The River Great Ouse - Part 2 - The Ely Ouse

Thursday 4th July
Having had a rest day at Denver it was time to set off and explore the upper reaches of the Great Ouse. This stretch extends up to the confluence of the river Cam, three other tributaries join the main river along this length, the Wissey, Little Ouse and the Lark.
After saying good bye to our new friends Cherryl and Ian on Seren Rose, we set off down the deep and wide river, quickly reaching the confluence of the river Wissey, however as I wasn't paying attention, I passed the junction and, red faced, had to turn round and head back to turn right onto the tributary. The river was much narrower than the main river and for the first mile or so, felt more like a canal.

The Wissey

Travelling on upstream we reached the village of Hilgay and its many moored boats, we decided, however,  to press on towards the end of the navigable section. A few miles above Hilgay we arrived at the large sugar beet processing plant, the river ran close to the factory, the beet stored on the opposite side to the mass of conveyors and pulping equipment. Being July the plant was in shutdown with just a few maintenance men around. The plant had the feel of the sort of place that is often the set for the end of a thriller movie, it wasn't difficult to imagine gunmen chasing around.
Leaving the plant we arrived at a large lake through which the river passes, I assumed this had something to do with the beet factory as it was all fenced off with stern notices warning trespassers to keep away.

Sugar Beet Factory

Whilst transiting the lake I decided to look at the guide book and check where I could turn round further upstream, the indication was that we may struggle so I quickly turned the boat round heading back downstream, towards Hilgay where we decided to moor for the night. There are good moorings here, just before the bridge, when heading downstream. There is also a public toilet on the recreation ground and this can be used to empty a toilet cassette.

Hilgay

The village is a quiet, typical linear layout straddled along the old A10, now thankfully bypassed by a newer road. It boasts a very good butcher, A J Dent, who also double up as a general store and newsagents.

Hilgay Moorings

Whilst here we joined the Great Ouse Boating Association (GOBA) as we had been told they have a number of moorings along the rivers, the membership fee is a reasonable £25 per year, money well spent we were to discover later having utilized their facilities
The following morning we moved a couple of miles downstream to moor at the lovely GOBA moorings on the east bank between Hilgay and the confluence. We decided to stay here for Friday and Saturday as the weather was very warm and you couldn't find a more peaceful place to tie up.
Following a couple of relaxing days here we had to move on as all the GOBA moorings are limited to 48 hours.

Sunset on the Wissey GOBA mornings

 We headed back to the Great Ouse, turning left to head upstream towards Ely, the town was hosting the annual Aquafest, over the weekend, so we decided to stop at Littleport several miles downstream. We walked into the town to explore, and restock with a few groceries.

The Great Ouse on the way to Littleport

 Littleport was the scene of unrest in May 1816 when a number of the locals, suffering unemployment and hunger following the Napoleonic Wars, decided to intimidate and attack the wealthier members of the community. The riots spread to Ely where the magistrates ordered poor relief in an attempt to calm the situation. The government then sent in an army made up of locals and troops from the 1st Royal Dragoons, they rounded up the rioters and 23 men and 1 woman were charged at the Assizes, 5 of whom were subsequently hanged.
We moved down to Ely the following morning along a very straight section of river, the cathedral soon came into view standing on top of the only hill for miles around, the area used to be known as the Isle of Ely as it stands, proud, overlooking the once swampy fenland.
We arrived at the facilities just outside town before moving onto the moorings alongside the park, just below the main part of the town. This area had been the main site of the festival a day earlier and the moorings here had been suspended over the weekend so were were lucky enough to be able to moor up.

Ely cathedral from the river

The moorings in Ely are closely monitored and are limited to 48 hours with no return within 48 hours, the mooring officer visits every day, so overstaying is kept to a minimum something that is required on these high demand moorings.

Ely Moorings

We really liked Ely, it is a charming town, with the cathedral dominating from its seat close to the city center, the streets from the center tumble down the hillside to reach the pretty riverside with its restaurants and pubs.
Ely cathedral is dedicated to Etheldreda, the daughter of the king of East Anglia, who founded the abbey of Ely in the 7th century. The cathedral rose from the abbey church in the 11th century and the monastery remained in place until being dissolved by HenryVIII in the 16th century.

Firmary Street

Some of the monastery remains and the old infirmary has now  become a street, with the remains of the old interior forming the exterior walls of the street.

Ely Cathedral

Rumour has it that the cathedral was built on a foundation of eel skins as they are very tough and prevented the stones sinking into the sand.
The sight of the cathedral and town rising from the fens on a misty, frosty winters morning must be spectacular.
Sadly our time on the moorings was up so we decided to move on upstream, we reached the confluence of the river Cam at Popes Corner turning left down the larger river towards Cambridge.

Approaching Popes Corner

The river above Bottisham Lock is controlled by the Cam Conservancy and a seperate licence is required, we had bought ours online, at a cost of £53 for 90 days, and had to collect it from their headquarters at Clayhithe. We stayed the night here and visited the nearby Bridge Hotel for an enjoyable meal. These moorings and the ones at the end of the navigable section below Jesus Lock are the only ones available to visitors, both being limited to 48 hours with no return for 72 hours, this means that a 90 day licence is a waste of money as one can only spend a maximum of 96 hours in the section before having to return below Bottisham lock.

Bottisham Lock

We set off for Cambridge luckily finding the one remaining mooring at Jesus Green where we moored up for a couple of nights. We spent the next couple of days exploring the town and met our son in law's parents John and Janet who gave us a very interesting tour around the sights on a very hot Friday.

Approaching Cambridge

Cambridge has a lot to offer and is always worth a visit, most of the highlights are well known so I don't intend to cover them all in this blog.

Kings College

Temple Church

Saturday morning saw us leaving the town on a very busy river, full of rowers out training, heading back to the Great Ouse we noted how much busier it was at weekends with rowers, swimmers, cruisers etc. It was at this point that we made the decision to avoid the more popular spots at weekends, choosing to moor at more remote moorings.

Rowing training

Baits Bite lock

Arriving back at the Great Ouse we turned left, at this point the river becomes the Old West, a much narrower and shallower channel. We stayed here for the remainder of the weekend before our next stage of exploration of this lovely part of the country.

Sunset at Popes Corner