Yesterday when we pulled up we decided that we’d be staying put today, such a lovely mooring in the middle of nowhere on our own, Tilly could have a field day!
Our bedroom view this morning
So when the front blinds were rolled up we were surprised to see another narrowboat moored up, at least they were at the other end of the moorings, so neither of us would disturb each other.
Our nearest neighbour
All day we saw two walkers, the narrowboat ahead moved off and another came past us heading to Brandon and then returned a couple of hours later. Other than that we’ve had bird song to listen to.
A good spot in the sunshine
Tilly started the morning by watching the damselflies in the reeds alongside the boat. I was then given 9 and a half hours to explore! But I had to show myself at least ten times during the day which I think I managed quite well.
Despite the incredibly slow internet here we just about managed to join in with the Geraghty zoom this morning, we froze and went silent on several occasions. Topics included the Fens, bunting and even vampires.
A field of a day
There’s lots of grass to tuck yourself away in and sandy mounds, She said she hoped they weren’t ants nests because I’d spend the day being looney loopy if they were. I only managed an hour of looney loops though.
She got on with her project. It gets hidden away when She’s not doing it. Tom sat outside for sometime in his coat. He says he was listening to the birdies with his eyes closed, but I’m not so sure!
You get good views from up here
Late afternoon I realised I hadn’t even stepped of the boat, so it was time to head for a bit of a walk. With Tilly in tow I climbed onto the flood bank and walked back towards the Great Ouse. Having a cat in tow would mean I wouldn’t be walking miles, but we covered quite a distance until I saw that the next field had cows. So we turned and started to walk back, Tilly only distracted a couple of times so she managed to keep up in her springy way charging ahead to buy her more distraction time.
Cows just visible if you squint!
However on our return our pace had to become a touch quicker. Up ahead I could see quite a lot of cows, all white with black ears. They were very interested in us! Would we make it back in time not to be cut off from the boat by them? I made the decision to get back to the boat with Tilly and shore leave would be over for the day, I really didn’t want her stranded on the other side of inquisitive cows.
All ready to layer up.
With a Moussaka on the cards this evening, I spread the preparation out through the day. Potatoes were boiled and left to cool. Aubergine sliced, salted to get rid of any bitterness, then fried and left to cool. The mince was prepared and everything layered up with the final layer of cheese and egg sauce popped on top. Each bit done whilst things on my project had time to dry off.
Fixings tried out
I now need some filler for the next phase. Back at the house I have the ideal filler in powder form, but I’ve not seen that kind in shops in years. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some cheap Polyfilla that I can thin down a touch to achieve the same effect when we reach Brandon.
Despite patches of sunshine today the temperature has dropped, so Mick lit the fire this evening. Only a small one as we didn’t want to overheat, but just enough for us not to need blankets on our knees and hopefully keep the boat warm overnight.
0 locks, 0 miles, 2 moving boats, 2 walkers, 2 beads, 1 project fitted and ready for the next stage, 1 box of filler required, 1 aubergine, 1 bag sprouting potatoes, 250grams mince, 0 parmesan, 1 recipe next time, 9.5 hours, 1 field day, 1 km cat walk, 1 stove, 1 heard cows who couldn’t be bothered with us in the end! 1 Mrs Tilly stamp of approval
The Swan On The River to New Fen GOBA Mooring, River Little Ouse
Boat grown addition to breakfast today
Time to unplug ourselves and push over to the other side for water, boats had been moving off including the Black Prince boat that would have been in our way. As we rolled up the covers a chap from the hire cruiser ahead of us stepped off his boat.
Yep I’m looking at you.
He’d been around yesterday showing off his jacket. Then his wife stepped off the boat in her pyjamas, they kicked their heels for a little while, obviously waiting for us to go, she made out she was doing some exercises.
Christine you are right, the elephants are upside down!
As soon as we’d pushed the bow out and waved them goodbye, they sprang into action. She got her phone out, he donned a Captains hat and held a pipe in his hand, then posed in front of their cruiser. Glad they are having a lovely time on their hols.
Sun’s out
Thankfully the water pressure was good and we were soon able to push off again, winding and heading northwards. Our first job today was to fill with diesel, the tank gauge was reading a quarter full, the lowest we’ve had it since Oleanna was brand new. We’d last filled at Rugby Boats at the beginning of May since when we’ve covered quite a lot of water.
We passed the high banks, a chap was doing something at the EA moorings just north of The Boat Haven, the recent rain having helped give the grass seed a helping hand. A wonky cottage when zoomed in on looks even wonkier. The window sills peeling away from the windows and some disturbingly large cracks, we doubted you’d be able to get a mortgage on such a house. This wasn’t the last such property we’d be seeing today.
At The Ship we turned onto the River Little Ouse and slowed right down, the tributary far narrower and lined on both sides with boats. After a half mile we spotted the Little Ouse Moorings service pontoon and pulled in. Thank you Paul and Brian for pointing us here. Mick tried calling the phone number but got an answer phone, so we climbed up over the flood bank and down the other side to find the farm with its big modern gates and rang the doorbell.
What a poppy!
Natalie appeared, collected her keys and came to fill up our diesel tank. There was time to chat diesel, white versus red, Calor gas and the shortages, she suggested where we might try if we needed a new bottle in the coming weeks, she’s only had one new bottle since October!
Snoozing in the sunshine
At £1.48 a litre we knew the bill would be high, not as high as if we’d filled in Ely where their pump was boasting £1.51 the other day. We took on 125 litres, paid in the office, then had a quick lunch before pushing away from the pump.
We had a two hours cruise before we’d reach a mooring today, thank goodness the flood banks came and went opening out the view first one side then the other. A distant view of Ely Cathedral, tractors in the fields, trees blew in the wind as we chose whether to wear coats or not.
Only two bridges to pass under, neither of them taking much traffic other than for farming.
Then the end of a wonderful ramshackled building came into view. The end wall somehow standing up, a large brick chimney in the middle. As we came round to view the longer side of the building the floors really couldn’t find any more angles to lean at. This was The Waterman’s Arms at Redmere it closed in 1956 and still stands , sort of!
