Wellingborough back to Foxton

Monday 9th August and it was a glorious day, though a bit breezy. Not wishing to rush things it was 10.30 before we cast off, and rather belatedly decided to push on as Tuesday's forecast was poor. We had been told that the moorings at Cogenhoe were highly recommended & they looked good, though I was a little bit concerned about new posts erected alongside the bank, how easily they could hold "No Mooring" signs!! Perhaps I'm a pessimist, they might be going to hold signs saying "Please moor here"?

During the day we crossed with about 3 boats at locks and met another three between locks, so busy is the Nene with boats cruising!

About 7 of the locks on the Nene require manual labour to spin these large wheels to raise & lower the guillotine gates.

Above Weston Favell lock it was incredibly weedy, the embankments contain flood sluices for the Northampton flood relief scheme and unfortunately the prevailing wind was blowing the weed down to the lock. We decided that Carol should cruise out of the lock and to the flood sluice where I scrambled aboard. The indicated channel turned right after the sluice (why??) and this 200 yard channel was also full of weed, but we got through OK.

Turning out of the flood relief area Rush Mills lock had a top gate paddle (sorry EA, Pointed Door sluice) that would not close fully and this was to aggravate the problems with the very slow paddle mechanism needing 75 turns to open the paddle. Rush Mills & Abington lock above it are the only two locks on the Nene still having these low geared mechanisms.

A new marina was nearing completion alongside Becketts Park, on the town level. It has been sponsored by all sorts of quasi governmental bodies, but fortunately a decent contractor seems to have been employed & it looks good, nearly completed but yet to have any security features installed.

We tied up in Northampton around 5 having covered 12 miles and 13 locks.

Tuesday 10th August and 3 years after I retired! Rain overnight and overcast with drizzle at first. Quick visit for fruit & veg at Morrissons plus a coffee before we were off at 11.30. We crossed with one boat on the Northampton Arm and were concerned at the bottom end that we might never get through. There was a great amount of weed and using revs that would normally have seen us doing over 4mph we could barely keep up with a 2 year old child. It was similarly slow going on the way down yet we didn't seem to be churning up the bottom, very strange.

We saw this crop alongside the arm and also near Oundle. It stands around 5 feet high in clumps. Any ideas as to what it is, we reckon it is a green fuel.

Anyway, all the locks were set for us! Plus we met a granny with 2 grandchildren who were only too keen to push gates open & closed. Carol always keeps a jar of boiled sweets as a reward & these children deserved their reward. The locks of course were so quick to work through compared with those on the Nene, and we were out of the top lock at 3.30. A quick stop at Gayton services, so nice to have places to tip the Elsan, and we then waited for the traffic to rush past before joing the GU.

We decided to aim for Bugbrook, getting there at 5 and stopping about 150m before the bridge....bad choice, railway line very close, it would have been much better to carry on through the next 2 bridges before stopping. Went for a beer in the new pub, which was expensive, though I thought the interior of the pub craftily incorporated old bricks, timbers and designs.

We covered 8 miles and 17 locks and the weather drizzled a bit but it was far better than the forecast led us to expect.

Wednesday 11th and oh what a noisy night! A better day and as we entered Whilton Bottom Jenny & Bob on their new shared ownership boat, Budleigh, from Crick marina hove into view. We enjoyed sharing the flight with them in the lovely weather. We crossed with several boats too, making it even better.

We left them at the top of the flight and carried on to Watford, stopping as usual tied to the railings under the railway bridge to go into Watford Gap M1 services for papers, milk and, you guessed it, coffee! Arriving at Watford locks at 3 we had a 1 1/2 hour wait, being first in the next batch up. Filling with water & chatting whilst waiting we were helped up the locks by a chap who was hoping that by moving us out quickly that he would get down that night(he did).

We intended to stop at Crick but moorings were full so we stopped alongside Cracks Hill, just through the footbridge. The weather was generally good but clouded up during afternoon. Pleasant mooring spot and this lovely sunset.

As to alternator belt the one fitted on 5th still going OK. It gives a slight squeek first off in the morning before settling down. I have tightened it very slightly on 2 occasions so far and noticed this morning that the first bits of "V" were missing. 13 miles & 14 locks.

Thursday 12th and two boats passed us at about 6, waking Carol (I was already awake) who lept out of bed demanding we set of speedily as it was bound to be very bust at Foxton. Unheard of for us, by 6.45 we were under way, I don't ever recall starting so early. As we approached Yelvertoft and with our bows just about under the bridge, a boat on the water point just the other side set off!! I was absolutely flabbergasted at the mentality of the person whom I hesitate to call a boater! Better still, just past the permanently moored boats & just before the next bridge & right on the bend, he stopped & called us through!

