Category Archives: Cats

Fens and Flutterbys. 26th June

Wicken Fen GOBA Mooring to Reach Lode GOBA Mooring

Time to dust off the National Trust cards, today would be their first outing since before the pandemic when we visited the Back to Backs in Birmingham.

Wicken Fen is 254.5 hectares and is a SSSI protected by international designations as a Ramsar wetland site of international importance. It is one of the oldest nature reserves in the country and the first to have been looked after by the National Trust after it was donated by Charles Rothschild in 1901.

Here you can see an area of natural fen land, no pumping out of water to dry the land for agriculture here, in fact at times water is pumped in to help maintain the land. Where we are moored at Monk’s Lode, water is pumped under Wicken Lode and into the fen by a modern windmill (on the left).

The last surviving wooden wind pump (on the right) in the Fens sits proudly over looking the swaying grasses and sedge. It was built around 1912 and was moved from Adventurers’ Fen and restored in 1956. The windmill sails still have sheets wrapped round them ready to to be stretched out to catch the wind, the round shape at the back is where the wheel is to lift water from the drain into the fen to help maintain a high water table.

There are several walks around the area, we chose to walk the Boardwalk and then the woodland walk. Easels are located at places pointing out plantlife, dragonflies, damselflies, birds and in the woodland butterflies. Most of the time living examples wizz past.

In a hide we settled down, quieter than a mouse to watch to see what might happen. The bird feeders attracted a lot of Goldfinches, I think at one point we had about six of them vying for the seed. Such colourful birds the air filled with only their song. Sadly the noise of some people coming into the hide sent them all flying away until the new observers settled down, but only a brave couple of birds returned.

Parts of the fen have changed due to drying out. More plants have taken hold and in some areas trees have taken root. The woodland area a haven for butterflies. There were numerous easels about them. We spotted a Brimstone that flew by and then politely hung from under a leaf, showing off it’s perfect camouflage, if we’d not seen it fly in we’d have never have known it was there.

Flittering White wings occasionally haphazardly flew past us, the odd Peacock and Red Admiral all butterflies of child hood. Then there were masses of small brown butterflies, few wanting to take a rest long enough for the camera to focus upon them. A Speckled Wood, but plenty more without obvious markings. All we could see at the time was a yellowy cream outline to their wings. Later on studying the photos black dots could be seen meaning that they were Ringlets.

We walked out across the fen spotting Meadow Sweet that will soon be filling the air with its fragrance, a smell I will always associate with the Chesterfield Canal. We’d been told to look out for orchids, were these some?

**That’s a nice narrowboat over there!**

Back round to where we’d started after a pleasant walk. You could spend several quiet days walking the fen, seeing and hearing all sorts of nature.

Across the way sat an old cottage with a colourful garden. In the open door way an invite for you to take a peek inside. Nobody had mentioned the cottage and barns, but we did as invited and took a peek. A cockerel came over to show himself off. An outside privy, just as you’d expect except that the newspaper to wipe one’s behind is now photocopied!

Boats used for catching eels with wicker traps, nets for plovers (lapwings). So much crammed into a few barns that we’d nearly walked past.

**This could be Reach Lode or Wicken both narrow and amazonian**

A late lunch and then we were ready to push off, more Lodes to explore. The cruisier behind had left earlier thank goodness as the wind was going to make it hard for us to wind, the bow constantly being pushed over and the stern heading straight for the bank. Eventually we got round and aimed in the right direction, soon meeting the trip boat coming back to drop off it’s visitors.

The going was slow again, I headed to the bow to spread the weight more evenly which helped a touch. A family filled a canoe and so many dragonflies flitted about like fairies. Or do fairies flit about like dragonflies?

We got almost to the junction before we were caught up by the last trip boat of the day. Mick had considered pulling in here to moor but there was still no space on the EA moorings, so we turned eastward had a discussion as to which Lode we’d venture down first, Reach came out top.

Now deeper, or so it seemed for a while, the going was a touch quicker. The Lodes are higher than the surrounding land and without flood banks you actually get a view.

At the fork we turned to the south east towards Reach, reeds started to surround us, swaying in the stiff breeze. Then masses of blanket weed, the sort that tangles props up really well. Mick knocked us out of gear to glide through such sections. Was this only to get worse the further we progressed? We were now just that bit to far along the lode to reverse out again, so onwards we went, thankfully the blanket weed gradually diminished.

At Reach the lode splits in two, well it looks like it used to. Signs warn that this is the end of the navigation and permission should be sought to moor from the Parish Council. Just beyond there were the GOBA signs. Was there space for one or more boats, would there be anywhere in full sunlight? There was space for two or three, but it all looked rather shallow. We tried pulling in where there was less tree coverage, here would have been good last week for the 32C day. The depth prohibited access to land, we backed up and tried again. All the time the stern getting stuck on the bottom. We eventually made it back to the start of the moorings, the bow almost came into the side, just enough to get off, then Mick powered Oleanna round. The ropes were wrapped round trees, we were moored, our plank only just long enough to reach land. This however wasn’t a problem for Tilly!

We hope that tomorrow we’ll be able to get ourselves free again, as it may be some time before anyone else ventures down here!

0 locks, 4.08 miles, 1 wind, 1 left, 2 rights, 1 big fen, 2 windmills, 6531 butterflies, 431 damselflies, 311 dragonflies, 1 canoe, 1 cat tip toing along the plank, 6ft plank only just long enough, 1 very shallow mooring, 0 sight seeing from here, 1 supermarket delivery moved back.

https://goo.gl/maps/Re6B6stACL6d2AiD6

Slowing Right Down. 25th June

Waterbeach GOBA Mooring to Wicken Lode GOBA Mooring

The Geraghty zoom this morning included discussions on rust treatments, interviewing conductors and a quick whiz around Kath’s new home. So good to see her smiling face this morning.