Left please
The navigation bends off to the left as Lakenheath Lode joins. High up on a bank I could spy what I thought were two herons. Not often you see herons together.
Common Crane
But later on zooming in on the one photo I’d managed to take I spotted that the bird had a touch of red to it’s head and it’s neck was far too thick for a Heron. This I’m fairly sure was a Common Crane.
Xanadu!
More unused buildings were Xanadu Boat Hire, portacabins not that appealing.
Bird of prey, but which one?
There were also birds of prey circling above. Were these Marsh Harriers, Kites, other birds of prey? A look on the internet gave us comparisons between birds, but for that to be of any use you really need to know more about what you are looking at, rather than just the silhouette against the sky.
The GOBA mooring signs came into view. The edge a touch uneven and overgrown, this would need a considered step off to moor up. We continued a little way before trying, but then neither of us could get back on board! Once Mick was back at the helm we pulled back almost to the start of the moorings where it was easier to get on and off. The plank came out to make it even easier, even Tilly was quite happy to make use of it before she pranced about in the long grass.
The planks out
0 locks, 11.04 miles, 2 winds, 1 right, 1 left, 100ft backwards,14 boat grown strawberries, 1 Captain twonk, 125 litres, 2 wonky buildings, 3.5 hours shore leave, 2 cranes, 4673 damselflies, 24569 yoyo flies, 1 Kingfisher this way, 1 Kingfisher that way, 1 mooring in the middle of nowhere.
Across the way all of a sudden there was a big gushing sloshing noise. What the….? It was as if the hull of a submarine had been breached and water was rushing in through corridors and we should be preparing to close the air tight doors. We were actually across the way from a pumping station, water being pumped up from the lower fields. The sound of it when it starts up and the gushing explosive nature of it quite alarming until you know what it is.
Mick spotted a Grebe with a fish in it’s mouth, almost as thick as the Grebe’s neck. This catch was going to take quite a lot of swallowing! Gradually the fins were coaxed past its beak and then with several large gulps the fish was squeezed into it’s throat. Several gulps of water were needed to help it down the hatch, the Grebe’s neck now twice as thick as it was before. That would keep him going for a while today!
When Tilly came in we closed the doors and made ready to push off, coats were required with the chilly breeze. The river wiggles a bit as it approaches Brandon Creek, we’d not be turning down there today, maybe in a couple of days. The banks were high, only the occasional roof tops visible and pylons. These pylons were the end of the long long straight stretch of power lines we’d seen the other day. Once over the river north of Littleport they change direction at last.
The moles got to the grass seed first
The first mooring in Littleport was fenced off, some remedial works have happened here and grass seed is waiting to take hold. Then a choice of two more moorings along with one outside the Swan on the River. We made note, but continued onwards. We were looking for a reasonably safe mooring, close to a station to leave Oleanna for a night. These would do, but was there somewhere better in Ely.
Ely
A long long straight follows, the railway running close alongside. The tops of Ely Cathedral towers showing in the distance.
We were passed by flocks of Greylag Geese, Canada Geese with their babies, a River Patrol boat. We timed ourselves at the speed check, 52 seconds, not speeding.
Catching a ride
Then there was a Grebe with their chicks. Hang on, one was hitching a ride! We’ve seen swans do this before, but not Grebes. My photos had to be hasty before the rider got off and swam of for themselves.
The Cathedral that bit closer
Ely moorings are extensive, last Friday we’d heard that they were full, Paul the boat mover had had to breast up to go shopping and then move out of town to moor up for the night. Today there was lots of room. Mick had called the marinas ahead to see if anyone might have space for us. One said they could accommodate us for £15 a night. We pootled through our eyes set on a GOBA mooring through the other side for the night, we’d then return in the morning to our booked mooring. But as we passed the marina we concluded that we’d more than likely be moored on the towpath, not within the marina, so no more secure than just being moored on the towpath for free. With spaces behind us we winded and returned to moor up on Lavender Green, Tilly might like it, or she might not.
First impressions were bad! Yes there were trees, but woofers and runners kept comingpast. Then I discovered that willow trees are really rather satisfying to climb, especially ones that have grown out of the comb over phase.
Hello Christine and Paul!
Our mooring was perfectly positioned to wave at passing trains. We made sure we were outside for one particular train heading for Littleport. As we waved Christine (Mick’s sister) and Paul waved back at us. Family arriving.
Trees!
You can get really rather high in these trees without spindly branches under your paws. Only downside was the gulls and crows shouting at me. I know they were impressed with my climbing skills but they needn’t have been so noisy about it.
One tree required several leaps to get higher, over hanging branches not possible toscale normally. Lots of calculations were required but I succeeded in getting to the top, it was brilliant. No idea why She didn’t think I’d like it here!
How High?!
After a while I thought I could hear Tilly meowing, so came out to see what the fuss was about. She can be quite vocal whilst out but in such public places she’s that bit quieter. High up above there she was, calculations were on going trying to plot a route down the tree which involved getting even higher! Numpty! She got herself up there and I wasn’t about to go climbing or call the fire brigade!
Backwards, remember backwards! But she’d got herself into a tizzy and forgot. Front paw claws twisting in the bark, grip lost and she came tumbling down the tree to the ground.
A quick pat down was all I was allowed to do as she scurried back to the boat. Hopefully all was well.
We went for a little wander around, dropping some cards in a post box and picking up something for us to eat tonight. Ely sits on a hill, yes we do just about remember those. Some very pretty streets, the Cathedral, Oliver Cromwell’s house and lots and lots of yarn bombing by the local WI for the Jubilee.
A yarn bombed eel from Ely
An information board explained how the river sits high above the drained land. The land had been peat and when drained it obviously dried out. It dried out so much that the land shrank away leaving the rivers proud. There’s more to the history of this, but that’s for another time.
A Chinese Water Deer maybe?
Back at the boat I had a catch up chat with David. Today he started having counselling sessions through the NBTA who have just been awarded funds through the National Lottery to help boat dwellers with mental health needs.
There will be more photos of this building in weeks to come.
