Alwalton to White Mills Marina

We left Alwalton on Saturday 8 July and travelled further than we intended, the moorings we might have used were already taken until we arrived at Elton.  As it turned out the village was an interesting place to stop.  We had a potter round the garden centre and followed the unusual roped off path to the area set aside for a community garden. 

The roped off path uses shovels and spades to lead the way into the walled garden which is now a community garden.

Sunday was a busy day in the village.  First we went to the Rockingham Forest Woodcarvers exhibition in the village hall.  Over 100 carvings made an interesting display of different styles and all were finished to a high standard.  A table of 'works in progress' demonstrated various stages of the process and on one I saw some writing.  Leaning over to read it I expected an insight into the carving method but no, it was a reminder to watch 'Escape to the Country'!

Part of the Rockingham Forest Woodcarvers display

From the village hall we walked to Elton Hall where the gardens were open in aid of the British Red Cross.  Huge topiaries dominated the back of the house and quirky topiary hedges lined some of the paths. 

The huge topiaries at the back of the house

An enormous topiary dog 

Elsewhere tall hedges divided the garden into smaller plots and a ha-ha gave an uninterrupted view over the garden boundary and across the fields.

On Monday we sailed the short distance to Fotheringhay where we enjoyed some good walks.  A colourful mural brightened the concrete A605 road bridge on the walk into Warmington village.  

Part of the colourful mural on the A605 road bridge

 Most of our walking was on the footpaths across farmland and they revealed a variety of wildlife; we saw deer, a fox, a badger, hares and red kites which were constantly circling overhead.  

This hare didn't seem too concerned by our presence

On Thursday we moved on to Oundle which was holding a week long festival.  I had a look round the Nene Artists exhibition and was very impressed by some silk paintings.

The next day we sailed to Wadenhoe and found a secluded mooring below the church. Walking round the village we noticed the 2 llamas looking a bit bereft, they'd been shorn and looked very odd without their thick woolly coats. 

One of the shorn llamas

We enjoyed some more walks and watched the red kites but the best view was had back on board.  A red kite landed on the fence post on the opposite bank and started feeding on some unpleasant looking remains it had just picked up.  I crept out onto the front deck and crouched down to take some photos.

The red kite on the fence post 

On Sunday night all was well when we went to bed but at 2am Kev woke to find Brent III was listing.  The nearby overflow weir was strangely silent indicating the water level had dropped considerably and we were touching the bottom;  it didn't take a lot of effort to push her away from the bank so we were floating again. We can only assume someone had left a paddle open on the lock but it had resulted in the loss of a vast amount of water.  The next morning we left early and although the river was deep enough for navigation we were pleased to enter the next lock at Titchmarsh.  We made good progress and carried on to Irthlingborough.  

On Tuesday we sailed into Wellingborough and walked up to Tesco.  On the way we passed a horse leaning over his fence and Kev stopped to pet it.  The horse was clearly expecting something to eat so when we went back a second time Kev took it a carrot.  A bit later on we had to pass it again and had another carrot off Kev and an apple off a young woman.  That horse certainly made the most of his position on the way into town.  

The next day we left Wellingborough and it's noisy flour mill to sail up to White Mills Marina near Earls Barton.  

Our journey from Alwalton to White Mills Marina

Salters Lode to Alwalton

On Saturday 1 July we set off from Salters Lode on the shallow Well Creek, we weren't looking forward to this because on the outward journey we continuously dragged the bottom and fouled the prop.  The return trip wasn't so bad, water levels were a touch higher and so was our stern because we didn't have as much diesel in the tank.   We stopped at Upwell on Church Staith which is maintained by the Well Creek Trust.  They've made some terraces on the bank for flower beds and filled them with a variety of plants including herbs, rosebushes and some annuals. 

Bess preparing to jump off at Church Staith

The next day we continued along Well Creek to Marmont Priory Lock.  

The narrow, shallow Well Creek at Upwell

After the lock we were on a bigger waterway and were able to pick up some speed - to 5mph!
We had decided to stop short of March in case the moorings were full over the weekend. While travelling our view was restricted to the top of the high embankments so when we pulled up we thought we were well away from civilisation.  And we would have been if there hadn't been a gypsy camp on the far side of the field.  

On Monday morning we sailed into March to find only one other boat on the town moorings.  We stocked up with shopping and I enjoyed another walk along the embankments with a view over the flat Fens. 

The amazingly flat Fens near March

The next day we sailed to Whittlesey and on the way encountered some strange looking boats, weed-cutters which pulled over before we passed. 

The weed-cutters stopped for a break

We had booked into Stanground Lock for 11.30 on Wednesday and set off from Whittlesey in plenty of time.  After negotiating the right angled bend we discovered the weed-cutters hadn't worked that section.  Kev had to continually go into reverse gear to throw the weed off the prop which slowed down the journey. 