Two other boats were about ready to set off as we approached but both did the right thing and waited the minute it took us to pass. Worried about reed growth on the length before the Welford Arm, in at least 2 places clumps about 20 feet long have blocked half the width on the inside of tightish bends. Our luck was in though as we only met boats in reasonably wide sections. We got about an hour of cruising in before the first rain, but then we had several, and sometimes quite sharp showers, through the day.

Husbands Bosworth tunnel was pretty dry and delighted us by giving us 4 boats to pass within it. By 12.15 we were at the top of Foxton and had a longish wait before we were able to descend to moor in the bottom basin. At around 6 there was an almighty clap of thunder that almost immediately followed a very big flash of lightning, and then a deluge. A pleasant chat in Br 61 and with Ian & Fiona on Brass Buckle whom we had moored with in Leicester in ? 2008 or 7 at our festival.

During our cruise I painted our new watering and Buckby cans and Carol decorated them.

16 1/2 miles in the day.

Friday 14th No movement, collected car thanks to Ian Cooper nb May Be, always a supporter of our local events, who gave me a lift. In the evening we had anenjoyable meal with IWA committee friends in the Foxton Locks Inn.

Saturday 13th and 3 years after we first set off on our cruising life. It was the opening day of the Foxton Festival and it rained on and off for much of the day. What surprised me was that there were ant people at the event, but in the marquee where the IWA had its stand there was a reasonable number of people at all times, and a good number when it rained.

Sunday 14th and a glorious day & people thronged to the Festival. The Foxton Inclined Plane Trust had organised the event and we were so pleased that all their efforts were rewarded by the crowds. I spent a lot of time talking (who me??) on the IWA stand, cajoling people to sign an Ashby Canal Association petition, and generally talking about joining the IWA and also ensuring that they go and enjoy the trip through Leicester. Jo & John, whom we met in Peterborough came along & we were able to show them how we had finished off Lily after they had left Debdale for their life aground near Peterborough.

Busy Foxton scenes.

Monday 15th and yes I know I only blog Sunday to Sunday, but after today I'll be signing off until we set off again after Lily's drive belt problem has been resolved, and after the Bank Holiday during which time we will go by train from Narborough to Dundee to see Carol's cousin who we last saw in Sydney in March. Crazy things thrain prices. Leicester to Dundee, via Peterborough, the train passes through and stops at Melton Mowbray. Price from Leicester £155, from Melton £184!!

Anyway we tied up in Debdale at 11, the drive belt fitted on the 5th looks about ruined. I have suggested to Debdale that they should get the rep from Gates belts to look at the damaged belts for his opinion as to what is wrong. He might refuse to come, but they have nothing to lose by asking.

Up the Nene

Wednesday August 4th and after slight overnight rain we set off after paying homage to the water point & sanitary station, being away before 10. The weather was not good, not a lot of wind but not warm & with several light showers. Several boats coming downstream & passed a cruiser at Alwalton lock where the gate would not rise sufficiently for him to pass without taking down his canopy & windscreen. He was waiting for the EA, but my guess is he had a long wait.

We had taken Emily & Annabel on the Nene Valley Railway during their stay, here it is crossing the river. I enjoyed the day at the NVR, but I was sad to see how many of their engines had been allowed to decay badly. They certainly did not look in as good condition as those at the Great Central Railway in Loughborough.

I tried to get a pic of the train crossing, only to run out of battery power. Anyhow, this is what it crossed, it is a few yards to the left of the picture.

For us we made good progress tieing up at Fotheringhay at 5 having covered 19 miles & 7 locks in the day. I thought there were EA moorings there but seeing none tied up to posts in the farmers field just as he was walking along to collect his £4 overnight fee. It was a pretty good mooring & at least had posts.

Thursday 5th and after a sunny start early on (6 ish) by the time we got out & about had light cloud & a fair breeze. We walked into Fotheringhay which is a pretty place, the pub looks pretty upmarket, but at 10am was closed, and the church is interesting. It was originally an abbey church & much bigger, but is now a manageable size, but very tall for its footprint. There was a very large display inside about Mary Queen of Scots who was imprisoned there & beheaded there, as well as a lot of info about the ins and outs of the claims to the crown around the time of Elizabeth 1st accession. Well worth a visit.

There is obviously some money around in Fotheringhay, this person flies around.

We saw two weed cutting methods on the way from Peterborough, this was the neatest.

We then set off to show Sam what Oundle looked like and moored just above Alton lock, where we had moored on our way downstream. We managed to moor close to the bank before, but this time our stern was well out & we were on a big tilt. We decided to stop the night after our long cruise of 5 miles & 3 locks, and walked into Oundle & Alton.

