Grandparents Gadabout Week 11

 Monday 2nd August - Holywell to Lazy Otter GOBA Moorings

We were the only boat moored overnight at Holywell, which was just as well as we had to turn the boat 180 degrees to continue on our journey. It took a couple of attempts and a helping hand from the pub landlord, but we did it eventually. 

This is Brownshill Lock going onto the Tidal Great Ouse before joining the Old West River at Hermitage Lock.  The level of water either side of the lock is virtually the same, but we still had to operate the guillotine gates in order to get through. 

We moored for the night at the GOBA Moorings just past the Lazy Otter Marina. A very quiet and peaceful mooring. We walked along the Old West River to Stretham Old Engine, a steam powered pumping station built in 1831 applied to fen drainage in the 19th and early 20th centuries. 

This is The Stokers Cottage, a single storey building which is now owned by Landmark Trust and which you can rent as a holiday cottage.  

This part of the fenland has been used for a solar farm, 80 acres has been put over to solar panels which provide electricity for almost 5,000 homes, it has a guaranteed life of 25 years when it will be returned to farmland, at the moment sheep are grazing between the solar panels.

13.75 miles, 2 locks, 4 hrs, 54 mins.

Tuesday 3rd August - Lazy Otter to Ely

Today we left our overnight mooring and headed back into Ely for the last time on this trip.  We moored just past the Cutter Inn and went for a walk along the river towards Thetford, crossed over the new footbridge and back into Ely.

On our way back we passed this boat, built 1913, a lovely example of a renovated Dutch Barge.  One of my favourite boats on the moorings in Ely. 

Later that evening we had an impromptu visit from Lizzie which was lovely, we shared fish and chips and sat and chatted, a lovely evening!  

6.25 miles, 0 locks, 1 hr, 36 mins.

Wednesday 4th August - Ely

We spent the day with Laura, Amy and the twins and Lizzie came to join us as well, a picnic lunch in the garden and a walk around Ely with the twins in the double buggy and then back to the boat.  

We walked past this art installation called Sluice on the water front in Ely.  Standing over nine feet tall, this stainless steel beacon mimics the shape of a sluice gate, a symbol of humanity’s management of flowing water.  The sculpture responds to this live data stream from Denver Sluice Complex 17 miles down river, by playing appropriately gentle or turbulent watery sounds every 15 minutes, altering the colours of its vibrant lights, and playing movies of serenely burbling or disconcertingly pounding waters depending on the height of the water level.  A fascinating structure.

Thursday 5th August - Ely to Hilgay

Today we start our return journey to Worcester, a little sad to be leaving, it has almost felt like a home from home!  We passed Queen Adelaide Mooring which we used on several occasions when we were staying in Ely, plenty of room!  

There is one more river to explore before we leave the Ouse Valley, the River Wissey.  So we turned right into the Wissey and carried on for 30 minutes until we got to Hilgay Bridge and moored there for the night.  We went for a walk along the river and back up a drove, and got back to the boat just in time to miss a downpour! 

This is our mooring at Hilgay Bridge, very quiet and peaceful.  The weather has been most unseasonable, very windy and heavy downpours, then hot sunshine the next, but the wind is quite difficult.  

17 miles, 0 locks, 3 hrs 54 mins.

Friday 6th August - Hilgay Bridge to Stoke Ferry to Denver Sluice

Today we made an early start as we wanted to get to the top of the Wissey and back again and up to Denver Sluice before the heavy showers forecast for later this afternoon.  The Wissey is very windy and pretty, but at one stage it opened out into a large lake, Wissey Pools used by fishing club for pike and zander fishing.

In the background of this shot is Wissington Sugar Factory, the largest and the most cost effective sugar processing site in Europe.   In 2000, British Sugar built and opened a glasshouse powered by the heat generated by the factory’s Combined Heat and Power plant. Today, this glasshouse has grown to cover 18 hectares, the UK’s largest single glasshouse and used to produce a huge amount of tomatoes!  In 2007, Wissington also became the location of the first UK bioethanol plant, winning an award from the Renewable Energy Association for the best new project, in its first year of operation.  The plant can now produce up to 64,000 tonnes of bioethanol per year. Complex heat recovery systems minimise the energy demand of the plant. This ensures the plant achieves the low carbon footprint required to produce renewable biofuels. British Sugar started growing the active ingredient for a new epilepsy drug at their Wissington glasshouse in 2017, replacing the tomato crop.

The River Wissey was carried on an aqueduct over a large drain called the ‘Cut-Off Channel’ which flows from Denver and links the Rivers Wissey, Little Ouse and Lark.  Whether it is navigable or not I can’t find out.

I was pleased with this photo of a bird of prey hovering above its prey, as I watched it dived and came back up with a small creature in its talons, amazing!  

We got to the end of the navigable stretch of this river and the turning point is the junction of the River Wissey and Stringside Drain, we managed to get ourselves wedged across the drain, a combination of the flow of the water and the very gusty winds!  Dave managed to scramble off the boat and haul the stern of the boat off the bank and backwards until we had enough clearance to make another attempt at turning.  It was a pretty scary moment, mentally making a phone call to River and Canal Rescue, but no need, we did it in the end!  

We then went back up the river and out to Denver Sluice, where we moored for the evening, just in time to miss the thunderstorm, but battling the high winds for most of the way!  

Once the rain had stopped we ventured out for a walk along tidal Ouse, this is Salter’s Lock that we shall be aiming for tomorrow morning, it is a tight left hand turn going with the tide so you have to judge it right or you risk being swept past it and heading for Wisbech!  

13.25 miles, 0 locks, 5 hrs 42 mins.

Saturday 7th August - Denver to March

An early start this morning, the spring tide had reached its peak around 7.30am and we were able to leave Denver Sluice, go with the tide and make the turn into Salter’s Lock, all done with no mishap, with just enough headroom in the lock.

This is where we are heading, the Middle Levels, long and straight, towards March and then Stanground Lock and onto Peterborough.

Paul is the lock keeper, he has been working here for over 20 years and is a really interesting chap to listen to.  Today he told us about the New Bedford River which links Denver with Earith, I wondered if it was navigable, but he said that over the years it has silted up so badly that in places it is only 15ft wide due to the lack of dredging!  

A challenging crossing because of the continuous wind that was blowing across the fens, it meant that the boat was being blown into the reeds so we proceeded almost crablike up the centre of the water!  

We made it to March and moored up for the evening in front of the High Street bridge.  We went for a walk and got back to the boat before the rain set in for the rest of the day.

13.5 miles, 3 locks, 5 hrs 18 mins.

Sunday 8th August - March to Peterborough

We set off from March early in order to get to Stanground Lock before he closed it at 12.00, so 6.30am saw Dave at the tiller facing more wind and rain!  I remember last year saying how wonderful and other worldly the Middle Levels are, but I have decided that this is weather dependant - today it felt very grey and endless, so next time we do this we shall order good weather!

Bringing the boat along the final stretch through Stanground and down to the lock, I am looking forward to warming up inside with a hot cup of tea!  A walk into Peterborough and we stocked up on new reading books for the trip back to Worcester.  We are now on the River Nene, heading towards Northampton.  The couple on the boat going through the lock ahead of us are going up to Wisbech and then across the Wash to Lincoln and up to Ripon.  They have a pilot booked but the crossing has already been cancelled once because the conditions are too windy.  Is this going on my bucket list???

16.5 miles, 2 locks, 5 hrs 54 mins