Sunday 20th August; Fotheringhay to Peartree Farm FOTRN
We were awake at 6 so we got up, had some breakfast and set off at 7 on a beautiful calm and sunny morning – very quietly as a cruiser was moored behind us. The sun was rising above the castle mound and it was fabulous.
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| Fotheringhay church in early morning sun |
Our aim for today was to get to Oundle marina by 11 am, so we could watch the final of the Women’s World Cup between England and Spain (football, if you weren’t sure which World Cup, there seem to be so many). As we approached our first lock, Perio, it was difficult to see which way to go at first.
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| Approach to Perio – bear right |
Perio lock is the first of the wheel-operated guillotines on the journey upstream. Last night some lazy so-and-so hadn’t been bothered to raise it as they should have – we thought it must have been the narrowboat which went past yesterday evening at quite a lick. So I had to wind the guillotine up for Dave to bring Bonjour in, close it, then wind it up again once I had closed the pointing gates at the top– not really what I needed so soon after breakfast! Dave came to help once he had moored above the lock. Cotterstock, the next one, was thankfully electrically operated.
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| Another golden church – Tansor or Cotterstock, not sure which |
Around Ashton lock we started to see the red kites we had noticed on our way downstream. I tried to get a decent photo, but they wouldn’t stay put for long enough. Ashton lock wasn’t far away, and once again the guillotine was closed and the lock deserted – guess what, another wheel-operated guillotine.
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| Wrong! |
By the time Bonjour was tied up in the lock and I was closing the guillotine, the cruiser which had been moored behind us at Fotheringhay was pulling onto the lower landing stage, and the crew soon appeared, insisting that they would close up for us, which was very lovely of them.
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| Lovely cruiser folk closing up for us |
It was still only 10 o’clock as we cruised on towards Oundle, passing this unusual craft which appeared to be tied up at each end by only a bit of thin cord.
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| Is it a boat? or a Portacabin? |
We rose up Lower Barnwell lock and then were delighted to see there was room to moor outside Oundle Marina, with just a few minutes to go before kick-off. A lady with an apron rushed out of the club-house while we were tying up to invite us to join them, so we didn’t have to try and find a signal for the TV or use up all our wi-fi data by streaming the match. We were too late for the hot dogs, but she did make a nice cup of tea at half time. Unfortunately the Lionesses were no match for the Spanish girls, who were the better team for most of the match.
After it had finished we thanked our hosts, made a sandwich and set off almost straight away, through Upper Barnwell lock and then along the long stretch to Lifford lock. Once more there were kites in the sky, lots of them, yet I still couldn’t get one in a photo.
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| I missed them all, but at least it shows the lovely weather! |
We would have liked to moor outside the pub at Wadenhoe, but fat chance of that on a sunny August Sunday afternoon! Ae well as multiple small cruisers on the little arm, there was a widebeam on the water-point, and the gap between was swarming with paddle-boards, swimmers and kayaks. The next half-mile was extremely slow, with SUPs and kayaks all over the place, with several users having little idea of river etiquette.
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| Zig-zagging all over the place |
Hopefully we pressed on towards the FOTRN mooring at Peartree Farm, less than a mile further on, where we found the riverside moorings empty and easily found a suitable spot where Meg could get on and off. A group of folk on a couple of cruisers moored down the little arm had been enjoying a barbecue as we arrived, and after about an hour they had done their washing up and disappeared, leaving just one narrowboat, T’Owd Lass, on the arm and us by the river.
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| Quiet at Peartree once the boarders and kayakers had gone |
It’s not the best place for dogs, as you can’t get out onto footpaths, but there is plenty of room for a game of ball and a sniff around. We thought we might be kept awake by the owls, but we weren’t. The day had been a lot easier than the stats make it look.
12½ miles, 7 locks, about 6 hours cruising.
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