Peterborough

Today's Navigation : River Nene

In comparison with yesterday, this morning was if anything colder, greyer and windier! But only by a margin. For once we were away before our mooring companions, leaving Wansford Station before the first train of the day.

All three locks left for us to do are electrified - a welcome bonus for the end of this section of our cruise. Water Newton Lock is next to the pretty church although at present rampant willow means that there is not so much to see from the lock side.

This photo shows that the water level above the lock was noticeably higher than the level set by the v doors. This meant that Mike had to push extra hard to get them to open a crack, after which it was straightforward.

Below the lock stands the substantial former mill, driven we assume by the flow of the river. It is now converted into residential use, it looks as if there are six independent dwellings.

There are two large boat clubs between here and yesterday, Peterborough and, along with one we saw yesterday, all have confusingly similar names. This one is Peterborough Cruising Club. In essence they all offer fairly basic moorings almost entirely for GRP river cruisers, most of which testify to the durability of their construction material.

We passed under another railway bridge that forms part of the Nene Valley Railway. With the large loops and turns of the river, it can sometimes be a surprise to work out which way the line is going! Here, the start of the line is to the left and Wansford to the right.

The elegant Milton Ferry Bridge has three arches but no indication which one is for navigation. Yes, it is usually safe to assume the middle one, but not always. The large clump of reeds under the one to the left of the photo at least reduces the odds by a third! It was once part of the large Milton Park estate on the north side, serving a substantial house named Ferry House but we believe that it is now the club house for a golf course.

With a name Bluebell Bridge it is a shame that the reality is so prosaic but it seems to have taken its name from an eponymous wood close by.

It is part of the Ferry Meadows Country Park - the entrance by boat is a few metres downstream.

This the Peterborough Yacht Club - we warned you that the names were easily mixed up. We spotted a couple of EA staff completing a licence check on the club's moored boats - we pointed out where ours was!

The section after the club house has small summer houses associated with each mooring.

Orton Lock is the last on the river that we shall  passing through. (There is one final one, Dog-in-a-Doublet, beyond Peterborough but beyond that the river is tidal) Orton has a substantial sluice controlled weir alongside. 

Peterborough has two north-south bypasses and this is the one to the west of the city.

Thorpe Meadows is home to a collection of outdoor pieces of art and part of the larger Peterborough Sculpture Collection. Its website says of this one that is close to the river:

Festival Boat was commissioned from the artist (Douglas Sokari Camp) as part of the final ‘Festival of Sculpture’ in 1989 which marked the end of the Development Corporation in Peterborough. This large scale artwork rests on the bank of the River Nene in Thorpe Meadows and takes as its inspiration from its location and the festival boats used ceremonially in the artist’s native Nigeria.

Every so often, on both canals and rivers, something catches the eye that is less than obvious but which on investigation has quite story to tell. Little remain of former abutments on either side of the river. However, older OS maps reveal that there was once a footbridge here, with, on the south side, a Ferry Boat Inn, close to a Basket Works and school. Nothing of those buildings now remains, replaced some tiome ago by and undistinguished small industrial estate. However, the former footpath right of way still exists and runs along a tarmac road call Wharf Road. A picture of the pub exists - see here.

On the way into the centre of the city there are five bridges, the second of which is at the start of the Nene Valley Railway.

The last, and in a way the oldest, is London Road Bridge. the recent version was completed in 1934 but there has been a crossing for centuries.

We moored as close as we could to the London Road Bridge end of the long embankment as we needed to do a substantial re-stock of our food cupboards, fridge and freezer! The only supermarket near to the river is Asda which is just a few minutes walk from where we moored. Before lunch we locked up and managed the larger part of Christine's list which our fold up trolley helped make the return journey feasible! Potatoes, milk, fruit juice and some veg are very heavy!

After lunch, Mike returned to the store for the shorter, updated list of mainly lighter items all of which easily fitted into the trolley.

We started the day with a plan to have a rest day tomorrow, moored on the embankment but, as we have found in the past, this is not the most attractive of waterfronts, not helped by hordes of people feeding the wildlife. By the time Mike had completed the second shopping trip, we were both of a mind to move on. Firstly this meant calling Stanground Lock at the start of the Middle Level to see if passage tomorrow was possible (24 hours notice is normally requested) We are now booked in at 11 am.

It was by now a pleasant afternoon and we unmoored around 3.45 to see if we  could find a better stopover for tonight. We did this on our visit visit here but things can change in 16 years!

Just a little distance and we passed what we believe to be the start of the construction of a new footbridge over the river. Work only began in June and Cygnet Bridge is expected to open in a year.

Then under the Frank Perkins Bridge, effectively the eastern bypass. (see here for some background info)

We passed the entrance to the Middle Level and went a short distance towards the Dog-in-a-Doublet but not far enough to see it. (It is over four miles of largely straight man made river)

The initial mooring opportunities were occupied by boats that a[[pear top be here long term. This is a phenomenon that has mushroomed in man parts of the navigable waters since 2018) We then kept passing mooring rings but only one at a time (boats are better moored with at least two!) Eventually we spotted two close together - which like buses turned out to be three! This cannot be described as the most interesting mooring we have ever used but at least it is away from the mountain of goose and duck poo! 

Stanground is only about half an hour away, even allowing time to turn around so no early rise needed tomorrow. Bet we still wake at 5 out of recent habit!

9.2 Miles - 3 Locks