Thrapston

Today's Navigation : River Nene

The heat wave continues and so does our pattern of early starts. Today we were away about 7:45 with a very short run to Irthlingborough Lock.

At first Mike thought we were to be assisted by a group of volunteers but it turned out that they were more interested in keeping the grass cut short! We were joined in the lock by another boat that had made an even earlier start - perhaps that is why they were a bit vague about where they had come from and where they were going!

A Mike arrived at the control box, a young couple that live nearby asked about how the lock works. As doing is the best way of learning (or so I told them!) I handed the lock key to the lass and set her to work at the vee gates. Both of them were very keen to learn as much as they could and seemed to enjoy the participation. They left ready to start work (IT User Support, from home) They can just be seen to the right of the lock.

The other boat left first but soon after we passed them as they were mooring up for the rest of the day at the FOTRN Stanwick Lake Mooring.

We do not know if this box was built for a specific species of inhabitant but it is visible from some distance away. Could it be owls, other raptors, bats or smaller birds - but the entrance did seem quite wide.

And so to Upper Ringstead. The blog in 2018 indicates that this was a shock to the system - imagine how it impacted us this time!

Yes, here is the dreaded wheel of misfortune! It takes just under 100 full turns to raise of lower the gate. Mike had come prepared with a recommended aid, a handle to fit into one of the holes that once did attach a handle. Alas, despite all the preparation, the bolts in the new handles were just one size too large. The lift mechanism itself seemed to lack lubrication as it groaned every inch of the way.

Between Upper and Lower Ringstead Locks we passed under a bridge of the same Peterborough and Northampton line that has tracked us and will still do - crossing our path several times today. Here, the bridge does not seem to have found a new life but further on it forms part of a long distance path.

Lower Ringstead brought a little respite as it no longer has a Wheel. So, Christine opted to take over operation leaving Mike on the boat. However, it brought its on wrinkle of difficulty - the water level above was some what above that of the lock and we had to use both slackers and brute force to get through.

Mike took the boat down to the lower landing whilst Christine finished up but she needed help from a local lady to persuade the gate out onto the road to open. Conversation followed and it turned out that she farms the nearby land including a specialist fishing lake alongside the lock. They also concentrate on growing a sort of grass that is used by certain power stations.

Above and below the lock is Willy Watt Marina, one of the earlier leisure boating facilities on  the river. It is now partnered with the very new Blackthorn Lake Marina we passed a little earlier. Despite signs offering various facilities, including a cafe and a chandlery, it did not seem easy to gain access. Strong security fencing keeps marina and navigation apart.

This modest bridge and entry is actually the access to a small set of moorings called Woodford Riverside.  We could find scant information about it and another boater reported several years ago that the original owners had retired. The company was dissolved in 2016 but still seems to operate with that name, no longer showing on the bridge but in very small letters at the entrance from the nearest lane. Somehow, boats still moor there.

The parish church at Woodford looks splendid and quite substantial for the size of the village. A FOTRN mooring now exists a couple of fields upstream but no easy access to Sunday church!

Woodford Lock was the second with a wheel but the gate moved much more smoothly. Still a lot of effort. Strangely, the gate had been left half way and also one slacker at the top part open.

That line again - now a footpath from Thrapston.

And so the Denford, our last lock today. The wheel was much easier to turn but the weight of the gate hung even heavier.

A couple with a paddle board has set up camp on the lower lock landing. Fortunately we manage to avoid tipping them into the water with our lines.

We had hopes of finding our next mooring at Islip Bridge, part of Thrapston. It is tucked away just off the main river and very close to the old bridge. It is one of the few places close to food shops. As we turned in we could see space, if a bit cramped by two awkwardly tied up canoes. It is a tricky manoeuvre but as we arrived alongside we could see a very small notice saying that the mooring was closed for important maintenance. Not that much was happening. So it was a long reverse out and a sharp twist under the navigation arch. It would have been helpful to have shown a sign visible from the main stream of the river. As you can imagine, we failed to photograph these antics!

Fortunately there is a small FOTRN mooring just before the next lock where we could pull in. However, there is no obvious way into town. Lucky we are not too desperate! On the other hand, no passing footfall - but a few wild swimmers from the opposite bank.

7.7 Miles - 5 Locks

Irthlingborough Mooring

Today's Navigation : River Nene

Overnight the temperature had not dropped as much As the previous few days and so we awoke still feeling rather soaked and a bit drained! Outside it was a little fresher for a while until the sun overcame the coolness of a steady breeze. 