Second GOBA mooring to Second GOBA mooring via the end of navigation
Tilly was allowed shore leave this morning whist we had breakfast and joined the Geraghty Zoom. Brown muffin cases one of the topics covered today. As soon as we’d signed out the trip computer was started and we were pulling out our mooring spikes, time to see what else the River Wissey had to offer.
Narrow rover cruising
Not far upstream someone has made themselves quite a little mooring, no photo I’m afraid as it was hard to take one with their boat in the way. Steps cut into the flood bank, branch handrails, places to sit in amongst the trees, a kind of Robinson Crusoe affair.
48hr mooring at Hilgay
I’d been told of an old fashioned butchers in Hilgay, it seemed to be the only shop we’d come across today. We pulled in at the 48hr public mooring and walked up through the village to reach AJ Dent, obviously a butcher with a sense of humour.
Inside the butchers counter was empty, all their meaty goods hidden out of view. I either know exactly what I want from a butchers, so this doesn’t matter, or I want to window shop, see what there is that might take my fancy. Sadly today I wanted to window shop, so came away with a newspaper and a small pork pie for Mick, well it is still his birthday weekend!
A chap and his dog sat at the bus stop whistling away the time as we walked on through the village. A lychgate led to a long lime tree covered lane, the other end another lychgate and most probably the village church. We had to go and see.
All Saints
All Saints church is a medieval church built from carstone, the tower from white brick which replaced an earlier tower which collapsed. It was restored in 1862 by GE Street. It could almost have been built from gingerbread and royal icing. One face of the clock has seen better days, the others not telling the correct time anyway.
Did this Yew tree grown around the gravestone, or has it just ended up resting there?
Today we could only look round the exterior and graveyard as out of the two doors, only one had a handle and that was padlocked shut.
A very well kept village, even the more modern houses seemed to have immaculate gardens.
Pristine hedges and an old Standard
Back at the mooring we’d been joined by a cruiser who’d stopped for lunch, we followed suit. The chap we’d seen at the bus stop had returned from his trip and was starting up the small engine on his little dinghy, he headed off downstream as we headed upstream.
Plenty of white with blue covers
Plenty of cruisers moored along here, helping to keep our speed down. All different shapes and sizes were represented here.
Catching lunch on the wing
Then out into the countryside again. Here damselflies flitted here and there, their turquoise, green and black flashing as they flew past. Terns swooped for insects. We wondered if the same terns were following us, but looking back it was obvious that the whole river was being dive bombed by them!
The views opened out a touch, followed by the not so picturesque sugar Factory. Pipes cross the river and end up at large piles of white. Are these the equivalent of the salt mounds around Middlewich? Giant sugar mounds?
Wide. Keep to the right side of the islands
Now the river widens out into a large pool. Knowing which way to head is handy. A mooring here would be great, a kind of Fenland Tixall, someone could even build a fake gatehouse to complete the look!
No Himalayan Balsam just a lot of this blue/purple plant. Anyone know what it is please? Possibly Comfrey according to Debby
A cruiser was pulled up on a bend, the chaps having just cut themselves a hollow in the friendly cover. Later on they’d dug themselves a fire pit and collected a lot of wood.
We looked forward to the view we might get at the Wissey Aqueduct, but large concrete walls gave us disappointment. Here the Cut Off Channel takes water from the Wissey, Little Ouse and Lark. In the summer months the water heads to Essex for drinking water, but in times of flood the excess water flows in the other direction to Denver Sluice, it’s main purpose when it was built in the 1950/60s.
One space already taken
Nearing Stoke Ferry and Whittington moored boats line the banks. One last chance for us to moor before the head of navigation would be reached. At Grange Farm Touring Park the one GOBA mooring space was already taken. Mick tired calling the park to see if they might have space for us elsewhere, but the answer came back no, we could of course breast up, but we didn’t fancy that.
That would be nice
On towards the end of navigation, we passed a rather lovely barn shouting out for a conversion.
What a lovely spot
Where Lode Dyke meets the River Wissey is as far as we could go. Someone has built themselves a nice little hut, with a landing and ladder for swimming here. A Kingfisher darted across our path and watched as we winded.
Canoes
Our choices now were to either find a bit of bank we thought we’d be able to moor on without getting nettled too much, carry on back to Hilgay or even further back to where we’d started this morning. No bank showed itself, so we continued.
Harry or Harriet?
Just after the sugar factory on the north bank sits an expanse of greenhouses. Recently a cannabis farm had been discovered in the next street from our house in Scarborough. We joked that maybe tomatoes were grown in these greenhouses disguising the cannabis plants. Reading up in Mick’s new book later we discovered that we were almost correct in our jest!
In 2007 Wissington became the site of the first bioethanol power plant, spare heat was used to power on site greenhouses which produced 70 million tomatoes a year. In 2017 the greenhouses switched to producing cannabis plants for medical production. At harvest time that year a sweet smell spread over East Anglia emanating from the greenhouses!
The Pumphouse
The Pumphouse stands out from its surroundings, now converted into holiday accommodation. It sleeps 14 in 5 bedrooms and commands views across the Wissey Valley Nature Reserve.
Back in Hilgay there was space on the mooring, but we decided we’d rather wake up away from the road and would chance finding space back where we’d started the day.
Doves live under Hilgay Bridge
Passing the boat on it’s homegrown mooring, the chap chatted as we passed, the same man who’d been at the bus stop and behind his narrowboat was his small dinghy, his dog lying watching the river slowly flow past.
At the GOBA mooring there were already a couple of boats moored, but thankfully there was plenty of space for us. We pulled up right on the end, hopefully we’d get away with Tilly thinking it was a whole new outside in the morning, it was now far too late for any shore leave.
Plenty of miles to tick off today so no lounging around in bed with a cuppa. Other people were up and at work, as we sat having our breakfast two Middle Level Commissioners vans arrived on the bank above our mooring, they’d come to make the mooring official by adding a sign.
The chaps worked away and as we got ready to push off they headed off to position the next new sign.
We pushed off and headed towards March. The birdies chirped and darted about in the reeds to each side of us. The banks a suitable height to give you a bit of a view, not block it totally. Yesterday we’d passed several pill boxes today at least one more.
