Fotheringhay

Today's Navigation : River Nene

The day started really bright with clear sky - the breeze was almost non existent. Alas by midday various amounts of cloud had taken over and late in the afternoon the breeze had turned into a howling gale (or so it felt!)

We were away just after 9 and had almost an hour of level cruising before having to tackle a lock. We passed Stibbington Boatyard.

Just after we passed this obelisk. In 2018 we completely failed to find any reference to it but we can now see that is in the Orchards, the grounds of Stibbington Hall (see).

After the two 20C road bridges, each carrying one carriageway of the A1, we arrived at the much older Wansford Bridge. This was the original river crossing by the A1 and was last rebuilt at the very end of the 18C.

Under the main arch, three women were preparing to go swimming in the river. This place is listed as a wild swimming location (see)

But cruising on a river cannot last forever without a lock or two! (Four today) The first was Wansford where we gradually refined our uphill technique (taken from the Stanground lock keeper)

The smallest of signs made sure that we took the right course just before Yarwell Lock.

Today this weir allows excess water from the river to flow down and around Yarwell Lock. According to the OS map, it was once the natural course of the River Nene.

Footbridges are rare on the Nene and this one has the odd name of Duck Street Footbridge, taking its name from a street in the nearby small village of Elton. An account of a walk taken by someone a few years ago showed that it had been closed on the grounds that it was unsafe. However, it seems that it has now been repaired and is back in use.

Shortly after comes the Elton Road Bridge - making life easier for the small community of liveaboard boards just downstream.

The last lock of today was a bit of  a test: Warmington Lock still has a manual wheel. The gate almost dropped on its way down but needed a helping hand for the last metre. Raising at the end was another matter!

It was by now rather late for lunch so we tied up on the upper lock landing, banking on nothing else coming through whilst we had our lunch. As expected nothing did come - we passed two boats on their way downstream a little earlier but they were the first since we re-joined the river days ago.

We did not stay too long not only in case someone arrived but also as we were in danger of becoming too rooted to the spot if we waited any longer!

Moving on, the breeze was by now definitely a brisk wind, making conditions not quite so pleasant for river cruising. It was about a mile to Fotheringhay where we came to land on the pay-for moorings. We were just a little surprised that no-one else was there as the associated camping areas was quite busy with folk setting up alongside their parked camper vans.

9.2 Miles - 4 Locks (One wheel)