We were away from our overnight mooring before half past seven but only went a couple of hundred metres along to the water and elsan points at the far end of the park.

Although there are plenty of bollards along here, we are sure whether ithe immediate distat is really intended for overnight mooring. Since we were the only boat here it mattered not but we sort of recall that on one of our previous visits we had to make do with being right of the downstream end of this section. The next part is definitely No Mooring at all. The water point is just visible at the far end!

Wellingborough has long been a location for flour milling. The oldest building is just before our mooring and opened in 1886 by the Whitworth Brothers. At that time milling was generally a local business with little market outside the area that horse drawn carts could cover. The mill was named Victoria Mill and stands next to the  junction between the A45 and A509.

In 1905, Frank George joined the firm as an apprentice and rose up the tree until he was running the mill for the Whitworth family. When the Brothers retired in the 1920s they sold the business to Frank, grandfather to the current chairman. The company expanded modestly but big changes came in 1997 when the firm built its second plant. This is the one opposite our mooring (for those with proper hearing, ventilation runs night as well as day! Staff were already arriving when we were ready to leave and we could see a truck already being unloaded.

The commitment to innovation remains at the heart of the business today and in the past three decades has grown from 1% of the UK market to nearly a third with a  number of mills located around the country in the best wheat growing areas. A third mill was added tom the Wellingborough complex in 2012. The company now have a range of different flours (including some specially for making chapattis) some of it driven by the way in which food manufacturing has evolved, particularly interested in longer shelf lives. (see here for much more detail on the company's history)

The first lock of the day was Lower Wellingborough. Like the one before the town, this is a double pointy lock.

However, this one is distinctive in have the mechanism to raise and lower both bottom gate slackers together.

Chester House Estate opened to the public in 2021 after we last visited here. It now has a good landing stage if anyone wishes to visit by boat. Today, the estate is owned by North Northampton Council after it was bought as the basis of a living museum in 2004. It houses ARC, the Archaeology Research Centre taking advantage that the farm had failed (selling of the family silver as it were) and left some important historical sites undeveloped. The farm had especially used the regular winter flooding to grow good quality hay. To enable the site to be open freely to the public, it also runs a number of events and other educational activities. (see)

We passed under the electrified main line - the part that runs through Northampton - and we noted that at some stage it evolved from two to four tracks, with the expansion using a viaduct of different design. This is now the only route our of several through Northampton that once served the area.

The viaduct across the riverside meadow has fourteen arches - too many to get into one picture!

Ditchford Lock is also unusual and has the only radial bottom gate on the river. As it is lifted it rotates and so has a much lower supporting structure than the simple guillotine gates.

Alongside the control box a range of wild flowers was flourishing despite the hot weather.

Poppies always make an attractive picture . . . (unless growing in Flanders Field)

The next section if the river is naturally rather winding but there are some straight sections. The bends can be rather tight at times - something Mike forgot at one point when looking back to take a photo and missed seeing a new overhanging branch that did its best to remove his hat. Luckily a speedy reaction prevented it  falling into the river! 

At least one straight is human made. The OS maps from a century ago show a route that runs closer to Higham Ferrers and once had a significant wharf along it. And then came along the conversion of the A6 into a fast dual carriageway. For perhaps half a mile, the river was made straight to follow the new road.

The current OS map shows a puzzle for  non-local walker: suddenly the marking for the towpath takes a sharp turn to the east and goes around a large loop, returning to the river just before the next lock. At the point of departure there is this high level footbridge (and a similar one seen in the distance over the road) The bridge is known in some lists as Wharf Road Footbridge, a reminder of what once lay in that direction

We were a little delayed at Higham Ferrers Lock as a boat was tied up on the all-too-short upper lock landing with two men looking a but unsure what to do. As we came alongside we heard that they had broken down with the engine seriously overheating. One of them has had the boat for three years but he has not had it out for at least the past two. Their lock operation and boat handling knowledge was somewhat scanty - they then said that they wanted to come down the lock with us as they preferred to moor below the lock. They asked if we knew what might be the cause! We might know a lot about the theory but practicality is another matter . . . As it was not a new boat (LTRU) we asked if they knew what the engine cooing system. Some older engines pump water from the river and back out straight away. (Modern boats use skin tanks) but the older system is prone to problems when the water becomes weedy, especially surface duck weed. The hot weather had stated to encourage it to grow quickly but it turned out that this was not a cause. We then asked about their engine oil level - Mike had checked ours yesterday and we are already on the lookout for a supplier (chandlery is not consistently available along the w hole river) but we are still above the minimum mark. We received somewhat conflicting responses but left them suggesting they contact the marina where they are headed to have the boat blacked.