Fairly soon we were approaching March, passing the marina where the hire boats have been coming from. Everyone in March seems to have a detached garden. Houses sit on one side of a road, their gardens on the other, terraced down towards the water. Plenty of people have made a great effort, places to sit out, landings, windmills, crocodiles. One stretch seems to have an epidemic of sheds going on, one after the other with just a narrow path between them.
The first public mooring we came across was closed the bank subsiding into the water. The moorings opposite the services was full, we pulled up to top up with water, dispose of rubbish and as it was on the right side we emptied the yellow water too. Thankfully through the bridge there was space, plenty of it for us to pull up to go shopping. Yes I did a shop in Peterborough, that was really just in case we couldn’t stop here in March, there was plenty we wanted and with Sainsburys close by it turned into a four bag shop. A visit to Boots too for some Hay Fever tablets of the right variety, I spotted a Boyes (possibly the furthest south they come), we’ll be stopping to have a better look later.
After an early lunch we pushed on, passing more houses and gardens, one stretch trying to mimic beach huts. The sky was now blue with fluffy clouds, no need for the extra layers we’d started the day with.
Straight on past the Twenty Foot River which seemed a touch wider than it’s name suggests. At Popham’s Eau junction we veered left keeping to the link route. We passed Charlotte Rose whom we’d shared the last Nene locks with and a hire boat sat nestled in amongst the reeds enjoying the afternoon sunshine, no rope visible, the gentle breeze just holding them to the bank.
As the channel now narrowed there was an increase of weed, the sort that hampers your progress somewhat. Thankfully today it wasn’t too bad, just the occasional blast of reverse to free the prop was needed.
A Lock!
A lock! Marmont Priory Lock would rise us up from the lower level by 6ft 8inches onto Well Creek. The lock was partially filled, hydraulic paddle gear needed to be wound so many times slowly inching up the slackers.
Oleanna waiting below the lock
Inside the lock was a layer of scum, possibly dead duck weed mixed with polystyrene, there was also a big plank.
The paddle gear at the top end only required one to be lifted and that had a marker on it. Oleanna rose up to Well Creek right by the rather pretty front door of the lock cottage. Progress was now slower than before. The gates of Marmont Priory Lock need to be very well closed so that the creek stays in water, a drop here can take days to rectify.
Upwell
Progress slowed even more as we reached Upwell where the channel narrows even more. We ended up on tickover to make any headway, the water around us just about enough for us to move.
Upwell and Outwell reminded us of villages we go through on our scenic route from Scarborough to York. The linear villages cling to the road and have a stream running alongside, driveways crossing on small bridges. Here the stream is far bigger and it’s mostly footbridges that crossed over our heads requiring us to duck.
The houses mostly have plaques boasting their names and dates. A butchers was spied and the fish and chip shop has it’s own mooring! I’ll have to check to see if they do gluten free. We made note of moorings as it looks like we’d need to have a good explore around here.
Sign posts to Littleport and Wisbech. An old college friend came from Wisbech, she used to say no-one had ever heard of it, well I have now! At the most northerly point of the Middle Level is where the Wisbech Canal used to head further north, now it is just a steep bend for us to negotiate. There’s a mooring here, but maybe you’d get biffed by passing boats!
That’s pretty wide
Over Millicourt Aqueduct we crossed over the end of the Main Drain, such a romantic name. It looked very wide down there so possible to wind, we’ll have to check our maps for any low bridges that would stop us from getting there.
Now a busy road, A1122 hugs close to the creek. The banks now lower giving more of a view. Pylons stretch off into the distance both ways, only broken up by two smaller towers. I checked on the OS map, almost 21 km straight before a slight kink.
Our planned for mooring just came into sight, Glady Dacks. A rather rickety afair, one end looked better than the other. We pulled in and stepped off cautiously. A bench and table sat by Oleanna, a good means to be able to step up to see the other side of the high bank separating the road from us. On one side it looked like Tilly heaven, the other side it looked like she’d be assisted on her way. Sorry Tilly, no chance.
But please!!!!
Now there were secret things to do. A birthday cake was mixed up, popped in a loaf tin to bake. It needed a bit of attention as it baked, added toppings, foil and an extra five minutes in the oven, then once cooled off some lemon icing.
Lower banks
Dinner was Turkey Schnitzel with spaghetti, I was too busy to take photos so the recipe will follow the next time I make them. Then Tilly and I had to hide away in the bedroom to do secret things. Wrapping on a bed isn’t the easiest of places but we managed. All done and ready for tomorrow just before the 10pm news, I don’t think Mick noticed a thing!
1 lock, 16.84 miles, 2 maybe 3 straights, 1 left, 1 big bend, 2 boxes wine, 1 Boyes, 60 hayfever tablets, 1 slab of salmon, 8 asparagus tips, 1 warm dry evening hoped for, 3 evenings no shore leave, 1 long day, 3 presents wrapped, 1 blueberry lemon cake baked, 2 much icing, 1 pooped Pip.
Dog in a Doublet to Burnthouse Bridge Rural Mooring, Whittlesey Dyke, Middle Level
This mornings mooring
Yesterday Mick had phoned Stanground Lock to book our passage through for today. Kev, not Tina had called us back and booked us for midday. He also rang us this morning, yesterday he’d responded to a missed call on the mobile, today he was responding to Mick’s message.
We gave ourselves a couple of hours to return back up the Nene to Peterborough Junction where we’d turn onto the Back River, the aroma of partially cooked chips hanging in the air today. Does anyone know what the metal framed tower is on the north shore of the river?
This way
The Back River brings you under a railway bridge, then past the back of the houses at Stanground. Soon we arrived at the lock and Kev popped up from nowhere, we were an hour early just as the timings on our maps had suggested, but better early than late.
Kev set the lock, the nearest paddle/slacker lifted to fill it, I could see straight through the opening, you don’t often get a view like that. With the gates open we were soon in the lock. Time to chat Anglian Passes.