On our previous visit I had noticed a metal railing & gate surrounding what looked like a memorial, but it was set in an area full of reeds that looked boggy. This time Sam & I decided to investigate it, picking our way carefully though the stingers that protected it. We were so glad we did, it was just a raised manhole with a pipe coming out of it, I expect designed to let off excess pressure....but why the ornate railings & gate?

I had noticed that our charge rate was only around 10 amps with the batteries only at around 75% full, we should have been charging at around 50 amps, yet I had tightened the belt in the morning. Investigation when engine had cooled, after further tightening still only gave 11 amps so I fitted a new one and suddenly we got 50+ amps. The belt taken off was by Unipart and managed only 2 days, and in fact was difficult to get working at the start, the new one is by Gates and works well even when not very tight. The old belt was obviously slipping all the time, certainly the alternator pulley was very hot. We can't wait to hear what Debdale make of it all when we return shortly.

Friday 6th and by 8.30 we were under way after checking belts etc & we stopped at Oundle Marina. People say it is difficult to access going upstream, in Lily it would have been impossible without the bow thruster as we reversed in, we would have needed to do a 270 degree turn to get in otherwise.

Anyhow, once in, they said the entry was kept tight to allow them to block it off when there are flooding events. We filled with108 litres at 80/20 costing £105 and were able to tip the Elsan, there being no EA tipping points on the river other than Northampton & Peterborough and frankly we can't manage that distance on 2 cassettes.

Away again we pushed on, hindered by me leaving our only EA key at a lock! The weather clouded over & gave us the odd shower and by cruising at for us a fast pace we arrived at Irthlingborough at 5, though we had shared the last 3 locks with a couple who had set off from Fotheringhay that morning! The moorings outside the Rusden & Diamonds football centre were very good, but now were showing the signs of having been made using untreated timber and many of the boards were flaking away.

Many info sheets show there are full facilities here, but not any longer. There is a working water point & a pump out, though people said that this was out of order, & had been for 2 years! The other advertised facilities (showers, toilets, Elsan disposal) were set within the adjacent leisure centre, but the owners shut them when the EA would not pay for them!!!

There were lovely blackberries picked alongside the mooring, & we had picked a load of mirabelles at a lockside some miles before. Sally & family came to pick up Sam, bringing with them a takeaway curry from our favourite restaurant in Leicester, so this evening we were again on our own!

19 miles & 11 locks

Saturday 7th and we were supposed to be entertaining more friends on Sunday but Carol's back said "enough". I rang them & deferred their visit and we stayed put. I walked into Irthlingborough to buy newspapers & see what it had to offer amounting to a tiny Tesco, a butcher a Post Office stores plus a few takeaways, not a lot and it was a fair uphill walk from the moorings.

During the day we were plagued by flies, possibly from the blackberries.

Carol's tomato plant has been very productive.

Her chilli plant is also being very productive, we just noticed one of the chillis is a yellow orange colour. They are pretty hot.

Sunday 8th and a lovely day. After topping up with water we were away by 9.45, drive belt fine, and we raced ahead to Wellingborough. We had intended to shop & then carry on, but lethargy hit us & we stopped after 5 miles & 3 locks. We were alongside the childrens park & play pool & it being a lovely day the place was packed with families having a great time.

We might try to get to Foxton for next weekend's festival. It would be nice to see old friends again, but it does seem a bit of a slog, we'll see how we look in a couple of days. No visitors expected in the next week, other than Sam & Hannah are joining us on Saturday night! It's tiring, but lovely to be wanted.

Finally, I keep getting comments from people in what looks like Chinese. From what I can decipher they are all complimentary, but are in rather peculiar terms. As I have read that people have used comments to blogs to pass on encrypted information I will not publish any comments unless they are in clear English text. Sorry if I'm being a bit neurotic.

Into Peterborough with grandchildren

Monday 19th July Bright & warm but still breezy, though less so. Quick check of alternator belt, it was OK and starter shows fully charged after a night on the charger. Short cruise to Littleport, arriving at 12.30  8 miles.

Eldest daughter Sally, husband John plus Sam (16) & Hannah (12) arrived for supper, late as always with Sally & John,though they complained it was the length of the journey at fault. Lovely supper together and a few games of Rummicub before parents left us with the kids on a lovely evening.
The new bar restaurant (The Swan) is due to re-open at the end of July, the new owners have come out of retirement to set up a good quality place to go with 5 chefs & prices to deter the type of customer the old Black Horse attracted before the previous owner ran off to Austria to excape his debts. It will be interesting to hear how it goes.

Tuesday 20th July and a fine day saw us taking the bus into Ely to show the kids the lovely town & cathedral. We had another guided tour & so much better than our first one. Because Carol & I signed a Gift Aid form on our first visit, we get in free now for 12 months, & the kids got in free too! We had a lovely picnic made by Carol after we came out & then visited the Cromwell House museum, which was nearby & interesting.

