of a busy road means that sadly she won’t be exploring Cambridge.
First port of call was a visit to Heffers. Heffers was established 140 years ago and was the equivalent to Blackwells in Oxford, the university bookshop. In 1999 Blackwells bought the shop, it still retains it’s name. In a previous life I was a book and map seller at Blackwells in York, so time to have a browse was on the cards. With aircon and some birthday presents to purchase I was going to be kept busy for a while. Mick browsed from a chair near the front doors whilst I headed off to find the Crime Section. One title I was after was easy to find, another however wasn’t there. A friendly chap asked if he could help, the other title was currently being considered for reprint. He then suggested various authors that might be suitable, this was a man who knew his stock inside and out. In fact he turns out to have worked in bookselling for 40 years, 38 of them for Heffers and he is also a judge for the Golden Dagger Awards for thrillers. So I purchased a wild card paperback suggested by him, hope Andrew will enjoy it.
Kings College on the left
A couple of hours had us bimbling around the city along with many thousands of tourists. We did have a couple of aims.
Mathematical Bridge
The Mathematical Bridge which crosses the River Cam at Queens College. The bridge was designed by William Etheredge in 1748 and built by John Essex in1749. It spans the 50ft wide river using short lengths of timber. These short lengths of timber are held in a state of compression by the action of gravity on the whole structure, based on a voussoir bridge requiring strong abutments to balance the compressive forces created by the spring of the arch. The triangulation in the structure makes it very strong. Since it was first built it was repaired in 1866 and then rebuilt to the same design in 1904.
Below on the river the punts were in use, several with experienced guides gliding the punts along with ease showing up those having their first attempt. Just beyond Silver Street Bridge is the limit of navigation, although it is only possible to bring powered craft into The Backs between October and March with permission from the Cam Conservators, between March and October the furthest we can go is to below Jesus Lock. Today we weren’t tempted to have a go on a punt.
At weekends they have a second shop elsewhere in the city
Walking back through the city we headed up Bene’t Street. As soon as we’d turned the corner I could see the queue, at least thirty people standing in line. Slow decisions at the head of the queue very necessary. Jack’s Gelato will be visited before we leave, but I didn’t really want to stand around for half an hour today, so we even refrained from looking at todays flavours as that would have been torture.
The Fair
The walk back to Oleanna passed numerous other University buildings and colleges, the bus station (possibly handy for tomorrow) and then across Christ’s Pieces a park filled with trees offering walkers wonderful shade. Then along and across Midsummer Common which one end was almost totally taken over by the fair, we’ll see how noisy it gets tomorrow when it opens.
1 lock, 4.96 miles, 1 full water tank, 2 clean boaters, 1 miffed cat, 1 big splash, 1 handy magnet, 1 first perusal of Cambridge, 2 long a queue, 1 list, 1 joint membership, 3 options, 1st to read the letter, 2 presents, 1 vat of bolognaise sauce.
Last night we were treated to a rather good sunset. The trees across the way glowed from the setting sun and the sky looked like dragons had been breathed a huge smoky sigh.
A slow start to the day, yesterday we’d decided to wait another day before heading into Cambridge. I’d hunted around places that we could visit locally. Anglesey Abbey 4 miles away, too far to walk there and back and using public transport would take well over an hour. Another Abbey, Denny, still a 3 mile walk and only open Thursday to Sunday.
Then Waterbeach Military Heritage Museum caught my eye. Sadly only currently open on the first Sunday and Wednesday of every month. Oh well, we’d go and see what we could see in Waterbeach, maybe try to find the airfield.
From Clayhithe Bridge you can walk through Cow Hollow Wood a local nature reserve. We took the path to the Remarkable Reedbed, not very remarkable, but the areas were named by school kids when it was first put together in 2000. It makes a nice walk into the village avoiding the road.
We followed Station Road into the village, now classed as a new town since 2018. Plenty of nice looking smart houses around the place. A triangular village green with a post office, convenience store and a couple of pubs.