Entering Stanground lock
About a month ago Mick had applied for an Anglian pass on line. This gives you access to the Middle Level and the River Cam and lasts a year. The pass is a fairly new thing and has caused quite a to do in certain circles. The website had said someone would ring to take payment. No-one did. So with our arrival getting closer Mick rang and was told that our application hadn’t arrived, could he fill out the form again and email it to them, then someone would call to take payment. This he did. We are still waiting for the phone call.
Kev opening the gates for us
This tale was nothing new to Kev, he wasn’t surprised. He wrote us down on his sheet and took our details. Next we needed to purchase ourselves a key and a key. A different navigation authority means a new key to access facilities. We also required a different windlass, which in these parts is called a key. Kev had both for sale and quickly provided them in return for £17. We also enquired about Salters Lode on the other side of the Middle Level, we’d tried calling the Lock Keeper there but had had no response. Kev said we’d just need to arrive at a suitable time for the tide, he then provided us with the tide time. No need to book just turn up and we’d be locked through. What a helpful chap, very reminiscent of the Lock Keeper at Thames Lock onto the River Wey.
New keys
The paddles on the lock were lifted, the lock emptied, gates open. We’d descended onto the Level. Well maybe we’d descended a touch too far as Oleanna seemed to want to stay put in the lock. There was a little bit of movement so a push out at the stern and bow a bit of a jiggle and she was free! We are on the cusp of draft for the navigation. Mick later on read notes written by Simon Judge regarding deep drafted boats going through the lock backwards, well we know now!
Lots of sky and pill boxes
Narrow and shallow, our speed would be a lot slower than it had been out on the river.
Here sky rules, when would we get to see our next hill? Flat as flat, well until we came across a new railway bridge being built.
Work boats and churches
A view of the brick works and McCains from the other side this time. Two churches in Whittlesey. Three work boats sat at the edges of the navigation, having their lunch break, weed cutters, one called Covid 20.
Ahead lay the bend we’ve heard of between bridges 111 and 110, the navigation is narrow the bend 90 degrees. Mick slowed Oleanna right down as we passed possibly the nearest vets to the waterways, then took us round in one go with plenty of room to spare.
They don’t want you hanging around here
A public park in Whittlesey has a 48hr mooring, space for two narrowboats, we pulled in for lunch then consulted our schedule. Should we stay here the night? We were already ahead of schedule, Tilly would be able to go out, other moorings further on looked like they would be alongside roads, so not deemed to be cat friendly.
What’s happened to the friendly cover?
‘Two hours Tilly, we might want to go out and explore ourselves.’
Another look at our schedule, planned mooring places for the next few days. Waterway Routes open as well as Google Maps satellite view. A meeting with family is planned next week, a mooring to have a birthday barbeque would be good too, so we’re only using the link route through the Middle Level at the moment. Our planned passage through Salters Lode to Denver Sluice had been on Saturday, but all of a sudden the moorings on the Great Ouse looked a touch more appealing. Did we have enough time to reach Salters Lode for Friday morning? If we cracked on today yes.
Weed cutters hot on our tails
Fortunately Tilly had decided that the grass outside wasn’t up to much and had retired to the bedroom, but as soon as the back door closed we got complaints. ‘You know I said 2 hours, well I actually meant 2 minutes!’
Ashline lock
Ashline Lock drops the navigation down by 6ft, it lay a short distance in front of us. The width of the locks isn’t enough to be able to share with another narrowboat, bottom gates should be left open, paddles closed to help conserve water levels. Time to use our new windlass/key, so new it’s grey paint not fully cured!
The paddles at the top of the lock are similar to those you find on the Leeds Liverpool canal, you just can’t see whether they are open or not, then how many turns until they are fully open? The lock gradually filled. The bottom paddles are similar but positioned on the gates themselves. I chose to count how many turns they took to open, twenty, thirty, thirty five, I gave up, the lock slowly emptied.
Red and Yellow
Is this the lowest you can be on non-tidal water in England? At Lodes End Lock to our south the level is variable and can be nothing, but it suggests on our map that to head west through the lock you may rise to be on the level we are on now. Around us the contour on the OS map was around 0 or even -1 in some fields.
In the pamphlet we’d been given it showed us the location of Rural moorings, but Mick had spied on the website that there were another four such moorings, two of which we’d be going past today. Might they be more cat friendly than the public moorings?
The first was at Angle Corner. 32m of bank had been cut and large posts added to tie to. Here you might be able to get off your boat without too much trouble, but the bank is steep, nothing that would worry Tilly. We made a note of its position to report back to Paul at Waterway Routes.
It’s really rather pretty round here
Just past Burnthouse Bridge there was a second mooring. We consulted our maps, if we didn’t stop here we had at least another two hours to cruise to the next mooring in March which may not have space. We pulled in flung our ropes over the posts, Oleanna sat a good meter out from solid land, a plank or major leap of faith would be needed here to get off, but that didn’t bother us. A quick cat health and safety discussion, she’d get off okay, but would almost certainly arrive back on board wet. No shore leave today for any of us!
2 locks, 13.89 miles, 1 wind, 1 left, 1 straight on, 1 hour early, 2 minutes shore leave, 2 hire boats, 1 private boat, 3 work boats, 1 new key, 1 new key, 2 levels, 10 new posts, 1 contract to sign, 1 storm approaching, 0 Anglian Pass.
Waking up in the shadow of a castle isn’t a thing we do frequently, Newark is the only other place we can think of. Windsor is too far away as is Beeston Castle. Fotheringhay made for a good view this morning, sheep now grazing where Tilly had explored last night.
Oor morning view
As we had breakfast a group of people sat on the top of the mound, their three dogs following the trails around it of Tilly’s scent.
The church dominates the sky line for miles
What a glorious day, one for sun cream, maybe I’ll be swapping our wardrobes from winter to summer soon. But then again it may just snow next week! Pulling away we decided that this might be a good place to meet up with the London Leckenbys on our return. If they could get one of the river side pitches and us a mooring alongside that would be ideal for a weekend. Behind us for quite some miles the tower of St Mary and All Saints remained in view, I’m looking forward to have a look round it in a couple of months time.