The Cathedral is littered with "Green Men" carved in various places. They are an old fertility symbol.

Returning to Lily at 5 we set off for Hilgay Bridge & the lovely mooring there for the night.

8 miles.

Wednesday 21st July and a lovely day with less wind. We cruised to Denver to fill & empty and wait for our 2.30 slot. When we arrived we were told we had been told it was 2 (it certainly wasn't the time I was told) and he had already put a boat in the lock. It was at least half an hour before he let it out, & it was wide enough for the two of us, but we were then told we would be last through, arriving at Salters Lode around 4.30. What a difficult turn with no way of judging how fast the tide was flowing in& with there not being a great width more than our 70 feet to turn in. It was far from elegant but we got in, only to be told we should have come earlier when the tide was on the level!!

This sand bar explains why we were driven hard onto the mooring as we cruised upstream to Denver Lock

The EA were lifting one of the gates on the sluice. I was surprised to see that they were made of timber. They are allowed to swing closed as the tide comes in but on at least one gate the steel pintle had broken.

Because we were late we had to wait till 6.30 before it was level again. There is a second lock gate that allows a boat of Lily's length to lock down into the river, but not to lock up!

Now we had a problem. Carol had to catch a train from Peterborough to Leicester to pick up her car on Friday, but when I spoke to the charming young lady at Stanground saying we might not get there in time on Thursday & need to lock through on Friday, she said that would not be possible as the lock would be out of action for an inspection! We set off as fast as we could, but Well Creek is far from deep & the bend at Outwell was very weedy, shallow & awkward in the extreem. The lovely lady at Marmont Priory lock told us to carry on to the lock & knock & she'd let us through, but we didn't arrive till gone 9 & it was getting pretty dark so we made an awkward mooring to the bank.

A long day but only 10 miles & 2 locks

Thursday 22nd July and we were ready to cruise at 8 & by 8.30 Maureen had let us through the lock. Our cruising at first was easy as the water was wide & deep & we made good time. We topped up with fuel @ Fox's in March using 98 litres (they only do 60/40) at £1.01, and leaving at 11.30. I was optimistic we might make Stanground by 3.30 ish on the rate of progress so far and carried on well until we turned  into Whittlesea Dyke at Floods Ferry when it got shallower and narrower and it became much harder going. We cruised using far more revs (1700) than we usually use but even so 3.30 only saw us leaving Ashline lock with the Whittlesea bend ahead.

We managed the bend easily, but it was harder than on the way down, and then we had a fairly heavy rain shower with rumbles of thunder. There were storm clouds all around and we expected to be caught by several, but only one did! We carried on reaching Stanground at 4.45 and were through in short order to tie up on the Peterborough moorings at 5.

Our fuel usage was 3 litres per hour since our last fill up.

A hard day saw us covering 21 miles & 3 locks in 8 1/2hours cruising. And what was this lorry mounted missile doing parked up alongside the waterway?

Friday 23rd July to 3rd August we stopped in Peterborough using the car to ferry the young grandchildren to several places, they are still too young to allow us to set off for a day of cruising, maybe next year. We had a grand family party on the Saturday/Sunday as Sally was 40 & The Grain Barge did us proud, especially important as Emily is highly dairy/egg intolerant. We had all 4 of the youngsters "sleeping" on Lily on Saturday night, & surprisingly there was some sleeping done!

On the 3rd Carol returned the car to Narborough & returned with Sam who will be with us till Friday & will help us get through much of the Nene. The weather was generally good, the proximity of the Elsan & water point was invaluable in Peterborough and near to the moorings was a great swimming pool as well as a Lido. We bought a new starter battery, the old one managed just 2 years, we could only keep using it by running a battery charger onto it full time, though I'll take it back to Debdale to get it checked. I was told that as it is a "commercial vehicle" size there is only ever a 2 year warranty on them!

Final thing about Peterborough. The mill over the river has one or more very squeeky conveyor belts. I'm intending to get in touch with them or the city council about it as it goes on all night. It was squeeking in May & still is now, let me know if it does when you pass.

12th to 18th July 2010

Monday 12th and a much cooler day, mostly overcast and a bit of rain. We had an easy cruise into Ely. I checked the new alternator belt in the morning and found signs of damage already. I reckon one of the pulleys is wrongly machined and has too sharp edges which cut into the belt. Long conversations with Steve, mechanic at Debdale, who told me that both pulleys had been especially machined for us.

We went for an exploratory walk around the outside of Ely Cathedral including the Kings School buildings. Very interesting, I always assumed that choral scholars had their fees paid, but it seems they only get half paid, and that is only for so long as they are in the choir.

