Old Ferry, Holywell

Today's Navigation : River Great Ouse

The forecast today had a reasonable chance of rain almost at any time in the day. Good for us, bad for water supply, but so far we have not had a drop and most of the time it has been pleasantly sunny with a gentle breeze. A little higher probability for wet weather tomorrow but we shall see!

We were a little slow in getting ready this morning but the arrival in the upper lock landing of two weed cutters ready to go down quickly persuaded us to make a move as soon as an upcoming boat had left the way clear. The lock is one with a side space (don't know a 'proper' name for it) so that they could pop in there allowing us to occupy the other side. They are currently scheduled from the start of June to the end of September to attempt keeping the worst places clear but too often it is a losing battle, including above the lock we featured in an earlier blog with a green 'carpet'.

EA uses two types of boat on this river, one as in the photo, collects large bundles of weed floating on or near the surface whilst the other has a vertical and horizontal devices (like hedge trimmers) that attempt to cut the much longer type of weed well below the surface into smaller bits so they can then also be collected.

Huntingdon Old Bridge has only one arch that is designated for navigation and so steerers have to look our for themselves in case something is approaching from the other direction. The new bridge is immediately behind but here almost totally hidden.

Immediately on the Godmanchester side of the bridge is what was originally Huntingdon Hosiery Mill now repurposed for accommodation. There is still a narrow arm alongside which once led to a corn mill adjoining the former Godmanchester Station. It is now used for private long term moorings.

Hartford Church is one of two that we see today that was built right alongside the river.

And so into Hartford Marina with much relief. We were much in need of fill our diesel and water tanks as well emptying two elsan cassettes and disposing of rubbish. The fuel bill was rather more than we usually face but the tank was down to a quarter full (or, as it felt, empty!)

The marina is quite large with some wide open space (might be a challenge in stronger winds) but almost all of the leisure moorings are to one side. Chatting to the staff and looking at the prices of used boats for sale took us to well over an hour before we returned to the river.

Almost next door is Wyton Moorings. An unfinished two storey building is being constructed on the water front. Reference to its planning application indicates that it is intended for 'destination' attractions such as a restaurant and bar. However, niot much seems to be happening at the  moment so we wondered if they were having to save up for the next progress payment!

This tree has been planted alongside Houghton Lock (where we again managed to recruit two small onlookers to assist.

An information board explains that it is part of a project to improve wildlife habitats by providing food and shelter.

On the approach to Hemingford Grey it is easy to be puzzled by the sight of this church - it has a spire and and most people coming this way will know that Hemingford Grey does not have a spire. However, the river takes several large bends just here and this church is that of the neighbouring village of Hemingford Abbots.

This is the real Hemingford Grey Church, also alongside the river. It once proudly enjoyed a spire but that was decapitated in 1741 by a hurricane and never re-built. 

The building next door was originally the Rectory. Even in 1900 it is described on maps of the day as The Old Rectory! It is hard to imaging today anyone, let alone a clergyperson, being able to afford such a large family and servants to fill something this large. (OK, so it has probably had some extension in its conversion to a later use)

Another medieval stone bridge. St Ives Bridge and like Huntingdon has only one arch that is designated for navigation but it is marked two way. The central chapel provided travellers an opportunity to pray (o to pay someone to do so on their behalf) for a safe journey.

There are signs for 48hr moorings along this wall but from a narrowboat it may not be easy to alight unless right alongside one of the two sets of steps!

Other that in some form or another, this building has stood here for well over a century, our sources so far have not revealed what its original purpose was.

An elegant modern concrete bridge carries the A1096 around the town as a bypass. Surprisingly it was located in a way that either limits future expansion or, as in Ely, the need to build another bypass to take traffic even further away from the built up area.

St Ives lock is somewhat unusual for this river as it has a guillotine gate at the lower end. Amusingly, no-one has noticed that the wrong set of instructions has been pasted into the control cabinet - those for how to fill a lock with the gate at the other end! Newcomers to this type of lock (it will be the first for some to operate alone if coming up river from Denver Sluice) may well be a tad confused if they actually read the details.

