Salters Lode

Today's Navigations : River Great Ouse, Middle Level

Today began quite overcast - there had been heavy rain during the night but it had now stopped. Later in the morning some sunny spells arrived and overall it was quite mild, especially compared with the lows of yesterday.

We had been told yesterday that passage from Denver would be at 10:30 so Mike set off in good time - it is best to be early for these transits, just in case. We were away by 8:45, before either of the other two boats at the mooring seemed awake. When we arrived yesterday we wondered why the cruiser had moored leaving as much room ahead of it as it had. Howev ere, when we left we could see a water point and that the cruiser had left sufficient space for another cruiser to take on water. Would have been a bit short for a narrowboat.

Almost immediately we were under Hilgay Bridge.The road across the bridge joins Ten Mile Bank at a t-junction on the right. The red traffic lights shone brightly in the night!

As we approached the bridge from the mooring a small cruiser came upstream from Denver but as soon as it saw us leaving it make a quick turn and slotted straight in to where we had been. If the crews on either of the other boat were not yet awake they might be very surprised to look out and wonder how we had shrank so dramatically overnight! Talk about 'hot bunks' . . . 

We passed under the railway bridge that links Kings Lynn to Ely and stations beyond to London. Much of that route is quite busy so it is usually served by two four-coach sets linked together. As we reported in the blog in July we now know why it is only a single electrified track - so we were not puzzled this time! We saw a train in each direction, the first just across the fields a few minutes earlier and then this one. The timetable much be quite tight at times, even on a Sunday, as we think that the only place they could have passed was at Littleport where the line expands to two tracks.

A number of rowers were out this morning - their club is based at Denver Complex, just beside the main lock. Ones, twos and fours and we had to be careful to ensure that they passed us safely as none were coxed. The two fours had crews that looked as if they were taking to fitness via rowing a little later in life than ideal. We hoped that they enjoyed their outing as they were puffing quite hard! One of the crews had time to bid us a cheerful Good Morning as they passed by.

This widebeam called Tabula Rasa was moored just off the end of one of the closed EA moorings. We thought we knew the meaning - in modern terms, Clean Slate, but when we looked it up later it turns out a bit more complicated than we remembered. The phrase goes back to Greek and Roman times when it initially referred to a wax writing tablet which - like on old time school slate - could be wiped clear after every exercise. We wondered if the colour scheme for the coat was chosen to resemble slate and if the owners would be surprised to learn that originally it would have been brown! Later, the term was adopted by several philosophers and psychiatrists, including Locke and Freud, to describe their belief that humans were born with empty minds and that all knowledge was gained through teaching and experience and nothing was innate.

When we reached the only remaining, shortened, mooring at Jenyns, Denver, we realised that we had made a good call yesterday by stopping where we did as there were no spare spaces we could fit into.

Instead, we went directly to the lock landing - itself barely longer than we are. By now the sun was shining for most of the time as we walked to take a better look at the structure, . . .

. . .  and our boat waiting patiently.

Nothing seemed to be happening as we neared the supposed transit time so we made contact again with the lock keeper. He now felt that a safer time would be just after 11 so a little longer to wait and to be impressed by the upstream side of the sluices. Although the river below the lock is tidal, flow conditions are a combinations of the predictable tides from Kings Lynn and the unpredictable runoff from the Fdens via the Great Ouse and Bedford Rivers. The difference between them is much less easy to predict and decisions about tansits often have to be made on the day. The lock keeper told us that yesterday was the first time since early May that he has run off water into the nearby Relief Channel and then only the tiniest amount (1 cumec). As yesterday's rainfall makes its way down he may have to let down a bit more this afternoon.

Eventually he opened the gates to let us in we still had to left up to the downside level. He had already given us good instructions especially as the flow rate is quite strong. There are two silt banks that are gradually getting larger but the level was high enough to make it possible to pass between them. His recent photo gave us a chance to pick out landmark trees to aim for: about 40 degrees from the lock, across to the main channel but not too far and then straight down. It was, he said, better today to go beyond Salters Lode and turn to enter the lock against the flow.

Once we had left the calm confines of the lock we quickly became aware of the flow and how readily it could take us other than where we wanted to go! as expected we passed a single other narrowboat making the opposite transit. Steering needed some concentration so alas no photos.

We went as instructed just beyond Salters Lode by about a couple of boat lengths and then made a sharp turn, to come upstream. We soon realise that however wide the river might seem, it did not leave much space to choose where to turn - sideways from the bank.The lock is on a bend so the flow started to push us alarmingly close to the bank with a sharp turn into the lock. This was one of the very few times when we appreciated having every one of the 43 horsepower in our Beta Marine. In the end we managed to avoid the upstream posts guarding the entrance to the lock as well as the tyre wall on the other side and it was with some relief that we slid safely into the lock which Karen, the keeper, had already prepared for us. It was also good to see Paul (see here) still giving his wife some assistance in working the lock! (Not that she needed it . . . )

We enquired about where next we could moor and Karen kindly directed us to the far end of the lock landing where we could stay safely until the morning - she is not expecting any other transits from this side today. Also we can refill our water tank after Christine has done at least one load of washing. That should keep us going until we arrive at March where we will be leaving the boat for about ten days whilst we return home for a variety of appointments etc.

3.5 Miles - 2 Locks