11miles & 1 lock
Tuesday 13th Checked belt fitted new on Sunday and after about 10 hours of gentle running it had no ribs left! More chats to Steve & I decided to fit a new belt with little tension, allowing the belt to slip a bit & get warm to increase its grip, like f1 car tyres, I adjusted the tension to stop excessive slippage. Collected 2 more belts in case but had to wait for delivery after lunch, and these were over £13 each!

Used san station in Ely and set off just as it started to drizzle very fast! Cruised for 1 ½ hours before mooring on EA moorings on river Lark. 5 miles 0 locks.

Wednesday 14th Belt was OK & we were away into Prickwillow, arriving at more EA moorings about ½ hour later. Went to see the Museum of Fen Drainage....it is closed Wednesday to Friday, if we’d got away a bit earlier the day before we could have got in! Looked through windows, lovely large old diesel engines in beautiful condition, we’ll try to get back another time, but not this year, shame.

Carried on to Isleham, mooring with our bows touching the lock mooring, no others really available. Large marina & chalet complex now on lock island, includes Elsan point, but beware they charge £2 & throw! (we didn’t pay, but did use it!)
Walked into Isleham and were pleased to get into the church, but before that we stopped at one of the pubs, Carol enjoyed her coffee & my bitter was lovely and we had a pleasant chat with the locals. The church was lovely with lovely carvings on the roof trusses. Apparently some more were there but Cromwell’s lot objected to the idolatry and discharged their guns at the carvings!

Close by the church was this lovely Norman Priory abandoned in 1254 but still intact thanks to being used for various purposes including as a barn. It was a bit of a walk to get the key but well worth it to get so close to history.

Isleham has various useful shops and 2 pubs doing food plus a garage. On the way back to Lily we did something I had never done before, picked cherries. We saw trees laden with ripe cherries in Huntingdon near our moorings but they were out of reach, these, though smaller, were close to hand. They made a lovely addition to our fruit salad but frankly we should have stopped longer & picked a load. It was another momentous event when Carol picked her first ripe tomatoes from the incredible bush we have growing on the roof.

We also saw loads of kingfishers, including this one that used a drain outlet structure as its perch. The weather was OK. 9 miles.

Thursday 15th and it was WINDY. Quite a bit of rain overnight and wind got plants on the roof rocking. Moved tomato plant & chilli plant below deck and moved other small plants onto rear deck seats. It took a lot of push against the wind to get off our mooring & into the lock. Like all these locks they are fully powered, even the “pointed doors” being powered. Cruised on the twisty & narrowing bit to the end at Judes Ferry, but frankly there was little to recommend it, though we understand the pub/restaurant alongside the winding point is good. Difficult winding through T junction layout & wind & weed.

Wind carried on blowing hard, rain threatened & then poured as we reached the end of the Lark, but the brolly helped to keep me dry. The Lark isn’t up to much, except we reckon Isleham is worth a visit.

Carried on to Littleport, mooring by the Swan, closed till 30th we understand, mooring behind Dutch Barge Moondahl, chatted about their crossing from Boston & up past Kingd Lynn. Pump out out of order and it seemed to have been so for a long time. Littleport is a smallish ?town? with a range of shops a pub & takeaways, and we experienced more heavy squalls as we walked back to Lily. We had a Chinese, not the best!

16 miles & 1 lock twice.

Friday 16th After topping up with water on the opposite side of river we set off to the Little Ouse, stopping at Little Ouse Moorings to top up with fuel at 75p self declared, but CASH ONLY, that was nearly an OOPS! Just had enough. They have a submersible wet dock for doing blackings, an interesting way of doing it.

We had intended to do the Little Ouse later, after going to Downham Market, but we had well over a mile from the fuel pump to a place wide enough to wind, so we carried on to Brandon at the end of the river. Despite it being a really windy day it was a wonderful cruise with lovely sun, the most beautiful river in this complex, very twisty but clear water and lots of birdlife

Saw this peculiar boat on way to Brandon 

Brandon is interesting, the lock is quite short so we moored just below it on the EA moorings. Walking into town via the Leisure Centre we walked over the old Saxon village where a large number of remains had been excavated, this being a raised sandy area amidst the fens. There was also a large Roman villa excavated in the ‘30’s and a farmer around then ploughed up a load of Roman silver. The place was the centre of the flint knapping industry and they still make flints for flintlock weapons! Useful shops & pubs, plus it is the centre of the BBC......the Brandon Brewery Company, whose beer I enjoyed at the 5 Miles Pub. I bought a bottle fermented beer from them, but I’m afraid it just doesn’t hit the spot for me like a draught pint does.               20 miles today!!