St Johns
A stop to look round St John the Evangelist, dating back to the 12th Century the tower and spire collapsed and were replaced in 1821. It undertook a Victorian restoration in 1871 by JM Fawcett and John Ladds in 1878. The mosaics on the pulpit and behind the alter most probably date from this time.
Life buoy halo
There was a plaque and book of remembrance for 514 Squadron Bomber Command who were stationed at RAF Waterbeach between 1943 and 45, just how many had given their lives.
We carried on walking through the centre to try to reach the airfield which is quite obvious on Google maps. But today an area of it is now used for NHS staff accommodation. We walked down to the cemetery to see if we could see anything from there, sadly failing. It kind of looks like the airfield is being redeveloped, most probably for housing.
Wonderful reflections
We walked back to the river on Bannold Road crossing the railway line which brought us to Bottisham Lock. A wonderful view upstream to be had from the weir.
Loads of room today
Today there was plenty of space on the GOBA mooring, NB Cleddau and the others having moved off this morning. We then followed the flood bank back to Clayhithe, at times having to lift our arms to avoid the masses of nettles.
All blue and green
The list of places to visit in Cambridge is long and could get expensive. I think this evening we will have to pin the tail on the donkey to choose which things we’re going to do and see.
0 locks, 0 miles, 4 miles walk, 1 church, 17 hollyhocks, 0 airfield, 2 abbeys 2 far away on foot, 2 far away for the bus, 2 sessions of shore leave, 8 times no, 8 courgette and pea fritters for the first time.
Fidwell Fen EA Mooring to Clayhithe Bridge Public Mooring
Tilly was given an hour and a half whilst we had breakfast and discussed our next move. There are so many things we want to do in this area, Wicken Fen, Burwell church, a long list of places in and around Cambridge, all to manage around 48hour moorings in a popular area!
We decided to keep heading south towards Cambridge, if we couldn’t get moored there we’d return and get the train in, but that also needed to be thought about with the train strikes looming. However today we’d only be moving so far, we had our eyes and hopes set on the next GOBA Mooring at Waterbeach.
Wonky horns
Odd horned cattle grazed the banks as we moved along.
The geese had sorted themselves, Greylags to the east, Canadian to the west leaving just enough room for passing boats in between.
The answer
There are plenty of Hitchhikers Guide fans on the network and as we passed one I noticed we’d got our own hitchhiker a rather pretty spider, I think it’s a Missing Sector Orb Web.
Spider!
Spiders have certainly been busy on Oleanna, the port side windows and cratch are sporting rather fine cobwebs at the moment!
Bottisham Lock
Soon Bottisham Lock came into view. A long lock landing stretching out below with a cruiser sat right in the middle. I headed to the bow to step off. They’d settled in nicely with a gas stove out of the bank, the crew all returning to their boat with fishing rods.
The lock had both guillotine and vee gates closed, it was neither full nor empty. Inside the control panel were a different line of buttons and instructions written in marker pen to not close both ends of the lock on leaving. I worked Oleanna up, the guillotine gate rising only a small amount. The filling seemed to stall after a while, water still coming into the lock but not rising Oleanna any higher. I tried pressing the gate button again, but the timed delay was still delaying things. Patience was all that was needed and soon the light went out and I could raise the gate fully.
This is where you need an Anglian Pass
Now we were on the Cam Conservancy water. Up ahead were the moorings we’d been hoping for. Three narrowboats fitted it nicely. Oh well, we’d hopefully find somewhere further on. The first two boats were familiar, we’d first seen them on the Relief Channel, then in Ely. They were travelling together and had their bows facing each other so they could sit in their well decks and be sociable.
The third boat looked like they’d just arrived, or where they leaving? The chap at the stern had a life jacket on, was our luck in? Then the side hatch opened. No we’d missed the space by about fifteen minutes!
