Grandparents Gadabout Week 9

 Monday 19th July - Southampton

A super day with Alba, visiting Lepe Beach, play park and cafe before returning home for fun and games in the paddling pool.

Tuesday 20th July - Southampton 

Today we went to Romsey to feed the ducks, but unfortunately we couldn’t because there is a rat infestation due to the amount of food left lying around for the ducks!  Instead we played in the play park and returned to more fun and games in the paddling pool!   We then drove back to Ely.

Wednesday 21st July - Queen Adelaide to Ely

Today we returned the boat to Ely and moored up on Jubilee Gardens.  Dave then drove back to Worcester and left the car there before catching a train back to Ely.  I spent the day with Laura, Amy and the twins until it was time to meet Dave from the train.

Just one of the many elephants which have been installed in Worcester for the summer - there are about 60 elephants, large and small, to be found on the 6 mile trail around Worcester. 

1.75 miles, 0 locks, 42 mins

Thursday 22nd July - Ely to Aldreth GOBA Moorings

Today we start our cruise from Ely to Bedford and back again.  We left our mooring and headed out past The Cutter Inn and towards Pope’s Corner.

Here we turn right and continue along The Old West River as shown on the signpost. A beautiful morning for some peaceful cruising. 

These are a pair of grebes with a baby, it’s the second I have seen, yesterday I saw an adult grebe with two tiny babies riding on their back, but unfortunately the photo wasn’t clear enough to include here. 

Coming round the bends of the river and meeting a convoy, everyone going sedately so no problems!

 We moored for the night at Aldreth GOBA moorings, a lovely secluded mooring, very peaceful and spent a quiet afternoon in the shade of the boat, it was very hot! 

11.5 miles, 0 locks, 3 hrs 42 mins.

Friday 23rd July - Aldreth to St Ives

Today we move onto St Ives, our first lock is Hermitage Lock, it is a manned lock because you lock up onto a tidal section of the river.  It connects to the New Bedford River which goes 20 miles back up to Denver.  We passed through the lock just after 9am, but the lock keeper forgot to close the paddles on the gates so we weren’t going anywhere fast!  I did promise not to tell anyone! 

A cormorant taking a rest after flying in front of the boat for quite some time.  I do think they are an awesome sight, quite primitive with their long neck.

We noticed these reed beds along much of this stretch of the river, a programme of planting to increase the habitats available to many different aquatic species.  They also help to limit the erosion on the river from boats travelling at speed.

A view of the Old Bridge as you come into St Ives, the 15th-century bridge is noted for being one of only four bridges in England to incorporate a chapel. The chapel was restored in 1930, having previously served as a toll house, inn and as a private residence. It had originally been designed as a chapel, though, and dedicated by the monks to Saint Leger. By 1736 it was being used as  accommodation, and in that year two extra floors were added. During the 1850s and 1860s it was turned into a notorious public house, then a doctor’s surgery. By 1930 the structure was found to be weakened so the extra storeys were removed and the chapel restored. As a result of this, the roof is modern. An unusual feature is the crypt, about two metres above the river’s water level. 

We moored on the edge of Hemingford Meadow, only just fitting at the end.  We went for a walk and explored the town and then did a circuit of the Meadow.  In the distance is St Ives and our boat!  

11.25 miles, 3 locks, 4 hrs 18 mins.

Saturday 24th July - St Ives to Godmanchester

A cooler start to the day, perfect for cruising, we came through Hemingford Grey with its picturesque church.  Last year we weren’t able to moor here as all the moorings were occupied, today it was really quiet, but we don’t want to stop! 

A beautiful wildflower bed at one of the locks, very pretty.  There was an Environment Agency employee at the lock, he was keeping an eye on things as last week they had to call the police because too many youngsters were playing around the lock!  

The bridge at Huntingdon, another picturesque bridge, with a newer bridge just visible behind it.

We made our way through Godmanchester lock and moored on the EA moorings on the other side.  Very happy to get this mooring as it is so convenient.  

We went for a walk on the largest meadow in England, Portholme Meadow is classified as a humid, mesophile grassland. It is a species-rich hay meadow on a moderately fertile river and tributary floodplain. It is cut annually for hay, with light aftermath grazing. Seasonal flooding maintains an input of nutrients.

We arrived at Brampton Mill and had a cool drink in the garden looking over the river.  We have been to this mill many times when my mum used to live in Little Paxton and we would visit her and take her out to lunch at the mill.

In the evening we heard jazz music being played, so after supper we followed the music and it led us down this little path, a bit like a fairy grotto, and we found...

a jazz ensemble on an island and an audience of people listening to the music.  As we felt we might have gate crashed this event we only stayed a short time and made our way back out again. 

This is the new fish pass on the old mill steps, fish passes help eels and fish migrate more freely up and downstream.  They work by letting fish and eels ‘climb’ barriers, providing a gentle slope with slow water that’s deep enough to allow the fish to travel. Resting pools along the way allow the fish to rest before continuing on their journey!

Later in the evening a boat moored below the lock on the lock landing and was very noisy!  They eventually went through the lock at 11.30pm in the dark and headed up the arm into the town, I was pleased they had gone, but it was worrying that they should have been using the lock in the dark! 

6.5 miles 3 locks, 2 hrs 48 mins

Sunday 25th July - Godmanchester to St Neots

A cold and drizzly start to the day, we left Godmanchester and set out for St Neots.  It was incredibly quiet all the way, only sharing Offord Lock with a tiny narrowboat called Lilliput!  This is St Neots lock, 177ft long and 14ft wide, not particularly deep but incredibly long! 

As we approached St Neots we realised that there were a lot of rowers on the river, gradually it dawned on us that we had arrived in the middle of a competition.  They had to halt the races so that we could continue down into the town and find a mooring space.  We wanted to moor on the Riverside, but it was completely taken over by hundreds of rowers, boats and officials.  The first time we have ever taken part in a regatta! 

We ended up in the town side moorings and discovered that it was the annual National regatta with two full days of racing over the weekend, with teams attending from as far away as Newark!  

We went for a walk through the town and the riverside meadows and found another jazz event, sat for a little while and listened, then headed down to watch the racing from opposite where we were moored.

I have never been so close to these racing boats, they are enormous, so thin and light weight, I am amazed that they stay upright in the water.  The competition was thrilling to watch with over 170 races throughout the day.

9.5 miles, 3 locks, 3 hrs 54 mins