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