Then Mick realised who it was. A boat we’ve been hoping to meet for a couple of weeks now. We’ve been a mooring apart without knowing it, passed one another whilst one has been tucked up on a tributary. Emails have been swapped with cruising plans, my last one said we’d be heading to the Lodes and not in to Cambridge, Sue’s last one mentioned they were heading to Cambridge then onto the Old West River, I’d imagined them to be long gone. But no here they were, at last!
NB Cleddau
A bip of Oleanna’s horn caught their attention and we were soon breasted up alongside NB Cleddau. We’ve followed each others blogs for some time and last winter I’d contacted Sue for information regarding Bedford River Festival as they had been before and we were considering a visit this year. Several emails had gone back and forth between us and today we were finally in the same place as one another.
Ken and Sue, Sue most probably has a similar photo of me taking photos
We must have chatted for at least an hour, we could have gone on for longer but we were wanting somewhere for Tilly today as she’s likely to be cooped up whilst we go sight seeing. Our paths will cross again in the coming weeks, hopefully somewhere we can both moor up bank side and continue our conversations.
Pushing off after a couple of boats had come past we weren’t hopeful for a mooring, the river now quite busy and not many moorings available. We waved goodbye to Sue and Ken hoping we’d not be returning to breast up to them for the night.
Pretty sailing boat
At the Cam Sailing Club boats were being tucked up for the week. A big boat came towards us, mast lowered for the bridges, a hen do sitting out on the spacious bow having a great time in the sunshine.
Fancy building up ahead
The pub mooring was empty, but had a long line of gongoozlers sat on chairs, possibly awaiting a trip boat, or maybe just enjoying the scene and a pint. Not a suitable place for Tilly.
She’s getting married!
Thankfully through the bridge there were a couple of spaces available, we pulled in to the one furthest away from the road and let the cat out. This would do us for the day, possibly the closest cat friendly mooring to Cambridge we’re going to get.
See ya!
Now to start planning what to see, when and how to get there!
1 lock, 4.24 miles, 2 passed Lodes, 1 Anglian Pass in the window, 1 familiar boat, 1st meeting, 1 sunny day, 1 late lunch, 1 space, 2nd helpings of quiche, 8th navigation authority.
Little Thetford EA Mooring to Fidwell Fen EA Mooring
Everyone will be saying the same thing today, ‘What a difference a day makes!’ Yet it was surprising to see the chap in front of us pulling away wearing a woolly hat, it couldn’t be that cold surly! I started off the day wearing shorts, but soon changed into long trousers.
Toasted bacon and mushroom with a touch of tomato sauce
As we waited for the Geraghty zoom to kick off this morning we were passed by Simon Judge on NB Scholar Gypsy who is recently back from a trip to Belgium. Last year we joined him and nine other boats on a Thames Tideway cruise with St Pancras Cruising Club. There was only time for a short exchange between us before he passed on by, it was drizzling, maybe our paths will cross again.
Zoom this morning included details of forthcoming trips away and we were glad to see that the Londoners were now fully recovered from Covid. With two new variants about we’ll be doing our best to remember to have our masks with us in crowded places.
Popes Corner
It was now raining properly, so we decided to sit it out and wait for it to ease before moving onwards. By midday we were ready to push off, heading southwards. Mick had called ahead to the Fish and Duck Marina to see how much their diesel was and if they might just have a 13kg bottle of LPG as we’d finished one bottle the other day. Calor Gas is a hard thing to find nowadays, none at Little Ouse Moorings or in Ely, so on hearing that they had some we needed to get there quickly before it all went.
Filling up
Not far to where the river splits at Pope’s Corner. The Old West heading off to the west and the River Cam to the south, here sits the marina, steel on the river moorings and tuperware inside. We pointed down the Old West and pulled in on the service mooring, a touch short for us, but the chap had come out and pulled us alongside another narrowboat so the diesel hose would reach our tank.
A rare bridge
The old gas bottle was removed and a new one put on the stern to drop into the gas locker later, Mick wanted to re-arrange the bottles anyway. Once we’d paid we then reversed away back to the junction and headed southwards onto the Cam.