Saturday 17th Not quite so windy at the start & after getting the papers we were away by 10. The alternator belt has performed well, I have just tightened it slightly each day, but it definitely is lasting better despite cruising a t higher revs than we usually use. Day started with bright sun at times but clouds built up a progressively heavier showers arrived. The first didn’t affect us as after cruising about 4 miles we passé under the road bridge at Hockwold cum Wilton & were hailed. It was David & Liz on Hearsease who were about to set off to the Lakenheath RSPB reserve. They told us they came across a boat te day before brought to a stop by a rope around the prop that was attached to an anchor! They were about to get into the river to cut it free as David & Liz passed.

Pleasant chat whilst the showers passed & we bid them farewell cruising easily through the lovely waters we left the river after 4 hours cruising to cover the 16 miles, turning towards Denver Sluice. By this time the clouds had got black and we had endured the first downpour, but a longer deluge followed on the way along the Gt Ouse, along with very strong wind. I cruised on the lee side, the wrong side of the river, but there was no-one else cruising at the time, though we were passed by one nb that must have been doing the full 7mph permitted, if not more....Lily won’t do that speed!

After the deluge it brightened into a pleasant evening as we passed through the Relief Channel Lock down to Downham Market, tying up to the good pontoon mooring and walked into the town. We had covered 24 miles and 1 lock in 5 ½ hours, very fast for us.
Downham Market is quite interesting, good shops & pubs plus a station. The market was just shutting as we walked in.

Sunday 18th Fine day, windy again but mild and no rain. Decided to stop to watch the Moto GP and did some washing, having filled up with water from the tap on the pontoon. Ran engine to keep charge up, belt still fine, but stopped engine before end of GP. It wouldn’t re-start about an hour later with flat battery! It was a new battery just under 2 years before, not sure if it is at fault or the charging system, though the ammeter looks as if voltage is good. Hooked up battery charger from 240 volt system & rushed into town to try to get jump leads. Found the Tesco store not big but it had jump leads, and just 5 minutes before closing! Moondahl was with us & I’d borrowed a charger from him too, but with jump leads on, we were away.

Funny thing, before we came to the Relief Channel I was worried about whether it was wide enough for us to wind in !!!

Quick cruise to the Relief lock. At this lock you have to use a computer keyboard to clock into the channel, getting a 2 week stay, and on the way back we clocked out. Tipping the Elsans at Denver we carried on up river to Hilgay Bridge to the good EA moorings, the wind dropping as evening approached.


5 miles & 1 lock



A Question:- Why is the single track line through to Kings Lynn electrified when they can’t afford to do any of the East Midlands Main Line? Mad

5th to 12th July In Cambridge

Monday 5th and when I went to check the engine first thing the main alternator belt was ruined again so I fitted my spare, there should have been 2 spares but one is hiding. Since we last replaced one at the Pike & Eel we have hardly cruise & have not used high revs at all, there is clearly something dramatically amiss, I'll have to get more spares when in Cambridge & after our planned visit we are going to return to Debdale so they can sort it.

The day started bright & with less wind and occasional cloud, the Old River was shallow in places. We stopped at the old Streatham Pumping Station which is open on the 2nd Sunday in the month & occasionally steams the old Butterly Engine....such a shame that the firm that built this engine, St Pancras Station and even the Falkirk Wheel closed about a year ago, you would have hoped that a company with such a history & that had proved able to adapt to changes in demand would have been able to carry on manufacturing in this country. I suppose if it had been a bank it would have been bailed out!

The EA plan showing facilities on the rivers was proved erroneous again as te Fish & Duck at Popes Corner where the Old River & Cam meet is now no more than a layer of gravel, and there were no facilities available, but that might have been because work was on-going to improve the marina. So we carried on towards Cambridge, calling into Upware Marina, where there were no visitor facilities at all. We tied up outside the 5 Mile Inn alongside the marina where they very kindly let us run a hose to fill up. There is an EA water point alongside the Upware Sluice, but it is downstream & the chamber is about 10 feet shorter than Lily.

I went for a walk down to Wyken Fen to hopefully see some of the rare birds living there, or even to hear a corncrake, but all I saw was a kite, but it was interesting to see the undrained land. On the Ea moorings near the lock I counted only 12 out of 20 boats displaying valid licences!! We ate in the pub off the £6.95 for 2 courses on Monday menu and enjoyed it.  We saw this upturned old barge where it is undergoing some re-plating, except I don't think anything has been done for a while, looking at the weeds around it.

I also decided to put additional ventiation into the cupboard holding the inverter so sawed through the steel, foam lining and thick ply liner with a small blade on my Stanley Knife......it took quite a while but is now hiding behind a brass louvre, but it does seem to be keeping down the heat level.