Calm before the stampede
At Warmington Lock we had great views all around, the sheep in the field next to us were very friendly, coming up to the fence to watch we were doing things right. As Mick brought Oleanna into the lock there was a sudden stampede from the far side of the field. Were the Mums and lambs being rounded up by the farmer?
It soon became very obvious that there was a dog in the field, but not a sheep dog. As two small dogs sprinted across the field I could see a chap running towards a gate from the next field, the dogs already way ahead! We watched, nothing we could do, only hope that the sheep could manage to get away before any harm was done.
Thankfully the sheep slowed down and the two dogs could be seen returning to their owner, one was picked up the other carried on to the other people before being put back on a lead. The path they followed came past the lock, through two gates. All three dogs were now on leads, but their owners didn’t seem to have the ability to close gates behind them! So much for the Countryside Code and keeping their dogs under control!
Mick walking back to get Oleanna
The route to Elton Lock is a little convoluted from the lock landing due to the route the weirs take. Once Oleanna was all tied up Mick came to help. Boats above polished their brasses in the shade of some trees whilst a Dad pumped up a paddleboard below ready to take his little lad for a ride.
Today the sky was filled with sky divers. Planes were taking off and dropping people way up high. As one group neared the ground another could be seen as tiny specks pulling their parachute cords. The views up there must have been amazing today.
Above Yarwell Lock we made use of the water point to top up. The pressure was good so after fifteen or so minutes we went to set the lock, just as we opened the top gates Oleanna’s water tank started to over flow, perfect timing.
A new looking executive estate sits around a basin. Inside I spied a dusty looking narrowboat. Most of the houses facing the river were making the most of their views with two story windows, views from the master bedrooms.
We managed to keep our distance despite the flow of the river
Soon we were following a couple in an inflatable canoe. They had no idea that there was 20 tonnes of boat gradually getting closer to them, Oleanna just about in tick over. They dabbled their paddles in the water occasionally, pointing things out. If the next lock hadn’t been round the corner we’d have given them a ‘Bip’ on the horn. We managed to stay at a safe distance but the wise words we’d been given before doing the Tideway cruise last year came to mind, ‘Keep looking behind you’.
At last they pull away
The lock landing was full, two cruiser having just come up. We were spotted and stared at. Eventually the penny dropped that we might be wanting to use the lock and not just tread water for an hour or so admiring the view with nowhere to moor up! The crew dithered. ‘YES’ we did want the lock. The control cabinet was closed, the guillotine left down, one lady went to lift a paddle to fill the lock but changed her mind. What they actually needed to do was get back on their boats and move out of the way. This all took time as there had to be a discussion as they climbed back on board, but in the end they finally moved off. Good job the lady hadn’t lifted a paddle as the bottom gate hadn’t been closed fully, easily solved and the gate being almost down did save a lot of finger ache.
A swans nest full of eggs
Now the river winds it’s way towards Wansford where the Great North Road crosses. First the original bridge, Old North Road Bridge, most of what is seen today was built in the 1600s but had improvement works done through the centuries, the main arch has a date stone of 1795. Just before the bridge are wonderful buildings, a coaching house from when this was the main north south route.
Old North Road Bridge
In 1929 the Great North Road moved to a new bypass with a bridge to the east. This bridge boasts that it spans into two counties and halfway across still sits the boundary post, even though the boundary changed in 1965, the two counties becoming one.
1929 bridge in the back ground, 1975 foreground
Increasing traffic necessitated a second bypass in 1975 running parallel to the first, this became the southbound carriageway the 1929 bridge the northbound.
Model railway where the scales have gone a little awry
The river now heads back southwards, we had our fingers crossed that there would be space on the EA mooring at Wansford Station. As we came under the railway bridge we managed to join a hire boat already moored up, mooring with our centre and stern lines was the way forward, adding another rope from one of the fender eyes to hold the bow closer to the pontoon, the flow of water wanting to push this out.
We timed that right!
We settled down for a late lunch and had a look at the time table for the Nene Valley Railway. Currently trains only run on Saturdays and Sundays, the last one due back into the station at 15:45, twenty minutes time. When we heard the bell ring we made sure we were outside ready to see the engine coming back across the bridge into the station. Very well timed, 34081, 92 Squadron pulled the carriages in to the station.
We had a wander about later, the station closed, but enough for us to see. A check on the website for our return, we won’t be joining the whiskey train £100 for two, anyhow I’m not in the slightest bit partial to whiskey. Even a fish and chip trip would cost us a touch too much, maybe we’ll just save up for an All Day Railcar Rover at £12 a head.
Glad he got the right door
4 locks, 9.19 miles, 2 dogs not in control, 1 field of worried sheep, 2 dithering ladies, 2 too relaxed canoeists, 3 bridges, 1 great road, 0 shore leave, 1 boat just in time, 1 Sunday roast chicken.
We woke on a list, one of those that’s a touch unsettling, thank goodness we have a cross bed so neither of us had fallen out of bed. It wasn’t that bad really, with me at the bow to help spread the weight, Mick reversed Oleanna off the silt with ease.
Water water everywhere
What a lovely day, the sun was out and blue sky cruising lay ahead for us. For much of our journey today we’ve been surrounded by lakes, the water ski lake stretches on for what feels like miles to a retail park. Both horizons seem to have developments going on. The north side new houses and currently the south has fencing around it suggesting more houses.
Ditchford Lock
Today we’d encounter two more types of lock. The first Ditchford Lock which instead of a guillotine gate has a radial gate. Apparently there used to be several more of these along the river, but this is the only one that remains.
The bottom gate is curved and drops in at the bottom of the lock, all operated by fingers on buttons again. We should be keeping an eye out for other locks that have previously had radial gates as they have large downstream recesses that used to house the mechanism.
Caution! Hanging Girder!!
Then the longest reach of river we’ve had so far towards Higham Ferrers Lock, 2 miles! A boat was just coming into the lock from below so I tried to help close the gate behind it. Another boat appeared below too, but the chap said he’d shared with them and they’d said as he was in a rush to head onwards without them, he was a boat mover. Blimey that gate was heavy and took two people to get it moving. It turns out there had been a notice regarding it.
