Grandparents Gadabout Week 12

 Monday 9th August - Peterborough to Alwalton

This week we begin our journey back along the River Nene towards Northampton.  Peterborough has been working hard on rejuvenating the disused factories along the river front and this one is earmarked for flats and arts space.

The former Whitworths flour mill, located on East Station Road on the bank of the River Nene was one of three mills and warehouses which were constructed for the Earl Fitzwilliam between 1840 and 1850. It was used by Cadge and Colman from 1850. The company was acquired by the Wellingborough-based baking products manufacturer Whitworths in 1936. Grain was transported to the mill by barge until the mid-1960s. Cadge and Colman ceased trading in 1987 although Whitworths continued to use the site for storage purposes. 

Alwalton has the sweetest little post office, with a little shop next door, does a roaring trade 

Moved from its original home in Chesterton, Lynch Lodge is a stunning porch, salvaged from a great house once loved by the poet and playwright John Dryden but now lost.  It is now owned by the Landmark Trust and you can rent it as a holiday home.

A dilapidated windmill on our walk, Castor windmill is only yards away from a restored water mill on the banks of the River Nene. 

Our mooring for the night, on the opposite side of the lock.  We discovered that when you come back up the river you need to leave the lock empty when you have used it.  This means that you always enter the lock set ready for you, fill the lock then exit, tie up and then empty the lock again.  It is less to do with navigation and more to do with flood prevention, and in some cases can be difficult to moor the boat especially with the flow of the river and the wind we have been experiencing recently.  

6.25 miles, 2 locks, 2 hrs 30 mins

Tuesday 10th August - Alwalton to Fotheringhay

We made an early start from Alwalton to get to Fotheringhay in good time.  This male banded demoiselle landed on my knee and stayed long enough to get a good photo.

Once moored up in Fotheringhay we went for a walk through the village.  This monument, below the site of Fotheringhay Castle is some masonry from the Castle keep.  Richard III was born here on 2 October 1452, and though tradition says he was baptised at Fotheringhay church, he might equally well have been baptised at the castle chapel. Richard only lived here for six years until he was moved for safety to Ludlow Castle and on 8 February 1588 Mary, Queen of Scots was executed in the great hall. 

In the village we found an old telephone box which has been reused as a home for the defibrillator and a book swap shop.  Such a good idea! 

We had a look inside Fotheringhay Church as it was open, the pulpit was beautifully decorated.  It is a 15th century painted pulpit, donated by Edward IV and carrying the royal arms, flanked by a bull for George of Clarence and a silver boar for Richard of Gloucester.

This is a Wingfield Organ,  a very striking instrument built by the renowned firm of Goetze and Gwynn and based on the remains of an early English instrument dating from the mid 1500’s. It is known as the Wingfield Organ.  The instrument is hand blown and needs to be pumped every 5-10 seconds! 

12.5 miles, 5 locks, 5 hrs 36 mins

Wednesday 11th August - Fotheringhay to Wadenhoe

We left Fotheringhay on a lovely sunny morning and caught the church standing proud in the early morning sunshine.  Sadly, the present church is thought to be half the size of the original church with only the nave, aisles and the octagonal tower remaining from the original building.  

Narrowboat Scholar Gypsy was moored up below the church, I enjoy reading about his adventures in his blog, but he wasn’t aboard, it was his sister and family. 

We had a pleasant cruise to Wadenhoe and managed to moor up at the bottom of the pub garden, very pleasant.  After a late lunch we went for a walk along the river to Aldwincle and then back down into Wadenhoe.  The church stands above the village overlooking the river.  There has been a settlement in Wadenhoe for at least 800 years and many historic buildings and features still remain such as the 13th century Church on the hill overlooking the village.

Adjacent to the footpath connecting Wadenhoe village to its church, this sundial was erected to commemorate the millennium. The face of the sundial includes directions to nearby church towers.

11 miles, 7 locks, 6 hrs 6 mins

Thursday 12th August - Wadenhoe to Thrapston Public Moorings

Today we have decided to have a shorter cruising day as we have had a couple of long days.  We went as far as Thrapston and moored at the public moorings beside the sailing club.  Very safe river moorings, but a bit of a clamber for Toby, but bless him he managed getting on and off at the front of the boat.  

We went for a walk around Islip on the other side of the river to Thrapston.  This is Islip Mill, it worked as a flour mill until 1960 when it closed due to competition from large flour mills.  It has been renovated and is now a private residence.

During the 18th century Islip was an important staging post on the main coaching route between Worcester and London, and there were at least 6 inns at one time.  The coming of the Oxford Canal in 1790 led to a sudden downturn in Islip's fortunes, though this was briefly revived when a railway station was built here in 1850.

This is the Old School House, behind it was the Headmaster’s House and beside it the School House, makes up quite a little community. 

We then continued over the river bridge and into Thrapston, I was delighted by this Art Deco style Plaza, now being used as a Community Centre.

Finally, a delightful sunset across the river, beautiful! 

4.5 miles, 1 lock, 1 hr 48 mins

Friday 13th August - Thrapston Public Moorings to Irthlingborough

This is the Islip Waterside, all private moorings but very attractive.  There is a set of public moorings after the bridge, but it is a tight turn to get to it. 

One of the many weirs we have passed, but this one has a large tree trunk caught in the floating bouys.  It is evidence of the power of the water under flood conditions forcing such a large tree trunk under the barrier. 

We moored for the day at Irthlingborough public moorings, about a 20 minute walk into the town itself.  We had arranged for a parcel to be collected from the post office there, I waited over an hour to collect my parcel, queues of people returning or posting packages, my collection took 2 minutes!  

On the way back to the boat we passed our first blackberries, I’m sure they get earlier and earlier every year!

8 miles, 6 locks, 4 hrs 30 mins

Saturday 14th August - Irthlingborough to Manor Farm Moorings

The extensive mooring at Irthlingborough, but quite soulless, with a wire fence stopping you from getting off the mooring, we had to walk back to the lock and then along a road, still it served a purpose.  The old boat was there when we passed at the beginning of the cruise.  Unfortunately none of the facilities were working! 

We were joined at the first lock by this boat which was relocating from March to Loughborough, a lovely crew who were fascinating to talk to.  The owner of the boat, Alan, was ex-Navy and we worked out that he must have been onboard HMS Hermes the tour before my Uncle Derek was onboard.  He was also from an RAF family and had been to many of the places I had been to, but at different times. A real coincidence!  

We moored for the night at Manor Farm Moorings and had a delightful walk into Great Doddington.

8.25 miles, 5 locks, 4 hrs 6 mins

Sunday 15th August - Manor Farm Moorings to Northampton

Our last day on the river, and possibly one of the most frustrating.  The weather was against us from the start with the wind being difficult and the locks were hard work, one of them broke down on us.  Fortunately we had got through and we were trying to empty it, but the guillotine refused to finish its final raise and we had to leave it half way up.  A phone call to EA to log an incident was picked up by someone in Spalding who wanted to know what the weather was like to try and gauge how soon they should get someone to attend to the lock.  A rather baffling response! 

Billing Aquadrome was a hive of activity this time, so many campers, caravans, motor homes and static caravans, over a vast area!  We continued through into Northampton and moored up on the town moorings, it had been a long day and we were happy to just put our feet up and relax for the rest of the day.

10 miles, 11 locks, 7 hrs 42 mins