Tuesday 6th started bright & with a good forecast and we enjoyed a lovely slow cruise for the 10 miles & 2 locks into Cambridge. There are visitor moorings for 48 hours at Jesus lock where there is a good sanitary station, but we stopped alongside Jesus Green, opposite rowing club boat houses & where it is supposedly only for boats that pay an annual mooring fee, except that there were few boats there that had paid up, most were tied up alongside walls further downstream where there was nothing to pay! We decided that we would happily pay a fee for overnight stops with the lovely meadow alongside, complete with grazing cows and only about 1/2 a mile from the city centre!

We wandered in drank coffee bought a map, considered what to do & then went to Evensong in Kings College Chapel. What a lovely place, glorious choir and the place was almost full too. When we got back we were able to supervise the finishing line of a rowing race against the clock with over 40 crews rowing over 2000 metres. They were set off in roughly fastest first order at 30 second intervals, but even so there was some overtaking.

Wednesday & Thursday we carried on being tourists & falling in love with the place. If you go do go to the Botanic Gardens and the Scott Polar Institute is interesting too. The gardens had some very interesting areas including an area of created fen and also a dry garden which showed just how much you can grow in a garden without watering. They also had several areas showing the changes in plants over the years, the one for grain crops was interesting as was the walk showing the plants introduced in each 20 year period since around 1500. The other lovely thing was the way that large areas around trees were left to grow with wild flowers and long grass.

We loved Cambridge, lots of green spaces right up to the centre of the city and despite it being outside the University term there were so many cycles that cars went very slowly. We took advantage of a 2 courses for £10 at Loch Fynne restaurant and very good it was, as was our Wetherspoons curry, though yet again some of our favourites had been removed from the menu.

We used the lovely fruit & veg stalls in the 6 day market, had some lovely asparagus too, plus right near the centre there was a reasonably sized Sainsburys, Tesco being a bigger store but further out.

This is Carol's garden at the moment.

Friday and we moved to by Jesus lock as it was a bit nearer to the shops & we had to buy food for visitors over the weekend. I had also been chasing delivery of some more alternator drive belts & got 3 in the end, but a bit of a walk. A good job too as the one we were using managed a great 22 hours running before it was just about shredded! That running was almost all at below 1200rpm as we hardly cruised & used it for charging. I've looked closely at the pulleys & I reckon they have been wrongly machined which is something we can't get sorted without getting back to Debdale.

Anyway after shopping we used the very good sanitary station, for those with a pump out it is only £3, and filled with water, before realising it was 4pm, so we went back to our previous mooring, can't go cruising too late! Each morning rowers were out on the river from around 6 & we often heard oars rubbing along the hull.

Saturday 10th and we put up the parasol & cruised slowly to Waterbeach. This cruise was especially slow as there were umpteen rowers & scullers populating the river. One young lad decided to "spin" just before we arrived, I slowed rapidly & gave him a bit more room & went hard aground on a shoal of gravel! It took at least 20 minutes to get off, even had a chap on the bank offering to wade in & give us a push!!

We moored at Waterbeach, on good moorings and shared them with nb Eleanor from Peterborough & Gemma from Cambridge. Both crews were lovely and we nattered aplenty before our Bbq.

I haven't mentioned the weather, well it has been really hot, reaching 30 degrees, and we were really glad of our Worcester windows where we were able to lift out the whole of our windows to get a good draught.

Sunday 11th and our friends arrived in good time for us to cruise back into Cambridge for lunch, plus recording of the British GP, lots of chat and a really pleasant day before we returned to Waterbeach.

Waterbeach is a quite pleasant place. The pub by the river isn't actually in Waterbeach, if you are thinking of eating there, go on-line & read the reviews. There are 2 pubs on the green in Waterbeach, plus a chinese Take-away and a couple of general shops that seemed to sell all you might need. There are several quite intersting buildings, though the church is nothing special, but what made my walk into the place special was the traction engine that was in steam & being tinkered with at the garage. Lovely smells & they were happy for me to look, but I didn't have my camera!

I was a bit worried lest this buoy had floated into this garden in Waterbeach as the garden must have been over 20 feet above river level.

28th June to July 4th on way to Cambridge

Monday 28th June


Another day of incredible weather. After our hard working weekend (!) we set off and cruised under the A1 and winded just before Roxton Lock. Didn’t seem any point in going further as Cardington & Castle Mills locks were shut until 2nd & we had to be elsewhere. Stopped at Anchor for a beer & a coffee, all quiet on riverside of pub and A1 rushing past the other. Not up to much. Tootled into St Neots. 5 miles & 1 lock.

Moored behind The Beez Kneez, Bob Morrison who we had seen in Peterborough, Whittlesea & elsewhere. Had a Bbq, first this year, on the staging. I was worried as to how hot it would get under the coals so stood it on a wet rug, but needn’t have worried, the rug was still soaking wet & cool as we finished cooking.