Another pumping station and a pillbox
The floodbanks now moved away giving us views of the grey day, we’d already got a touch damp as the diesel tank filled and several layers were required.
Sign posts were many today. Ely, Cambridge, St Ives and Burwell. We’d already decided and headed towards Cambridge, but should we do the Lodes first or head to Cambridge? Being grey we didn’t fancy going too far so at Upwell we opted to stay on the River Cam and pull up at the EA moorings.
I’d spotted a slightly strange thing on our Waterway Routes map at Upware. Here there are 72 hour patron moorings close to the pub Five Miles To Anywhere, then on the offside it said there were 48 hour patron moorings too. But how could you be a patron at the pub? The next bridge north was about a mile and a half away and heading southwards you’d have to cross first the River Cam at Bottisham Lock, 3.5 miles, then head back downstream to Upware Lock, another 3.5 miles, followed by another quarter of a mile to the pub. Quite a long way for a pint! But on a short landing by the pub was a rib with an outboard motor, do they come and collect you? Their website suggests that you would need to make your own way by dingy.
If you can get to the pub!
Round the bend we pulled in at the end of the EA mooring behind a couple of cruisers. A quick check confirmed it was a good location for Tilly. Too right it was with a very handy fence to aid friendly cover perusal. It was however a touch muddy and damp in the grassy bits!
The second run had a better view
As we had lunch I cooked up some quinoa for a quiche base. Todays quiche was to be a firm favourite from before I went gluten free, Smoked Salmon and Camembert. It may even be nicer with the quinoa crust.
Click on photo for recipe
0 locks, 3.82 miles, 13 degree plummet, 1 Simon, 3 rivers, 72.5 litres, 13kg gas, 1 cat with eye’s too big! 2 friends and some red leicester, 1 quiche, 1 damp grey day.
Cawdle Fen GOBA Moorings to Little Thetford EA Moorings
Opening up the hatch
Plans change when you are on a boat. We’d planned to stay put today as we’d be experiencing the hottest day this year, so far. But as we had our cuppa in bed we decided to move on. Not sure if Tilly’s tale from yesterday of woofer chasing was the truth, we didn’t want to be sat all day with the doors closed for her safety, or with them open wondering how safe she was with three roaming woofers about. The advantage of being on a boat is that if you don’t like your neighbours you can move, not that we didn’t like them, we just wanted Tilly to be able to come and go in safety.
Bye bye
So even before breakfast was considered we pushed off and aimed for the next mooring south. Dipping under the bridges Ely Cathedral vanished behind the concrete.
Soham Lode
We passed Soham Lode which looks like it was once navigable, today no entry signs and a huge mass of weed prevent access.
Moorings ahead
Two miles on the banks are high again and the EA mooring came into sight, plenty of boats there, but a gap big enough for us and maybe a cruiser too. As we pulled closer I spotted a woofer on the boat that would be behind us, hopefully the owners would be a touch more responsible than those we’d just left.
Doors open
Mick had a chat with them, the dogs (two of them) are likely to chase, but do no harm, the owners would keep an eye on them. There was however a request, could we hold off letting Tilly out for a while as one of their dogs was about to have a shower and that job was hard enough without a cat being added to the mix. We obliged, which wasn’t hard as Tilly wasn’t chomping at the bit to go out due to the heat.
Please can we have a cool outside again
The sun was now heating up the port side nicely, curtains drawn to help deflect some of the heat. Covers were poppered in place, sides rolled up to try and give a touch of shade and encourage the breeze in through the open doors. Tilly looked out a couple of times, we walked up to the top of the bank, plenty of friendly cover to keep her busy on the other side, but it was way too hot for her. The escape pod or bathroom floor became her preferred positions for much of the day.
180degrees at 32C
As we had breakfast I cooked some pasta which was then cooled and popped in the fridge for our evening meal, best to get any cooking out of the way before the temperature rose even more.
Tilly sticking to what shade she could find
We pottered the day away inside behind the curtains, the breeze making things bearable inside. As the sun moved over head and started to heat up the starboard side the curtains were opened and closed accordingly, we could now have the hatch open, windows were taken out to encouraging the breeze even more.
