The return journey begins

 Friday 18^th August; Peterborough Embankment to Elton visitor moorings

We woke at 7, and were ready to leave at 8.  The fishermen at our stern had just returned, hoping for better luck this morning – they had caught nothing last night and went home, which explains why we heard nothing at all!  

Looks lovely, doesn’t it?

Peterborough has a fair number of swans, though nothing like as many as Worcester.

On another lovely sunny morning we started the long drag upstream, but strangely cruising seemed a lot easier than yesterday, at least as far as Orton lock.  The control cabinet, which I had great difficult closing yesterday, had been left unlocked – it was quite clear that the latch was distorted so I had to leave it unlocked too.  Orton lock seemed very deep – only 4.1” according to Waterway Routes, so maybe it just felt that way as it was our first ‘uphill’ on the Nene.  There were enormous weir control gates next to it, and canoe slalom poles dangling above the weir stream below. 

We have seen few boats on the move on this trip, but the ‘rules’ still seem to apply as on the canals – when you do meet someone it’s somewhere awkward!  On our way downstream, we had trouble seeing where the channel went just here -

Looking back at the bend

and of course what should we see but the bow of a narrowboat as we approached from downstream.  We held right back, as downstream boats have priority – it is harder to control a boat when the flow is pushing you onward – and lucky we did, as he was towing another!  Alwalton moorings and lock were deserted, a far cry from the other afternoon! 

Approaching Water Newton

By the time we had come up Water Newton lock, we had just about sorted our system – Dave positioned the stern so I could climb up the ladder, he threw me the centre line which I secured temporarily, then passed me my grabber (aka litter picker) and windlass.  With the grabber, I retrieved the bow rope from where I had placed it on top of the cratch and secured that, before returning the centre line to Dave’s control and lowering the guillotine.  Then, tentatively at first, raised the same side paddle at the top.  The time it took to fill depended on the depth of the lock and the fierceness of the flow.  Eventually I could open the top gate and let him out, and he then had to wait while I closed up at the top and went back to raise that blessed guillotine, as you are supposed to.

We had noticed some pylon works when we were going downstream.  Today there were people around, and a long length of cable which was either being taken down or put up – whichever, one end was at ground level.  I am always impressed by the inventiveness of the engineers who devised the system in the first place and the skill of those dealing with all the complexities of construction and maintenance.

Would we find space to have a lunch stop at Wansford?  We would!  It’s not a steaming day of course, that must be why.  It was too early for lunch, so we went up to the station to have a look round.  Lots of interesting things to see.  Opposite the platform were Royal Mail coaches, complete with the catching net to collect the mailbags, which were hung by the line so the trains didn't have to stop.

First class only! Only available when the train was in a station I would have thought.

We chatted to an engineer about the unusual coaches on display.  When the restoration of the Nene Valley railway was starting, it was realised that they could use continental rolling stock, which was much cheaper to buy than British at the time, to get things going.

We were surprised to discover that part of Octopussy, which is set in India, was filmed in 1982 on the Nene Valley railway.   And we stood at the controls of the very locomotive in the film.

A rather poor photograph of a rather faded printout

Roger Moore was not the only Bond to have graced the NVR – Pierce Brosnan did too, in Goldeneye (1995).  Clips from the films are easily found on YouTube, but you’ll have to search for them yourself – I’m posting this nearly 2 weeks after the event and have a lot to catch up on!  On we went.  Some way below Yarwell lock there are some expensive-looking newish riverside properties.  We thought they looked a bit too clean and clinical for our tastes, what little we could see of them – we only caught glimpses through the curtain of weeping willows.

Why are they blocking their own view of the river, I wonder?

Maybe the answer has something to do with the large mobile home and camping park clearly visible the other side of the bend before Yarwell lock!  If the river didn’t swing round in that pesky way I wonder if there would be quite so much foliage!  Later in the afternoon we found plenty of space at the Elton mooring, where there is room for at least 3 narrowboats, which we hadn’t realised when we were going downstream.  We relaxed for a bit, and while Dave took Meg off for a walk I prepped some chilli beans for tea.

Lovely view from the side hatch

It was still too early to eat, so we strolled up to the village and had a pint in the Crown (Chaos Engine, a local beer, and very nice it was too).  We sat outside with Meg, chatting politics with a local (maybe he is always be on the lookout for strangers’ ears to bend, I couldn’t possibly comment – his family disappeared inside!).  Fortunately our views on Brexit and the current crop of politicians were broadly similar so we spent a lot of time nodding and smiling as we drank before we made our excuses and came back to eat.

The forecast is for heavy rain tonight.  We were a bit concerned about what the Nene would do, so I posted a question on the Friends of the River Nene Facebook page – the answers were reassuring, and there were no strong stream warnings popping up on email or text, so with a bit of slack in our ropes just in case we went to bed.