Lovely day
Up the boat came, but only so far. We went to check the bottom gate, the paddles had been left up! No indicator that we could find to show this. The last boat through had possibly been a hire boat (it had passed us this morning), possibly with someone wearing C&RT clothing, all speculation. With the paddles closed the boat came up and we could descend, by now the next boat was waiting below.
Lillian in Higham Ferrers Lock in 2014
Yesterday Mick had had confirmation texts and messages that his phone had been registered for strong stream alerts on the Anglian Waterways. Levels can change suddenly down here as the EA manage water levels. If there is flooding the locks can be reversed, making them into sluices sending water downstream fast. The locks are filled, top gates chained open and then the guillotine gate is raised, being on pins downstream of a lock is not a good place to be! Follow the link below to register for warnings.
Heading towards the next lock we also signed up to the Friends Of The River Nene Facebook group here there are discussions and information about the river, more than you get from the FOTRN website.
Old Station Road Bridge
A bridge had also stuck in our memory, Old Station Road Bridge, sits downstream of the New Station Road Bridge a concrete possibly 1920’s 30’s high bridge. The old bridge comprises of double and triple chamfered arches. Through the centuries it has been widened, Mid C14th and has date stones from 1668, 1829, 1754 and 1922.
Doing our best to line up
Here you take a specific arch and a boat heading upstream had come a cropper coming through, getting stuck at an angle heading them straight off into the reeds. We cut our speed and then slowed as much as we could to tread water, good job the flow wasn’t stronger. They sorted themselves out and came past, we now had to try to line up with the skew arch and from a position we’d not have chosen to be in. Mick deftly turned Oleanna and avoided adding any more groves to the well worn bridge.
Gongoozlers
A pit stop at the EA moorings was had for lunch and to empty our yellow water tank. Then we were off again to Irthlingborough Lock where we had a couple of gongoozlers watching our every move. It’s funny without a car my geography of England is now centred around canals and rivers, proximity to cities and towns only a twenty minute drive away feels like it’s on the other side of the country. The gongoozlers mentioned Stoke Bruerne, a 30 minute drive yet on a boat it would take over 16 hours. For us that would be a 4 day cruise!
Hawthorne Blossom coming out
The river at times now gets quite narrow with trees here there and everywhere, you have to keep your eyes peeled for on coming boats. We passed two more FOTRN moorings, at least one is likely to be stopped at on the way back.
That looks tidier than I remembered it
Upper Ringstead Lock was the place we had our very first night onboard Lillyanne. We tied to the end bollard of the lock landing and hammered a spike in for the bow rope. Today the lock landing looked tidier than eight years ago, but what hadn’t changed was the guillotine mechanism! This one is the first manually operated gate heading downstream.
Wheel
This is one thing I’d not forgotten about the River Nene, the big wheel!
Once unlocked you spin the big wheel round and round and round and……. you’ve got the idea. The wheel may be big making it easier to move the guillotine, but the shear number of times you have to spin it is unrelenting! Thank goodness Upper Ringstead Lock is only shallow. I put one idea into action here, get Mick to drop the guillotine then I would raise it, splitting the arm ache between the two of us.
Lower Ringstead Lock
Soon we were at Lower Ringstead Lock, alongside Willy Watt Marina. This was the very first lock we ever did in Lillyanne and our first Nene lock. We didn’t remember it at all. Was it manual back then? Or fingers on buttons? I think we were so giddy at finally owning our own boat that nothing much was stored in the memory bank.
Looking back
Round a big bend and under the old railway bridge, we were soon passing Woodford Riverside Marina, a little arm off to the west. Well it’s actually two little arms with an island between them. This is where Lillyanne had spent most of her life before we bought her and where we collected her from 8 years and a month ago today. We’d had one trip that day by car to off load our belongings and pick up the keys, Merve the previous owner was a touch twitchy not having received the proceeds of the sale via the broker, he was also twitchy as her licence had expired. We then drove to Crick Marina to leave the car and our friend Lizzie gave us a lift back.
Woodford Riverside Marina
Merve seemed happier this time, hopefully the £1 the brokers send through to check it’s your account before sending the rest of the money (the following week in our experience!) had arrived. It was late in the afternoon, we untied and pushed off down the narrow channel between moored boats to the entrance onto the river. We had a crowd watching us. It was the first time Mick had been at her helm and the turn out under the bridge was very tight, yet he managed it without touching a thing.
St Mary the Virgin, Woodford
Not far 0.25km further on we pulled in at Woodford FOTRN mooring for the day. The bank was uneven for much of its length, a section having collapsed at some point, but we made the best of it and left plenty of room for someone else should they arrive, which they did later in the afternoon.
Not a bad mooring
The chairs came out and we both enjoyed the view as Tilly explored the area. Good friendly cover and the occasional small tree to climb. She however didn’t spot the Yoyo flies that kept her occupied and us amused when we were on the River Avon a few years ago.
Tilly on guard
I had a good catch up chat with David, he’s moved away from Newark now, he has good and bad days, but is doing okay.
Bridge 103 to Water Lane Bridge 9, Grand Union Canal
Not a Lapwing but it was singing it’s little heart out
1980’s synthesised kazooing woke us this morning. Lapwings. Their call will always remind us of Lock down 1 opposite the potato field at one of our early moorings. Such a distinctive call. The three or four of them were in good voice, I wanted to record them but first their was an aeroplane, then passing boats, followed by a tractor, then they had gone. They seem to like freshly sewn fields.
A swan on a very private nest, willow fencing around the area
Pushing off was one of those waiting games today as boats kept coming past. How polite should one be in not pushing out in front of someone? Or should you just grab a gap when one appears? In the end it wasn’t that bad and the boat in front of us soon pulled over for morning coffee, a training boat.
With the trees now in leaf the spire of Braunston church took it’s time to show itself. Bangers! But would we get moored? We hoped our arrival time was suitable to be able to fit in a gap just vacated.
Braunston Turn turned
At the turn we turned southwards, the other folk occupied by a boat that seemed to be wanting to wind. Then we played the chicken game, would there be a mooring further along by Butchers Bridge or not?