We were now heading to Holywell for a very late lunch and possible overnight stopover. Ideally we would find a space on the parish council mooring beside the village green and outside the Old Ferry Boat pub but with the backup of a not-quite-as-good GOBA mooring nearby. As we turned the corner we could see that the spaces were already taken but as we hesitated, people on the hire narrowboat called to stay that they were leaving shortly. Indeed, one of the group was already pulling up the bow mooring pin. How lucky is that! It also felt that the people on the other boat, a river cruiser, didn't think that we deserved a mooring as several other boats - nowhere to be seen and not passed by us this morning - had also been looking to moor here but were very disappointed. Well, we have all been there and it is just the luck of the navigation draw since there is no 'booking' system to ensure that a space greets you when and where you most desire it. In any case, it would be somewhat impracticable as canal and river cruising is often unpredictable. Indeed, our trip plan had us going another half mile to Pike and Eel but we did spend a lot of time at Hartford Marina! Oh, and to make it even more unsociable, we are not planning a meal or a drink at the pub - it is, after all, a parish mooring available to all boats.

The Old Ferry Boat Inn claims to be the oldest in England with history dating back to 560CE. The ferry, along with others in the area, ceased operation in the 1930s as cars provided most folk with more convenient travel.

Late afternoon Christine took a walk along through the small village to the parish church.

She also found the Holy Well, from which the place takes its name. Although it possibly had its origins in pre-Christian times, it became a pilgrimage destination in the Middle Ages. The water comes from a natural spring, one of several along the stream that runs down to the river and is fed from a gravel bank on which the village stands, just high enough to survive flood waters after heavy rain. In 1845 the Rector at the time, Rev S S Beckwith, had built the tiny structure that marks the site and presumably also protects the quality of the water coming into the well. A well dressing ceremony is held each June.

10.3 Miles - 4 Locks

Godmanchester

Today's Navigation : River Great Ouse

Wot no pix? I hear you say. I took some of the greatest pix ever on a brilliantly sunny day as we continued back down the River Great Ouse - but wait until the end of this blog.

Christine has invited her cousin Judith to spend some time with us on the next part of our journey, perhaps a day or half day from St Neots, where we spent last night. In discussion it was suggested that perhaps Judith's daughter and two small boys might like to come instead - but it turned out that all four would come. 

Just before 9 they were on board and ready to leave. Mike suggested to Judith that she might like to try steering - but he would be on hand just in case. She stuck it out to the first lock, St Neots, only running into the reeds a couple of times - but afterwards let Anna take over!

In the first edition of this blog we failed to mention that we were so overwhelmed by the delight of having visitors on board that we forgot to keep a lookout for the turning into the lock channel to St Neots lock. This has happened to us before and on the way up we noted that it would be difficult to spot. It was only when faced with a large weir and sluices - and no lock gate - that we realised we had missed the turn and had a lengthy reverse. When we reached the turn it is easy to see (or would be if we had a photo) how it happened as it is heavily disguised by extensive vegetation and if there was once a sign (as is usual) it is now under much shrubbery. It is also rather narrow at first. Still, nothing lost except dignity and a bit of time.

Anna was a wonderful learner and soon became familiar with how to go left and right - not the easiest step in learning to control a boat (really!). The next reach, to Offord Lock, is much longer, just over four miles and is generally quite wide. However, it is far from straight so plenty of opportunity to practice, especially how to plan two or three bends ahead for best effect. She then added bringing the boat alongside a lock landing to her repertoire.

On the next reach we finally got to pass another moving boat coming in the opposite direction. That was quite easy but a much harder test followed - three somewhat erratic paddle  boarders. Alas, we missed them all!

At Brampton Lock we were greeted by David, Judith's husband who had walked across the meadow from Godmanchester Lock. The footpath is much shorter than the river! He had even closed the bottom gates for us so we were through much quicker than we would have been.