Mick spent time moving my email from one provider to another. Quite often my messages end up in peoples spam folders so we’re hoping the move will eliminate some of that.
I set about trying star darning on a t-shirt. My t-shirts get holes easily and I tend to look like quite a scruff in some of them. I chose one and gave it a go, if I can extend their life by another year that would be great. Practicing on my cheapo t-shirts hopefully I’ll be good at it by the time I get to those with sentimental value. I soon learnt that smaller stars were better than bigger ones which with the cotton I was using looked like they will catch on things quite easily.
The maximum temperature reached 32C, the highest temperature recorded today a little before 4pm in Cambridge not that far south of us. Thank goodness or that 16mph wind. I got the cool mat out for Tilly. Last year she’d rejected it, Well it smelt funny and who in their right mind would want to curl up on plastic in this heat! She at least sniffed it, tried to see what it was hiding on the floor and then walked away. Maybe next time she might actually stand on it!
Back they go again
The river was far busier than we’d expected. Plenty of people out and about enjoying the sunshine. We had cruisers of all shapes and sizes. One with six topless chaps came past the captain shouting over his engines so that the world could hear him ‘They (referring to narrowboaters) shout to tell you to slow down and all we do back is say’ a hand gesture involving one finger followed! We said nothing but thought plenty. Strangely enough Oleanna then bumped around for a half hour as the river gradually calmed down.
Hmmmm!
As the temperature started to drop we all headed outside. The solar connection box still needed fixing back onto the roof and with rain forecast for tomorrow it needed doing today. Mick debated on rewiring the panels to be in parallel again. Just because he doesn’t like thick wires was not a reason to keep them as they were. I asked if he’d regret keeping them in series when it came to the winter. Well he thought he would, so the wiring was revisited.
Checked and ready to go back on
A rim of black tack was put around the connection box base, some Captain Tolley’s creeping crack dripped on where the cables came out from the roof, just in case. Then the four screws were done up, the black tack that had squeezed out between the cabin top and box was neatened off. Job done.
Complete!
Well then we found that one of the cables going into the box wasn’t fully tightened up! Mick tried to rectify this without us removing everything off the roof again. Here’s hoping it’s all weather proof!
Thankfully the temperature gradually dropped during the evening and hopefully we’ll be able to get a reasonable nights sleep.
0 locks, 2.17 miles, 1 final goodbye to Ely, until we come back! 3 woofers down to 2, 0 shade, 2 hot or cats, 2 boaters 1 cat sitting in the dark, 1 cool mat rejected again, 1 connector reconnected, 6 lobsters, 32C, 1 hole in the side!
Padnal Fen GOBA Mooring to Cawdle Fen GOBA Mooring
Jobs before breakfast, the yellow water tank needed emptying and a coat of paint on the roof. Mick did the honours with the toilet whilst I put masking tape around the areas to be painted.
A stunning day
All over the roof this morning were small dead insects, as though they had all landed on the roof and died instantly. I suspect that is what’s happened to the white insects that we seem to keep getting on the river side of Oleanna. Each morning when we go out the river side of the boat is covered in these white little creatures. Are they newly hatched nymphs? Have they crawled up the boat mistaking it for reeds where they would mature then fly away? Maybe maturing into the dead things on our roof! I suspect that during the day at the moment these little white creatures cook nicely on the dark blue of the cabin sides.
A better photo today, but a missed bit hard to reach
I cleaned off the areas to be painted and then started with my brush. Thankfully it was still early enough in the day for the cream roof to still be cool, meaning the paint flowed off my brush with relative ease. The downside was that the centre ropes could not be reattached today. Painting the centre line loop I took selfies again to check I’d not missed bits. From what I could see in the bright sunshine it looked pretty good, on later inspection for the blog I’ve noticed that on the inside of the loop I’d missed a section, it wasn’t a shadow!