Quack quack!
Maybe we’d fit in at the back just by the bridge into the marina, over looked by rip stock mallards. No there was a ledge stopping us from coming in fully and so close to the entrance we’d rather be out of the way.
The moorings had a couple of gaps, one long enough for a 50ft boat perhaps, the other much shorter, but the two together might just fit us. Mick slotted the stern in and then went to see if he could attract the attention of those inside. They moved back and we slotted in everyone on piling hooks rather than rings.
Very pretty
The Aubretia at the top of Nibbits Lane was wonderful. Over the years it has cascaded and tumbled down the dry stone wall to make a fantastic display.
The butchers for a Sunday roast shop. Pork would be on the menu, next cheapest after chicken. A joint for four of shoulder. We got a very generous joint more likely for six or eight, good job we like pork. Some veg, a pork pie and some bacon.
Sunday Roast
Then the question. ‘Are you still doing gluten free sausages?’ The signs on the cabinet didn’t look promising. The answer came back, ‘No we don’t do them’. Well I was very lucky once in the past. No Braunston Bangers for breakfast anymore! The church spire won’t have quite the same effect from now on.
Wait for us!
After lunch we pushed off hoping that a boat that had just passed would wait for us at the locks. The hire boats were busy, two were being filled up with groceries from a Sainsburys van, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many crates! Was this a stag do? Maybe but for an octogenarian!
We had a partner for the locks. Yay! Well we ended up having two. Up ahead was a single hire boat that had only just been sent of from below the locks, they were mob handed with plenty of sailor hats on display.
NB Whistler shared the first three locks with us then it was obvious that we were now being followed by another single hire boat, time for us to split up especially as we’d caught the boat ahead. There were downhill boats at most locks now so gates could be left.
Swapping over
We teamed up with a canal time boat for the last three locks. Once the lock was filling I’d walk up to the next to empty it or help open gates. I signalled back to the lock below that there would be two boats coming down, Mick acknowledged my signal. However he didn’t pass it on to the two ladies crewing for the hire boat, who closed everything up. Soon rectified.
Braunston Top Lock
Once up the last lock it was time for the tunnel. Now is it 300 to 400m from the other end where the kink is? Or 400 to 500m? Thankfully no-one was coming towards us so we didn’t have to adjust our speed to avoid any possible collision. We can confirm the kink is between 400 and 500m from the Norton Junction end.
What plumage! I think there might be a baby sheltering under her wings
The moorings with a view looked pretty full so we pulled in before them and soon found ourselves surrounded by the stag do boats, a boat in front and one behind us. They were a touch noisy to start with but soon settled down to munch their way through their supplies.
Turned out nice again
6 locks, 7.28 miles, 1 right, 4 Lapwings, 2 git gaps made a mooring, 1 huge hunk of pork, 1 pie, 4 rashers, 0 bangers! 12 maroon crates, 2 locking partners, 1 tunnel, 2 mysterons, 1 mooring without a view, 2 boat stag do, 12 stags having Nanna naps.
Last night we watched the bats swooping for insects around our mooring. Apart from the occasional train we had a peaceful night. Last time we moored here I had a broken ankle, so Mick single handed the flight with Tilly and myself trying to watch films below. On that occasion we paused on this mooring for a whole day to let storm Doris go over, we wouldn’t be staying as long this time.
The thick behind us
Before we were ready to push off this morning a pair came up the flight. We weren’t in a hurry to set off and kept an eye out behind in case a boat was making it’s way down that we could share the second half of the locks with. But there was no sign.
Pulling back to approach the lock
At 10am we were ready. A volunteer had arrived too, he went down to the next lock to set it ready for us and check nobody was coming up. We were then joined by another two volunteers. One chap carried on down the flight to set ahead with the other two helping to close gates and work paddles.
Heading upwards
We now started to meet boats coming up, another pair and one on it’s own. This meant we lost some volunteers, but by now we’d also picked up another two! Five volunteers in all.
We knew that they wouldn’t all stay with us to the bottom lock, but the chap who’d started helping us first kept setting the lock ahead for us. With the pounds between locks getting longer and longer this was very handy indeed. Another chap with a bike carried on down, leaving us with the last couple still to do. Thank you to them all for their help.
Hatton Bottom Lock
We came out of the bottom lock at around 11.30 and pootled our way round Budbrooke Junction. The sun was out, not as warm as yesterday but we wanted to make use of the sunlight. We pulled in behind another boat a short distance before Wedgenock Lane Bridge, further along we’d be over shadowed by flats and trees.
The back doors of NB Hadar open
A quick check on the lane alongside the moorings and both of us agreed that Tilly’s shore leave would have to wait for another day. The lane leads to the cemetery, it isn’t busy, but vehicles tend not to go along it slowly, the worst kind for a cat escaping danger.
Look out for raspberries on the off side later in the year
The afternoon passed with Mick trying to sort out the best route back to Scarborough to collect our postal votes, neither of us are convinced that if they were posted on to us that we would receive them in time to make our votes count. I knitted another couple of pairs of baby socks and Tilly complained about being shut in doors.
The Cape of Good Hope
This evening we headed along the towpath and crossed the lock to have a meal at The Cape Of Good Hope. We’ve only eaten out a couple of times since we last ate here last September. We’d booked an early table so as to avoid the crowds coming in for the pub quiz.
Burgers
A burger each, mine with a gluten free bun, half the size of Mick’s costing an extra £1.50! But worth it. These were followed by a chocolate fondant and banoffee cheesecake. All very nice apart from Mick’s arriving on a roofing slate from which cherry juice dropped onto his clean pair of jeans! Mental note, always ask for food to be served on standard crockery.
Puddings
We’d just finished our meal as the quiz teams arrived. We’re still not keen on sharing air space with lots of people.
Plenty more of these to come
11 locks, 1.87 miles, 5 volunteers, 1 easy descent, 23hours 28 minutes, 1 slow afternoon, 4 baby socks, 1 annoying howling second mate, 2 burgers, 1 glass wine, 1 pint, 2 puddings, Happy (what would have been his) 97th Birthday to my Dad.