Tuesday 29th Fine bright & warm & our new inverter to arrive at 6pm & I had to get the other one out & looking pretty. Went to town for coffee & then to see the museum. Quite interesting, especially to see desks I used to sit at till the end of my schools days seen to be exhibition objects!!

New inverter arrived on time & I had it fitted & running within the hour, but it is a bit big for the cupboard! Went to the Priory for their curry & pint at £4.99, but it was not much cop. Bob rates the Pig & Falcon for good beers.

Wed 30th & we had friends Paulene & John with us. Their journey from Harborough was quick & a day’s parking was only £2. Lovely weather again & we cruise downstream to GOBA mooring near Gt Paxton for lunch. A good spot & good food. Cruised back & Paulene & I went for an amble around the town before Carol’s scones made a good nibble before they went home. Lovely to see them & show them this lovely river. 6 miles & 1 lock twice.

Thursday 1st another superb hot day and we used the excellent market in St Neots for more lovely fresh fruit and I also noticed there was a new M&S Meal & wine for £10 deal was on so we got this too. We had to get to Buckden Marina for Friday 8am so Hotpoint could repair our washer/dryer so around 2.30 we set off slowly downstream. After cruising for an hour or so we had a call from the Hotpoint man who was in St Neots & had finished his work for the day.....Hotpoint said they couldn’t possibly come to a mooring it had to be a marina. We speeded up & arranged to see him ½ an hour later.

Carol went to the clubhouse for a coffee whilst he & I set to on the machine, with him switching it on & trying to get it to repeat the flashing lights we had seen, but it just worked perfectly. We plied him with tea & cakes, he acknowledged he had not seen us & I rang Hotpoint to cancel the next day’s booking, saving over £100!!

Best bit about this was whilst I was emptying the loo Carol, started talking to two couples on nbs Heartsease & Kearpawni and we arranged to carry on down river a mile or so to the GOBA moorings for a drink. The moorings were lovely & all 6 of us got on so well that we ended up chatting drinking and eating till gone 10.30, finding we had mutual acquaintances too. What a great way to end the day! Thanks Tim & Wiggy, David & Liz, we look forward to meeting you again. Our drinks session was made more special by a Spitfire giving us an aerobatic display.....such a majestic sight and stirring sound from the engine. All this after a busy cruise of 7 miles & 2 locks!

Friday 2nd we said goodbye to our new friends who were going on up to St Neots whilst we tootled into Huntingdon & stopped. Wimbledon was doing big things, but I went and had a look round Godmanchester which we started on a drizzly evening a week or so before. One or two interesting houses and buildings, but the church was locked & there was not much in the way of shops. Weather was great yet again and we tried out our new washer/inverter combination & it worked fine! 4 miles & 2 locks.

Saturday 3rd and another lovely day. We set off at 12.30 and topped up with fuel at Hartford Marina as well as emptying & watering. Refuelling was awkward as they had a stupidly short hose, but we were able to self declare, I did 20% propulsion, but that might have been generous to HMRC. Fuel here is not cheap at 82p domestic, but the marina in St Ives would only do 60/40.

Continued downstream through 3 locks, sharing some with pretty unruly day boats. Breeze got up during afternoon and there were quite a lot of boats moving, unusual for this river. We tied up at 5 on a bankside mooring near to the Pike & Eel. Lovely spot after 10 miles & 3 locks.

We love to see young sygnets hitching a ride

Sunday 4th dawned bright but with a strong wind & we worried if we’d get off the bank, but it worked out fine, especially as the river was wide enough for us to wind where we had moored. Some people star early, it was barely 7 before the first boats passed us, we were away at 9.30. Next lock was Brownshill Staunch & the river becomes tidal for a mile or so here. Tide was out & the range only seems to be about 2 feet. There was a sanitary station & water point on a pontoon by Earith but we were OK so carried on to see these seals just downstream, they obviously like river fish.

Swans taking off on the tidal bit and Carol keeps trying for pics of Herons. She succeeded here.

Very helpful lock keeper at Hermitage told us the river level was low & offered us a Towpath Talk. The Old West River was lower than when we passed the other way 3 weeks before but compared to canals it was almost oceanic in depth, but there was a lot of weed. A lovely cruise ended with us tying up at the GOBA moorings at Aldreth High Bridge. These GOBA moorings are generally in lovely spots, though some of them were a little short for a boat of Lily’s length. Well worth joining them if you are going to cruise these rivers. 7 miles & 2 locks, but we had to stop for mens finals!

So ended another lovely week, much better because we now have an inverter that is up to the task and didn’t have to pay for the washer to be repaired. Hard cruising too doing 39 miles & 12 locks in the 7 days!