The notorious right angled bend at Whittlsey

As we arrived at Stanground Lock (just about on time) a heron caught a fish and obligingly stood long enough for a photo. 

The heron with it's catch

The lock-keeper at Stanground had developed his own system of taking boats through the lock and it was very odd.  He tied our centre rope to a bollard and asked Kev to put the engine in gear so we were pulling the rope taut.  Not the best method but we were soon through the lock and onto the River Nene.  We picked a quiet mooring furthest from Peterborough city centre and I started the task of finding a replacement laptop.  

I ordered one from Argos on Thursday morning and by mid-afternoon it had been delivered to the store ready for collection, excellent service.  Then of course it had to be set up and unfortunately an electrical storm played havoc with our broadband signal which kept going off.  Eventually all the windows updates were installed and the laptop was up and running.  We went to bed and shortly afterwards heard voices outside.  Then some music started.  A cruiser had been riding up and down the river all night, now they were moored up in front of us and were having a party on the bank.  The music went on and on, we thought they'd be there until dawn but the boat's batteries didn't last that long.  The volume of the music started to reduce, the party ended abruptly and the boat sailed off.

The next morning we sailed off as well.  Our first stop was at the Asda mooring in Peterborough and then we continued up the Nene.  After the flat Fens it was good to see some rolling countryside and stone bridges across the river. 

A picturesque bridge over the Nene, very different to the Fens

We stopped at Alwalton Lock in quiet countryside and on our walk we came across a small river with a ford.  Bess and Brinny showed off their new confidence in water by chasing about with a spaniel which was playing in the river.

Playing in the river

Our journey from Salters Lode to Alwalton

St Ives to Salters Lode

Whilst at St Ives we decided not to sail any further along the Great Ouse; we had seen the places we wanted to visit and there was no reason to continue on to Bedford.  The heatwave was continuing so we set off early on Tuesday 20 June (there has been a delay in writing up this blog due to a technical hitch with my laptop which proved to be terminal and so it has since been replaced). We didn't go far, just to a quiet GOBA mooring with a little beach nearby.  We took the dogs down for a paddle and another swimming lesson, as the water was cool and refreshing I too took the plunge.  

Kev took this photo of Bess venturing in but Brinny wasn't joining in

That evening a cruiser turned up and the owner came to see us; he would be walking about at 4.30am to take a picture of the summer solstice sunrise.  He estimated it would appear by a church spire.  This sounded intriguing so when I woke up at that time we couldn't miss the opportunity.  The boater had however miscalculated but we still got a photo of the sun rising between some distant trees. 

Summer solstice sunrise

We stayed on our quiet mooring until Friday and then sailed back onto the Old West River which had been full of blanket weed on our outward journey.  There were several boats in front of us and perhaps they cleared the way because it didn't seem so bad on the return journey.  Once again we stopped on the Aldreth GOBA moorings and that evening saw a brilliant sunset.  We got our cameras out and Kev's photo was definitely the one for the blog. 

Kev's photo of my 'dalek impressions' on the embankment

On Saturday we sailed down towards Popes Corner, the junction with the River Cam, and stopped on the moorings near Little Thetford.

An unusual house, created from the bottom of a windmill, in Little Thetford

On Monday we sailed into Ely and enjoyed another potter around the historic town.  We also enjoyed some delicious fudge from the Ely Fudge Company and discovered the shop assistant came from Sheffield.  That evening a saxophone player came busking in the nearby park.  I like to hear a saxophone so sat out to listen but sadly he didn't stay long. 

On Tuesday we went shopping before setting off from Ely.  As we left the city it started to spot with rain; within minutes it turned into a torrential downpour.  Luckily we had the wheelhouse up but we still got soaked as we tied up on the mooring.  The heavy rain continued overnight and into the next day so we didn't move until Thursday.  We then had a good run down to Denver which has a complex system of sluices and channels and 2 locks.  

We went into the Relief Channel and encountered something new.  Before going through the lock we had to register our presence on the waterway by entering our details on a keyboard at the lock.  From the lock the straight channel took us to Downham Market, a quiet little town which was useful for some shopping.

The ornate clock at Downham Market

We returned to Denver that afternoon, logging ourselves off the Relief Channel at the lock. The next day we were due to go through Denver Lock onto the tidal section of the Great Ouse at 12.45 but there was a delay.  The heavy rain had caused high water levels and the lock further downstream, Salters Lode, couldn't be opened for us until the water levels were lower than that on the Middle Levels.  We went into the lock and waited for the phone call from Salters Lode which eventually came through.  

Waiting in the lock at Denver, the bridge over the lock is unusual and a bit unnerving when the lock is filling. 

After the short run down the river we went through Salters Lode Lock and moored up for the day on the other side. 

Our journey from St Ives to Denver