Finally we arrived at Godmanchester, our potential overnight stop. However, just as we were about to pull onto the short visitor mooring another boat did a U-turn and and beat us to it! That was a shame as this was close to where David had parked the car, ready to take the others back home - via a lunch stop. There is no convenient alternative mooring immediately ahead.

Fortunately a polite enquiry by Christine revealed that the other boat was only staying there to have lunch so we eased back onto the upper lock landing - thankfully no other boat came along, so we did not have to make any excuses. (Actually the signage only says 'No Overnight Mooring' and we were not planning that)

Just as our visitors were preparing to leave, three weed cutting and gathering boats came by, attempting somewhat forlornly to keep the Godmanchester Basin as clear as possible - not for boats so much as the appearance for locals. "That would make a good photo for the blog," thought Mike and reached for his camera in the pocket where it normally lives when on the move. Where is it? Pocket empty. A search of all the other likely places proved fruitless. Mike did his best not to cry in front of the visitors but he was mightily miffed and cannot think what might have happened to it. It was not long since he last used it.

So, that is the devastating story about why no pix today. We do have a backup but its battery is not holding charge too well. We will have to try hard to eke out the charge each half day until a better solution can be found.

All that said, it was a great morning and a delight to have three generations of visitors on board even for just half a day. The boys asked lots of interesting and insightful questions which kept us busy answering. If we had a certificate prepared, we would definitely have awarded it to Anna for her steering ability.

9.6 Miles - 3 Locks

St Neots

Today's Navigation : River Great Ouse

Another bright and sunny morning greeted us as we awoke - a teeny bit of a lie in today, unplanned! (We have to confess as you could tell from the amount of the bridge in sunshine!)

It was just after nine by the time we cast off and crossed over to the lock on the opposite bank. Here we could take a closer look at the structure that Christine had spotted from the opposite bank last night.Alas we are really no wiser about its origins but we could just be convinced that it was the downstream wing wall with the recess for the heel of one of the lower lock gates. But we could equally be convinced by a better story . . .

The climb down the lock ladder did not seem attractive to Mike so he persuaded Christine to pick him up at the lower lock landing.

And so to Roxton Lock, our nemesis a couple of days ago. We are glad to report that there were no similar delays today. However, the view from the upper lock landing illustrates how easy it is for dogs to mistake the gathering weed growth for an altogether more substantial green lawn. Alas, it does happen from time to time.

This lock has a weir and as this photo shows there is not a great deal of depth to the water going over today. 

The weed has even invaded the lock chamber itself.

There is then a long reach through Tempsford and Wyboston before the next lock. Shortly after leaving Roxton we spotted this entry into our Unusual Boats gallery. OK, so inside the M25 such conversions are not so rare but we have not seen one out here for some time. It definitely looks as if it is not intended to move, trapped as it is by the rapid growth of the reed bed.

Back under the A1 bridges at Tempsford with the older one here in the foreground and the new one in the distance with Kelpie Marine in between.

There is a sorry sight at the end of the moorings just above the bridges. It seems that a cruiser was also consumed in the fire and its remains can be seen sunken alongside. According to the BBC, the incident happened only a few days ago. (The report incorrectly locates the fire between the two bridges)

The new bridge being built for an extension to the A431, bypassing St Neots, marches like several others on a long viaduct across the valley. The intersection with the A1 at the Black Cat roundabout is just at the top of this incline.

On the opposite bank, the construction of an embankment to connect to the cross country route is not as well advanced. The scheme is called Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet  and is scheduled to be open next Spring. This project will replace the 1980's southern bypass which proved to be too close to the town to be as effective for today's traffic as it was hoped.

Time for elevenses? (There were several more drinkers when we took the camera out but a number proved camera shy)

We are now on a much wider part of the River Great Ouse.

As we started to pass alongside the Wyboston Leisure Park we spotted this on the opposite bank. It looks as if it was originally a wharf, perhaps loading from a nearby sand and gravel quarry. However, there is nothing to explain its presence or its former use on any of our older maps.

