The forecast was a possible inclusion of almost all types of weather (except snow and hail) In reality, it started a bit grey but with a slightly more than stiff breeze but still warm enough to avoid adding much extra clothing! Most of the morning was quite sunny.
We set off around 9.30, no need for a specially early start as our objective was Upwell. On this navigation moorings are well spaced apart and at least we know that the Church Mooring in Upwell is a good one and room for about three boats.
Christine suggested to Mike that he should take a photo looking directly into the lock, one she describes as the ugliest she has seen!
Mike also wanted to see what was on the Advice to Navigators, a sign on the opposite side from the lock landing. It is also placed very close to the gates so that boaters are unlikely to be able to study it until it is too late! The print is miniscule. Fortunately when we could actually read it, it turns out to be rather limited and mainly about protecting the Middle Level Commissioners from any claim that they did not warn that boaters to cross on their own decision! Plus the usual things about lifejacket and anchor.
It is a quiet and pleasant cruise with a speed limit set unrealistically high at 4 mph. The restricted width and depth, with added reeds and rushes meant that we were lucky to get up to 2.5 mph.
At Nordelph was spotted an estate agents board outside the former windmill pumping station which we noted back in mid July (see) buy it was not then on the market. Particulars of Sale often give clues about the origins of the property. The windmill was built around 1650 to drive one of the many drainage pumping engines that were and still are the fundamental base of keeping the entire Fenland area from drowning. The conversion is over four levels and on a half acre site has umpteen additional buildings. On the market for between £500K and £550K.
Nordelph has what must be one of the grandest looking fronts of any village hall! The main part was built in 1905 as a farmhouse but has now been significantly extended to offer a wide range of facilities for all sorts of events and activities. It was comprehensively renovated in 2023.
An object lesson in using online searches: Entering nordelph village hall history into Google returned in its AI Overview a description of an entirely different village hall some way distant in Thursford! That description did not match the photo at all. Fortunately, the village hall's own website had a more credible story.
Nordelph Junction looks on the map as if it should link to Old Pophams Eau (which is navigable) but alas there is a small weir just visible in the photo that blocks access.
It has seemed to us that the haystacks are much larger this year. Certainly in the last few days we have spotted several that were clearly visible from some distance away. This one uses a different shape of bale from those we have seen before - the ends are slightly rounded. The sign states Do Not Climb - not sure how (or indeed why) anyone would manage to climb as these bales have been stacked with quite smooth surfaces. Of course: litigious societies demand endless signs!
As we crossed Mullicourt Aqueduct we could ahead of us that water was energetically being pumped up from Main Drain at the level below. Of course, as soon as our camera was ready and we were alongside, the rush of water had declined to a dribble!
Not seen so far on this year's travels - a field full of pumpkins ready to pick. Peak demand is, of course, in time for Halloween but that is two months away. Will they last that long? Have they been a victim of early ripening like many other summer crops?
We have tried every time to get a proper photo of Outwell Parish Church. As well as being on a sharp bend under a difficult bridge followed by a narrow channel, large trees block the main view. This shot, much zoomed, manages a bit more than just the East end window that we have been limited to before.
Church Drove Bridge in Outwell has a keystone that indicates that it was bult in 1852.
Now in Upwell, the name on this house amused us: Up-to-date Cottage 1901. Wonder what its initial owners thought was so special about it?
Just a glimpse of a former mill in the small gap between houses on the waterfront. Sander's Mill was built in 1829 by a John Hopkins Sanders, a local miller. After conversion first to auxiliary steam and then to full electric power it continued operation until perhaps the early 1970s. By 1976 it had been converted to a hotel and later a pub but that closed in 2007 and within two years had had become adapted as a private residence. (see and with old pix)
Shortly after this we arrived at our planned destination and relieved to find space - in fact, it was entirely empty, not something we have experienced before.
6.4 Miles - 0 Locks
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