A short distance later we came across this sign which puzzled us. We could see ahead a former railway bridge, now unused. But we could not see how going under a dodgy bridge slowly would help us if something fell off!

Safely through, there was no sign of any likely damage. But the we realised that there are three bridges close together. Could the sign be about another?

Next came the 1936 'new' A6 concrete bridge opened in 1936. It would be a bit of a disaster if they was falling down - although we did see that it has closed for a week recently for works to it. Trivia: the bridge was opened by Leslie Hore-Belisha, the eponymous Transport     minister responsible for the famous pedestrian crossing.

And then another repeat sign but with a shorter distance. By a few centuries this was by far the oldest of the three bridges. It dates from 13C or 14C and was only bypassed because it was not large enough for modern traffic (even in 1930s) We soon discovered that the issue was nit about bits falling onto boats from wonky bridges, but the difficult turn that boats have to make to pass through the navigation arch. Whilst the sign advised boaters to slow down it gave no explanation about why but the state of the edges of the stonework around the arch suggests that quite a few unwary steerers have found the reason a bit too late! -

Soon we could see the long Irthlington mooring alongside what was once the home of a briefly famous football club: Rushden and Diamonds - completely empty. This was the minimum target for today and although we had only come through 3 locks, and it was only 10:45, we gave in and tied up. The next target after the lock immediately in view was a FOTRN members mooring. These are usually in quiet rural places but have no facilities, not even mooring bollards and the thought of having to hammer in pins in this heat did not appeal and so the mundane won the contest.

5.5 Miles - 3 Locks

Wellingborough

Today's Navigation : River Nene

The high point mid afternoon today is forecast to reach 31°C - far too hot for us to be cruising! So, we agreed last night to get away as early as we could - well we were finally off by just before 7:30. Before leaving Mike tried to pay for our overnight bankside mooring using the QR code on the signs. This took us to a web page, alas,  and would not even accept our input on the first step - date of stay. Firstly it did not like yesterday and even with today it went in circles asking the same question! We have tried phoning but with as yet no response.

The first lock was only 25m on from our mooring and we were initially baffled by finding it full with the gate down - the opposite of standard instructions.

After setting the lock and bringing the boat in, Mike then spotted a notice giving us special details.

We surmise that this is a result of having a rather bad leak via the top doors' cill. Unusual for EA. (Should really have walked back a but further to take this photo!)

As we left, the inside level had already risen quite a bit.

The road bridge just below the lock is quite utilitarian, especially in comparison with the one of the bywash channel.

The river now opened out a little but the flow rate dropped and this we encountered rather more weed growth which slowed us down considerably, After the next lock the flow improved very much.

The EA do not seem to go for very large direction signs and several have been engulfed by vegetation. This one is not so easily missed, standing with its pole in splendid isolation!

We have seen very few bridges across the river, other than at a some locks and in towns. This one is more like the accommodation bridges seen on canals, just to meet the needs of the local farmer.

And so to our fifth and hopefully final lock for today, Upper Wellingborough. But look - no bottom guillotine just two sets of pointing doors.

Just around the corner is the length of town moorings where we had hoped to be able to moor - not a boat it was only 11 o'clock. Not only did we want to stop before dehydration set in, Mike has a Teams meeting this evening and wanted to be sure of a reasonable mobile signal. 

4.7 Miles - 5 Locks°

White Mills

Today's Navigation : River Nene

We enjoyed our partial rest day and stopover in Northampton Marina last night - but today had to pay for it. More later!

The marina is built as an island, surrounded by a narrow strip of land. It is perhaps the only marina on the network that does not have any vehicular access. Moorers and staff have to gain entrance over a short footbridge from the town side. The bridge is gated and when we  arrived we had to exchange a deposit for a fob - which we never actually needed to use. But we had to wait until the office opened at 9 am to return it and regain our £10. However, Mike used the hour before that to do the usual round of emptying and filling.

Just before 9:30 we reversed rom the visitor mooring and turned to face the exit. Directly opposite is one of the main buildings of the University of Northampton. When we last came here in 2018 this new campus was just being made ready to receive its first students in the coming September.