By the time we’d had breakfast and made ready to push off the surrounding boats had all headed off themselves. With stocks on board now depleted somewhat we needed to do a big shop, just as well we were headed for Ely.
How many fenders!
Back to the Great Ouse we turned southwards. WB Karma sat on the EA moorings, we biped our horn and stopped mid channel to chat briefly with them, they are certainly making slow progress along the river. We may see them again on our way back.
Today fishing could start again on the river. At first we only saw one chap with his full kit set up in a fishing peg. But then the number increased as we got closer to Ely, this also coincided with boats heading towards us and rowers, all really rather congested.
House extension coming on a treat
Once under the railway bridge we paused to let a boat wind and then we tucked ourselves in, stern right under a willow and very close to fishermen. In Ely neither boats or those fishing have more right to use the river bank than the other. So if there is someone fishing in the middle of a gap of boats you have to leave them to it.
Busy Ely
A trip to Sainsburys with the bike to act as a sherpa stocked us up well for the next week or so. Then it was decision time.
Should we find a mooring in Ely, have lunch do a bit more sight seeing and then stay put tomorrow in the heat. As last Friday night had been really quite noisy, the weather today was likely to encourage more people to the river bank for a drink making it even noisier. I had wanted to visit the art gallery and have a general wander around Ely again, but we decided to move on.
Goodbye
Just south of Ely is a GOBA mooring, Heather had suggested Tilly might like it there. So that is where we headed waving Goodbye to Ely and its busyness, although we could walk back into town should we want to. The mooring was quite overgrown, hard to work out where solid ground started and where wet feet ended! It took us a while to find a suitable spot, deployed the plank and then opened all the doors. The day was heating up, so curtains were drawn against the sunshine. Normally on hot days we’d find a good shady mooring, but trees and moorings along the river don’t tend to coincide, I’d hunted round Google earth for ages so I know!
The only tree available
After a late lunch, I pulled the masking tape off the roof, the paint can now cure before the solar connection box gets screwed back on. I then retired to hide inside Oleanna as Tilly made the most of a new area to pounce. She didn’t agree with me when I brought a friend back into the boat to show it how shady it was inside. I was picked up and made to walk the plank carrying my friend all the way!
First rule. No friends home, dead or alive, or putting them on the roof for later!hmnmeowhm!
A cruiser pulled up right in between us and the other boat at the other end of the mooring, they obviously knew each other. Their two dogs, or was it three came sniffing round, obviously their noses had found Tilly. She was quite happy either indoors or out under a nearby tree, in a nice shady spot!
Our mooring
Late afternoon we heard a dash through the friendly cover followed by a scraping sound, then a splash. Almost certainly Tilly going in! In the past she has always run inside to safety, but today she legged it back to the tree. The dogs came to have a look, the lady saying one of them had also fallen in. It was most definitely a woofer related splash, calculations done rapidly had been miscalculated and I lost my footing!It was a very big jump back to the stern.
Try as we might she wasn’t moving from under the tree, at least we knew where she was and she’d come back on board when ready and a touch drier. When she did eventually return she’d still some lick drying to do, her tail a third it’s normal size. Whether it was a woofer induced splosh we’ll never know, at least it had happened where the bank was very easy to get out.
Chicken and Bean Salad
This evening we’ve enjoyed a hot chicken and bean salad. This only ever gets made in the summer, I try to time it for when green beans are in season, a bit early today, but still tasty. Click on the photo for the recipe.
0 locks, 4.88 miles, 1 left, 1 willow for shade, 1 fully laden bike, 2 boxes wine, 3 red peppers, 3 courgettes, 30 cetirizine hydrochloride tablets, 1 after bite pen the horse flies are about! 1 soggy moggy, 0 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval due to pesky woofers, 1 mafting day.
I decided to do a touch of filling on a couple of the places I’m in the process of touching up. Yes I could apply several layers of primer, undercoat to build the layers up to meet with the existing top coat. But I want there to be at least one top coat before the forecast rain on Saturday, I’d also like not to be trying to get a coat of paint on on Friday as the temperature is due to be in the 30’s.
