Cathedral, Dog in a Doublet and Whittlesey

This morning we planned to attend the main service of the day in the cathedral which was at 10:30. As often happens at school holiday times, the music was not led by the cathedral choir but by visiting singers, on this occasion a group called The Bridgeman Singers, who come together on occasion from all over the country.

The service was conducted by the Vice Dean and the Dean preached the sermon. Today was Trinity Sunday and some clergy try to avoid this day but on this occasion the preacher stuck to the main subject.

The organ voluntary at the end was especially accomplished. We stayed for a cup of coffee afterwards but with over a hundred in the congregation plus around 30 in the choir, the coffee people were having to work especially hard!

Before lunch we re-stocked on food from Asda which is the closest supermarket to where we are moored.

After lunch we used the car to explore a couple of places. First we continued down river gto Dog in a Doublet, a popular pub alongside the last lock on the river below which it is tidal. As a major part of flood control, the lock has a couple of sluices - as with the lock above which we came through several days ago. The road also crosses the river, one of the few below Peterborough.

After taking a look at the lock both above and below we returned to the car and drove to Whittlesey, a small market town and the first place we will encounter when we eventually leave here and join the Middle Level. With a population of over 16,000, it is quite a substantial town in Cornish terms!

The navigation runs around the outer edge of the town - the first place we stopped was at the very tight bend at Briggate.

On then to Ashline Lock, near to the train station, so that we could check out the moorings that we had read are above the lock. Indeed we did find them - 36 hours - but only room for a couple of boats, or three at a squeeze. It is quite a hike to the shops.

From there we found our way into the town centre and parked close to one of the two ancient parish churches. Alas, it was not open this afternoon. It has a very tall spire with a gleaming gold cockerel right at the top. (Not so clear in our highly zoomed photo!)

According to Wikipedia, the reason for the two parish churches is that each was controlled by a different medieval abbey: Ely and Thorney.

The market square is wide open and, apart from the typical open-sided structure in the centre, has a number of imposing buildings around the sides, interspersed with more modern (not always as elegant) properties.