17 miles, 6 locks, 7½ hours cruising, several kingfishers

 

 

A disappointing day

Thursday 17^th August; Alwalton to Peterborough

It all started pretty well – quiet, sunny and warm.  One neighbour on the EA mooring left early, and the other, who had been most affected by the noisy kids, would leave later on the first stage towards crossing the Wash on Monday.  Rather him than me!  A boat came up the lock as we were ready to leave, and we were off at about 9 o’clock.  Down we went in glorious weather past the long moorings of Peterborough Yacht Club to Peterborough Embankment where we were keen to get a pump-out and some water.  On the way we passed one of the sculptures in the sculpture trail but it was the only one visible from the river.

Capsized galleon

The services area was occupied so we tied up further back, avoiding the large amounts of goose poo as best we could.  Dave took Meg off to stretch her legs, though annoyingly a large area of the park had an enormous marquee being set up for the forthcoming beer festival and a large area had been fenced off.   He chatted to the boater taking on water, and discovered that the pump-out was free to use and didn't need a token, which was a nice surprise.  The control box, opened by the Abloy key, is located on the outside of a wonderfully painted building, decorated by local artists, which was largely unpolluted by scrawled tags.

Fabulous artwork

When we moved up to the service area, we saw that everything is protected by heavy metal shutters – vandalism is clearly a problem here.

Serious security

The Abloy key soon opened the padlock, and the machine was so efficient that we gave the tank a good rinse (using river water as it was so clear) and did it twice (it was free after all, so why not?).  The water point was nearby so we filled up.  We had wondered about moving up to the Boathouse mooring, which would have been quieter, but it was a sunny day in the holidays – of course it was heaving with hordes of kids having fun and it would have been far too dangerous to try and moor.  So the Embankment it was - at least the weeping willows hid most of the fenced-off area.

You could imagine the white marquee was sky

By the time we had finished faffing about it would have been too late to go inside the cathedral, so we walked up after tea to have a wander round the outside.  It’s huge and very lovely.  Mary Queen of Scots and Katharine of Aragon are buried here.

The west door

St Peter in his niche atop the west side

It was getting too dark for much photography.  We walked back round the edge of Cathedral Square which was noisy with diners, drinkers and teenagers with skateboards – it was making Meg nervous so we didn’t hang about.  When we got back we found two fishermen had set up just behind the stern, but we had no worries about bite alarms beeping while we were trying to sleep - their floats and rod tips were illuminated so they could tell if a fish had taken the bait.  They expected to leave at midnight and promised to be very quiet!

During a somewhat grumpy afternoon we had realised that neither of us has really been enjoying the river, with its long hours of cruising to reach a mooring, and locks that take ages to work through.  It would have been very different if we had been able to come on our last trip – the weather wasn’t so good, it was before the schools broke up and we had more time available.  But - on the very day we had expected to begin - two locks close to Northampton were shut for 2 weeks because a barrage gate had failed, putting paid to our plans.  So we decided to make an early start next morning and take our time going back.

8½ miles 2 locks

 

 

An excellent mooring to one much less satisfactory

Tuesday 15^th August; Fotheringhay to Alwalton FOTRN

What a wonderful mooring this is!  Peaceful and beautiful, and well worth the £5 mooring fee.  We set off about 9.30, hoping to have a slightly shorter day’s cruising than we have been having recently.  We cruised in warm and brilliant sunshine, looking back at Fotheringhay as we went.

The castle mound and church

It must have been an impressive sight back in Richard III’s day and when Mary was a prisoner, with the keep rising high above the surrounding walls and buildings.  We had wondered about stopping on the Elton offside moorings to get some milk in the village, but weren’t quite sure where it was so we didn’t stop (though it was obvious, looking back on it!).

Approaching Elton lock

But the little café at Yarwell lock had milk, and some cake to take away too.  Wansford lock was in a pretty location, and is in an open field, which today was being grazed by sheep.  No chance for Meg to get off and have a potter about!

Sheep at Wansford lock

Wansford bridge is another pretty stone one, and shortly afterwards is the rather larger Great North Road bridge carrying the A1.  It was built in 1928, and the river marked the old county boundary.

Wansford bridge – old and attractive

Great North Road bridge - one side in Huntingdon

And the other in the Soke of Peterborough

The Soke is a historic area of England associalted with Peterborough, but is considered part of Northamptonshire.

We wondered if we would be able to stop on the EA visitor moorings at Wansford, where the Nene Valley railway crosses the river.  We knew it was a steaming day as we had heard the whistle a few times, but didn’t see even a puff of smoke, let alone the train!  Between Wansford lock and that mooring the river takes a great loop to the north and back again, the Waterway Routes map having the appearance of the chalk outline of a murder victim; Dave rather thought the body must have been wearing a German army helmet!