Isn’t nature amazing!
Back in Goole I’d bought some car body two pack filler. I mixed up a small amount with the catalyst, hoping I’d have enough for the job and that it wouldn’t go off too quickly before I’d had chance to use it all up. I had gauged the quantity perfectly, but another two minutes would have helped before it started to set! I managed anyway.
Making hay
Time to set off, retracing our route, round the bends passing soooo many damselflies. The farmers were out making hay, cutting and turning the long grass in the fields.
Flowing on by
Below us we could see clearly, long reeds flowing in the gentle current, fish from 2mm to nearly a foot in length. Then blanket weed which slowed our progress as it had done yesterday.
Isleham Lock
The lock was set ready for us, the guillotine gate raised as I’d left it, we’d almost certainly been the last boat through.
I closed the guillotine then lifted the slackers on the bottom gates until we dropped the 1ft 11″. Slackers closed, gates open and we were on our way again.
High above us two large planes circled from Mildenhall, a Hercules, the other we don’t know. Later in the day three fighter planes could be seen in formation some distance away.
What a gaggle!
Damselflies flitted about in their masses just above the surface of the water. A gaggle of geese, White and Greylags, squabbled and swam in line to our port side.
Closer to us were the Black Headed Gulls and today we had Terns too. The Gulls dipped in flight for insects, the Terns followed our wake hovering ready for any sign of a fish to then dive in and grab.
More round that bend
Round the next slight bend. A gaggle of geese, White and Greylags, squabbled and swam in line to our port side. Hang on! Haven’t I said that before? Had we just seen the same bunch doing exactly the same thing? Or was that yesterday? No it wasn’t deja vu, just another gaggle. This lot crossed over in front of us and continued to squabble.
Now the long straights, moored boats, the old mill. A heron moved along to loose us, only to find we caught it up a few minutes later, time and time again. Why they don’t head in the opposite direction only they know!
A swing?
Arriving at Prickwillow we noticed a makeshift rope swing had been attached to the bridge, almost dangling in the water. This turned out to have been the hose that someone had left on the pontoon, now removed from its reel. We stopped to fill up with water, hopefully saving us the job tomorrow when back in Ely. It was good to be inside out of the sun, the closed curtains had kept inside Oleanna at a reasonable temperature.
Then onwards again, hoping for a space on the GOBA mooring where we’d been two days ago. Two cruisers were there, but plenty of space for us too. As soon as we were tied up the doors were opened.
This outside is too warm!
At first it was a touch too hot for Tilly, she returned and took up a long cat position on the bathroom floor. I suspect on really hot days she wishes we still had ceramic tiles like those on Lillian, Karndean looks nice but doesn’t stay as cool!
Mick had been thinking about the solar. The panels had been wired in parallel, but he was going to see what happens with them wired in series. This is for ease of wiring with thick wires (always a telephone engineer!) and they may just be more efficient. However if a shadow is cast over one of our two panels this affects the output from both panels. They will stay in this configuration until I’ve finished painting to see what effect it has.
Undercoated
The masking tape came out, marking squares around where I’d primed the roof for touch up. Then the areas were sanded for a key, the dust cleaned off.
The undercoat took quite a lot of stirring to get it mixed and then I applied a coat. The roof was maybe a touch too warm for this as I didn’t have much time to move the paint around to get a good finish. I tried using a selfie to see if I’d managed to paint all the centre line ring, but being able to see my phone screen proved just as hard as seeing round corners! Hopefully it wasn’t too late in the day and would avoid getting covered in flies.
A fully paid up member
As the afternoon continued the temperature dropped which meant our second mate was out and pouncing in the friendly cover. She’d been allowed an extra hour and she made full use of it.
1 lock, 9.33 miles, 5467288 damselflies, 203 geese, twice, 2 big planes, 3 pointy planes, 2 terns, 1 full water tank, 4 hours shore leave, 2 spent on the bathroom floor, 1 top coat to do, 2 panels in series.