In the foreground is part of a golf course with the water slides of the leisure park (aka Ride Leisure Aqua Park) just visible in the distance, across the lake, also used for a variety of other water activities.

When we passed the entrance to Eynesbury Marina (largely a housing development around a lake) guarded by a lift bridge we knew that we were not far from Eaton Socon.

This is Black Trap Weir. According to the information panel at Eaton Socon lock, there was a bridge, Five Arches, that was pulled down on the 1960s to make way for the construction of the weir and footbridge. 

The part of the non-navigable river at this part was known as Five Arches Pool, a popular swimming place. (See here and here for old photos before some the newer works.) White Traps was the name of another footbridge just downstream from Black Traps.

From the information board: Children would learn to swim in the brook between the traps and then progress to the 'Five Arches Pool' where the water was deeper.

Eaton Socon brings us back onto the more common guillotine locks - less walking needed as we now know! This time we were also lucky that a boat has just come up so the top gate was open for us to go straight in. Since the lock landing is located awkwardly just beyond the lock entrance we gained further relief!

We continued on to St Neots Bridge where we moored in exactly the same place as on the way up. It is the nearest to the shops - we wanted to do an intermediate top up at Waitrose just nearby. Actually the riverside path is 19 steps down a staircase from the main road - not easy, as Mike discovered later, when hauling a heavy shopping trolley!

As we were completing the last section from Eaton Socon lock, Mike detected a strange sound from the prop. It ceased when the engine was taken out of gear so it seemed that we might have caught something. The rhythmic knocking sound suggested that it might have been a fishing line with something weighted at the end. After we moored, Mike investigated via the weed hatch and his surmise was spot on. Two weights and also a nasty hidden hook. We were not aware when we caught this but someone will be a bit annoyed that they went to sleep on the job.

After lunch we walked across the bridge to the Market Square. The supermarket is through the tiny Cross Keys Mews to the left of this photo. After we had filled the trolley and shopping bag, Mike was despatched back to the boat whilst Christine went in search (successfully) for a tasty cake for tea. 

The mews takes its name from the Cross Keys coaching inn, parts of which date back to the 17C. The mews only closed as a mail and passenger hub in 1989 when it was converted into a small arcade of tiny shops.

7.9 Miles - 3 Locks

Great Barford

Today's Navigation : River Great Ouse

Our need to buy fuel remains a pressing issue but there is little we can do about it today. We have been cruising at a conservative engine revs and also we do not need to use the engine when moored up just to charge the batteries. A couple of hours cruising is usually enough to reach 100% which will then last until next morning. Of course we are also only using the Webasto heater for water and not heating.

Before leaving, Mike found the dipstick which we used on Take Five in the days before fuel gauges became standard on canal boats. The immediate concern had been that the gauge might be overstating the amount left but, somewhat to our surprise, it is probably the other way and the depth (quantity of fuel) should get us to Hartford Marina which is the next place that we have established is currently able to supply us. Fingers still crossed, however.

Opposite our mooring is the Star Club rowing base and it was being well used today. Singles, doubles, fours and eights, all on the move.

At times there was almost a traffic jam as about eight boats attempted to turn around at the same place! (Six in the photo alone)

This eight was for ladies with a more mature disposition!

On The Embankment, on the opposite side from us, stands the County Court, an imposing if austere brick building. Designed in the Gothic Revival style it opened in 1881.

Next along is the Swan Hotel, built right at the end of the 18th century for the then Duke of Bedford, replacing an even older medieval coaching inn.

Some of  the coxless crews are better at pulling on their blades than keeping a lookout for what lies behind them. This crew only just spotted us before they ran into our stern! Their reaction seemed to suggest that they thought that we had no right to be there (despite having just come under the designated arch for boats at the Town Bridge!)