Sadly the Wansford station mooring was fully occupied so yet again we had lunch on the move.  We had a scare at Water Newton lock.  I got chatting to a couple out for a walk and had failed to close a top paddle.  Water was pouring over the top gates anyway, so when I started to raise the guillotine I thought that was the reason for the turbulence.  It wasn’t, and I realised just in time to avoid a nasty accident.  We were rather shaken by that, and hoped we would be able to moor at Alwalton lock and not have to go down that one too.  A boat coming up Yarwell lock earlier had warned us that it is a popular place for local kids to swim, and recommended that we should use the offside FOTRN mooring rather than the EA one next to the lock.  With two boats already on the EA side and one on the offside, we just squeezed in with our stern in the tree at about 3.30.  At the time there looked to be about 15 kids sitting around or jumping into the empty lock.  The other boat on the FOTRN side left after a short while, and about an hour later the first of three boats came up the lock.  The young owner apparently told the kids bluntly that if they went in the lock when she was coming through they would die, and they stayed well  clear.  But as soon as the other two boats had come up they were back having their fun and larking around as kids do. 

It wasn’t our favourite mooring, crowded and noisy as it was on this sunny afternoon.  Two narrowboats had managed to moor themselves in front of us on the FOTRN side by having one with half its length in the reeds and other with its fender overlapping ours.  Their cruiser friends breasted up to this one.  The other boaters got their chairs out and although they weren’t near our boat it all felt rather cramped.  Eventually some of the kids started going home for their tea, but the stragglers then climbed up on top of the open guillotine gate and jumped in from there.  Really daft behaviour, and I felt obliged to lay off the alcohol till they had all cleared off in case emergency assistance was needed.

12½ miles, 5 locks, stupid behaviour and nowhere to walk the dog.

 

Churches across the fields

Tuesday 15^th August; Islip Dave to Fotheringhay

We had a very peaceful night even though the houses of Thrapston are just across the river.  We were away by 8.30 in much better weather than yesterday – no rain and less wind. 

Early morning at Islip Dave

Islip lock was our first, then we were out in the open with flooded gravel pits either side though they were mostly obscured by the ubiquitous willows.  After Titchmarsh lock, pretty Wadenhoe church appeared away on its hill, disappearing now and then as the river swung this way and that.

Wadenhoe church

The water point at Wadenhoe, in the pub garden, was free so we stopped – water points, indeed any of the normal canalside facilities, are few and far between on the Nene so you use them when you can.  There was a dustbin by the tap, so I got rid of the rubbish too.  We tend not to have much actual rubbish, as we recycle everything we can, though that’s not always easy on the boat. 

As Dave brought Bonjour into Wadenhoe lock we were hailed by a chap in a cruiser coming up behind us – he was keen to share with us.  While we were there, an EA guy came to check the lock and say hello, and I took the opportunity to tell him about a small amount of pollution we had seen on the way.  It took a while to work out between us where it was – it was only his second day on the Nene and he was as unfamiliar with the place names as we were.

EA guy on the Wadenhoe lock bridge

 

 

 

The couple on the cruiser were on their way to Oundle marina so we shared the next two locks with them, taking turns to prepare or finish up.

Sharing at Lilford lock

They suggested we had a lunch stop at the marina, where there is room for two narrowboats just before the entrance, on a nice firm edge with mooring posts provided.  If we wanted to stay overnight, the office will let us have a key fob to get in and out of the gates if we wanted to go to town.

Outside Oundle marina

But we decided to carry on to Fotheringhay, another four locks.  We are finding this part of the Nene more attractive than the upper stretch to White Mills lock.  There are lots of dragonflies, some pretty big though there are several smaller damselflies too.  

Why did you have to land on something the same colour as yourself?

The locks take a long time – some are wheel-operated – and the river winds around all over the place.  Churches come and go across the landscape, all built in the lovely warm stone commonly used around here.

This one could be Tansor church

Finally the church at Fotheringhay started to be visible, high on its hill.  We had been recommended to go through the bridge at Fotheringhay and moor by the castle mound, which we did.  We were glad to tie up after a long day and eventually did so at 5.30, having left Oundle at 2.  We are not used to such long hours cruising.  Of course the first thing we did was to climb the mound!  There is our boat, way down on the river.

There is nothing remaining of the castle stonework apart from a large lump of the keep, down near the river bank.  It is protected by railings, which have several explanatory plaques about the history.

Can you see the thistles at the corners of the railings?

There is a great deal of information online about Richard III (born here), Mary Queen of Scots (lost her head here) and other Dukes of York who lived here.  Mary’s fans have sowed Scottish thistles around the mound, which I bet has delighted local farmers and gardeners, as the seeds float wherever the wind blows.

A flock of goldfinches was busy taking advantage of the ripe seeds.  We went to visit the church after we’d eaten, but had to be content with walking round the outside as the door had been locked before we even moored up.

It’s very tall

The church was seized by the state during the dissolution of the monasteries and parts were demolished.  But the main part was left standing as it acted as the Parish Church, which it does to this day.

The arches must have once led into the parts that were demolished

As dusk fell Dave went online and found a recording of ‘Fotheringhay’ by Fairport Convention – very atmospheric when you are so close to where she was imprisoned and executed.  When Dave took Meg out before bedtime he found it a little spooky.

We had paid for our stay (£5) earlier in the evening and were happy to do so for such a beautiful and interesting mooring spot.

11½ miles, 7 locks, 8 hours cruising