This university has a complex and intriguing history, albeit with a centuries' long gap. Henry III founded England's third university, after Oxford and Cambridge, in 1261. However powerful bishops and businessmen reacted badly to the competition (no doubt they had well rooted powerful control over the other two) and persuaded Henry to close it after only four years. In addition he signed a decree that no university should be created in Northampton - for ever!

A Technical College came along in 1924 followed by a college of art and teacher training school. Non degree tertiary education never took off in the wat that pioneers in the 1960s envisaged. The institution evolved into a University College with its credentials validated by Leicester University. In 1999 it became a university in its own right but only after the Privy Council had repealed King Henry's decree!

This long evolution meant that it was based somewhat higgledy-piggledy on several locations in town but in 2012 plans were agreed to focus on a waterside site that was once home to a large power station.

So now we left the marina behind us.

We had to cruise a short distance upstream along what is a weir stream to return to the main navigation channel.

This then required us to make an almost 360 degree turn to enter Northampton Lock. This and the next two have the familiar arrangement of 'pointing doors' at both ends.

What is different is that the standard procedure is to leave open the gates as you leave, either top or bottom.

University Bridge is one of several important access routes into and out of the new university campus, It was nearly complete when we came by in 2018.

A largeish craft could be seen a little way along a bywater. In the past it was called The Ark and developed a good reputation locally as a quality restaurant. That business seem snow to have ceased a and has been replaced by another eatery called The Smoke Craft. (see) It specializes in dishes with a BBQ flavour.

The section of the river below the town and before the Washlands follows a very green corridor where the sunlight sometimes, even today, struggles to reach the water!

Soon after Abington Lock is a large structure that houses a sluice gate that can be raised in times of flooding. It is an important reminder that much of the work on maintaining the river navigation is motivated (and funded) in its role as a water management system.

The style of the locks changes visually at Weston Favell Lock - the bottom gate is a single guillotine gate raised by a large mechanism that is often visible some distance away. Operationally the impact is that now the bottom gate is always left open, regardless of the direction of boat travel. It will always be in the same state whether another boat has recently come up or not.

This lock and all the others today is mechanised - we have yet to discover how many of the manual ones we vividly recall from previous visits remain so. The controls have interlocks with the top gates and we had a slight delay at one lock until we realised that one top paddle had not properly wound down!

Just below the lock is a fairly small Northampton Boat Club where it looks as if each mooting coms with its own bijou house on stilts.

 

The very large Billing Aquadrome sits alongside a comparably named lock. It has been home to a huge number of mobile homes and caravans, both static and touring. It is a permanent home to over 1000 people. It has seemed to gradually lose its sparkle and become somewhat dated a in 2024 it went into administration, seeking new capital investment. It has remained open and was then joined by the Cogenhoe Caravan Park just downstream (but see below) Billing still seems to not want any passing trade as its river entrance is quite hard to pick out!

The next lock is Cogenhoe and we recall ti (see here) as a busy, vibrant place and we could hardy believe the change - nothing at all beside the lock.

It seems that last year the caravan park closed after a series of serious flooding incidents and arrangements made to transfer at least some of the residents across to Billing Aquadrome. Today all that is to be seen are some of the hookup points and concrete bases to pitches. Nature is quickly reclaiming it as her own.

From the footbridge below Whiston Lock we could see nearby lakes - a common sight in this valley. However, the odd thing is that they do not seem to appear on any of our maps - we wonder if either they have been newly created or are perhaps occasional, even if the flood season is well past.

Having now done 8 locks and the sun gaining in strength - it was well after lunch time - we succumbed to the signs alongside While Mills Marina, offering bankside mooring at £6 and night. After calling to confirm that this was OK (we have to pay online using a QR code on the sign) we set about tying up. We had reached the bank with our stern but yet to come parallel. Of course there are no posts or bollards so pins it is. The problem next was that, firstly, the stream flow and the wind had taken the bow across to the other bank. and secondly that at an earlier lock, a complication had left both centre lines at the front so we had no way of pulling the boat in from the bank. Mike had to crawl alog the top roof to retrieve one of them. 

Having done that we could not now get the stern anywhere near as close to the bank as before and so we needed the gangplank - also well down the roof!  In the process of manoeuvring it to the stern Mike somehow caught the tab that inflates his life jacket. At first he could only hear a gentle hiss and did not connect it to what was around his neck until there was a loud bang and the yellow innards expanded to make him into an imitation of Michelin Man (if you can remember that) 

Anyway, we eventually made the best of the location and were secure enough for the night. Only one other boat came down and stopped briefly before turning around and returning to Billing.

7.3 Miles - 8 Locks