Bedford Castle Mound is still very prominent from the river but it is all that remains of a motte and bailey built for King Henry I right at the start of the 12thC, mainly to reinforce his position in various battles with his barons. After some extensions it featured in a famous Siege of 1224 after which Henry III ordered it to be substantially demolished. Partly restored under the Commonwealth it soon ceased to have a military significance and gradually succumbed to the commercial pressure for housing in the prosperous town centre.

Fortunately there was a lull in rowing when we manoeuvred into Bedford Lock. Unfortunately it had been emptied overnight so we had to tie up on the lock landing - just downstream - until it was ready for Mike to bring the boat in. Reversing back and then turning would have led to an 'interesting' engagement with the rowers had there been any around at that moment.

We failed to spot this item yesterday: a plaque says, "The last remaining lock winding wheel on the River Great Ouse before Bedford lock was electrified in 2012". The lock is even narrower than the next few (see Roxton Lock!)

The view below the lock shows how well kept the riverside has been in this town, unlike some others where its presence is either ignored or even resented. Recreationally it is well used, seemingly respected, and many folk take a close interest in a passing boat - good for recruiting help as the lower gates are still somewhat stiff especially in fully closing. The interlock with the guillotine control means that they have to leave no gap at all. Balance beams made short for the footbridge do not help!

We passed a number of GOBA moorings which are generally in pleasant rural locations. Unfortunately we were unable to make much use of them as they are mostly in need of attention to make it possible to moor a narrowboat.

The river was very busy in the time of water borne transport but the upper part gradually decayed until the start of the leisure market. Under various management structures, progress was steady until the last link to connect to Bedford, Castle Mill Lock was completely rebuilt and opened in 1978. It is now exceptionally deep and, in normal river conditions. with such a large freeboard over the upper level that narrowboats cabin roofs barely reach the lock side! Pity that the Milton Keynes to Bedford Link which was first surveyed and designed by John Rennie in 1812, has not progressed. Certainly, in today's leisure boating market, this would create an impressive circular route and bring innumerable visitors to the upper parts of the River Great Ouse, which is currently underused.

When we arrived a group of canoes was in the process of negotiating their way up. It is not a fast filling lock at best but they were rightly being cautious about how they opened the sluice. When the way was clear Christine brought our boat in and then a small cruiser managed to fit in behind. The view from the lower lock landing shows how impressive the whole scheme is.

We promised yesterday to show a photo of the length of the Castle Mill Viaduct from downstream. Well, as you can see, a large embankment at the water's edge left only a thin sliver to be seen from the boat!

This intriguing structure bears the name The Charles Collection. We are not sure if there will more but its website describes it as a 'secluded treehouse escape for up to seven guests'. Not sure how much it costs in season but in November it is £625 per night - it has better be as good as it says, but the sauna and hot tub is included!

The Danish Camp was certainly very busy today and many visitors were enjoying their bar drinks and lunches. With sunshine like today, what could be pleasanter.

Next came Willington Lock but with a three generation group of interested onlookers to assist we were able to work through in (for us) record time!

We wrote about the Old Mill Lock yesterday but this is a slightly clearer picture - still not the best and we missed the better angle for it! At just the right point it is possible from the river to see right through the former lock chamber.

On the run in to Great Barford and Bridge we encountered a proper armada of paddle boards. The grassy bank in front of the pub is described as the village green and it was being well used today. Some keen paddlers had even come from Watford (well, they do have family living nearby!) The activity has grown rapidly in the last few years but it has brought a whole new generation of younger people into using the waterways.

Our initial reason for mooring here was to fill up the water tank, a bit depleted after processing a load of washing this morning. However, once we had done that we decided that as this was actually the end of today's planned cruise, it was OK to put off going any further until the morrow! We moved forward two boat lengths to the same spot as two nights ago.

Late afternoon, Christine took a walk over the long weir bridge to the opposite side. Close to the upper lock landing she found an odd stone remnant. We will take a closer look when we set off tomorrow but have not found any mention of it anywhere, Perhaps it related to the old lock which, according to old OS maps, was locate there, just a little upstream of the new lock.

8.0 Miles - 4 Locks