Just before we were about to push off a rowing VIII came past bedecked in Ukrainian flags, obviously a fund raiser row. Bottisham Lock is just around a bend so we couldn’t quite see what was happening, were they turning to return to Cambridge? Were they going through the lock? Were they just taking a breather on the lock landing? Zooming in with my camera I could see oars being moved around over head, then the guillotine gate began to close, they’d be going down in the lock, the lock landing free for us to pull into.

Sure enough it was a fund raiser to help support families displaced by the war, the group were rowing to Ely and back today. It took quite a while for them to pull their boat out of the lock by which time we’d been joined above by a sailing dinghy.

By the time I’d reset the lock the crew on the dinghy had dropped their mast, there was plenty of space, so no danger of us getting a touch too cosy with them. With the strong winds they thought they’d catch us up and maybe even over take us on the way to their lunch date at the Five Miles from Anywhere Inn at Upware. Going back later however would be a different ball game, plenty of tacking required! They didn’t manage to catch us, but their sail was seen.

We pootled our way along past the asymmetrical cows again.

Reaching Upware we turned right into the wind at the junction heading for the navigable Lodes. Here a shortish lock sits, 61ft 4″. This is used to help regulate the water levels in the Lodes, the lock resets itself automatically with bottom gate open top closed, the height difference only being about 4″.

A boat was waiting to come down, the lock in our favour. The chap meant well as he chatted away about flashing lights as I was trying to read and digest the instructions on the panel, regarding the flashing lights. The lock worked for us and once we were clear it looked like it would work for them also despite the flashing lights meaning not to use the lock.

Narrow and slow, passing moored boats. An EA length of moorings at the junction with Wicken Lode were full, we’d not be able to return to moor there if all spaces were taken at the end. We swung under the wooden bridge the navigation now even narrower and shallower and very very slow going!

**We’ll get to use our membership cards soon**

It is 1.5 miles to the end of the navigable section, our guide book suggests it should take half an hour, Waterway Routes suggests an hours cruise, we just about managed an hour twenty five, it was very VERY S L O W going. All the more time to admire the views, the dragonflies and waterlilies that lined the narrow water.

At first the route wiggles back and forth, how would we manage if something was coming the other way? Our progress slowed to slower than walking pace, engine off to check the weed hatch. There was weed, luminous bright green tagliatelle weed in 8 inch lengths.

Once the wiggles were out of the way we could just about make out the straight course of the Lode ahead. Walkers sped past us, binoculars at the ready. We discussed changing a supermarket delivery we’d booked for a few days time, nudging it by a day or two as we might still be battling our way back!

A Marsh Harrier, a tall bird hide, a black and white windmill all came and went.

Then up ahead we spotted a few heads, a National Trust trip boat out from Wicken Fen. They pulled to one side and waved us on. Would they catch us up on their return journey? Of course they did, but the wind was too strong for us to be able to keep Oleanna’s bow in for them to pass, so they followed us to where Wicken Lode meets Monk’s Lode.

Here a cruiser was on the GOBA mooring, a look of panic in their eyes. They were about to set off, wanting to get moving before they’d be in the way of the trip boat on it’s next trip. All was fine, we pulled up just past them, the trip boat headed to it’s landing and the cruiser managed to wind and head off.

Once moored up the doors were opened and Tilly headed off avoiding the many walkers and woofers, plenty of friendly cover to keep her busy.

Being a sheltered place we decided that we’d get the barbeque out, burgers and buns were defrosted, kebabs made up and some cabbageslaw made. We were joined early evening by a cruiser who also had the same idea. What a wonderful mooring, still quite busy with walkers into the evening. Soon after we’d eaten dark clouds came overhead, so we retired indoors to avoid the possibility of rain.

2 locks, 5.3 miles, 1 right, 1 left, 1 shared lock, 8 rowing, 1.5 miles very very slow, 1 missing D, 1 happy cat, 4 kebabs, 2 burgers, 1 bowl of slaw, 1 lovely mooring, 55.5 today.

https://goo.gl/maps/1zsvHcZmtcY8xGAg6

Topping Up At Jesus. 24th June

Fort St George to Waterbeach GOBA Mooring

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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.

https://goo.gl/maps/LdygtvSY4wWKR3m46

A Tale Of Two Colleges. 23rd June

Fort St George, Cambridge

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

The choir stalls line the sides, seats going on forever, no wonder the choir is famed.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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!

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.

Midsummers. 21st June

Clayhithe Moorings to Fort St George Moorings, Cambridge

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.

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.

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.

A couple of hours had us bimbling around the city along with many thousands of tourists. We did have a couple of aims.

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 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.

https://goo.gl/maps/HJsuUQJGYfGUJeT19

At Last! 19th June

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.

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.

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.

Spiders have certainly been busy on Oleanna, the port side windows and cratch are sporting rather fine cobwebs at the moment!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

https://goo.gl/maps/c1yxZNmRGDeBLytP6

Plummeted. 18th June

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

https://goo.gl/maps/6x6ecmtCTqBmDdiS9

Behind The Curtains. 17th June

Cawdle Fen GOBA Moorings to Little Thetford EA Moorings

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.

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.

We passed Soham Lode which looks like it was once navigable, today no entry signs and a huge mass of weed prevent access.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!

https://goo.gl/maps/ta2hDjanRr8AuiqJ9

Made To Walk The Plank. 16th June

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

https://goo.gl/maps/vVA8LKxHTA7K8gBE8

Deja Goose. 15th June

Jude’s Ferry to Padnal Fen GOBA Mooring

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Narrowboat Oleanna

Travels of Narrowboat Oleanna