The River Great Ouse - Part 3 - To Bedford and Back

Sunday 14th July

On a fine Sunday morning we decided to move on, heading down the Old West river towards St Ives. This was the day of the cricket world cup final and we had the radio on, listening to the game unfold as we approached our destination. The Old West river is believed to be the original route of the Great Ouse but hereabouts it is very narrow and more like a canal.
The first part of our journey upstream was not too bad and we passed by Streatham old engine, this is an old pumping engine used to pump water from the surrounding fens into the river, the pump was unusual in that it took the form of a scoop rather like water wheel in reverse. The engine is no longer used and is now a museum with steaming days held on the last Sunday of each month, unfortunately for us our timings were such that we were not in the right place at the right time and sadly never saw the engine running. The engine was installed in 1831 it consisted of a double-acting Boulton and Watt steam engine, the scoop was 11 and a quarter meters diameter, rotating at 4 RPM, lifting approximately 30 tons of water per Revolution. Diesel pumps were added in 1925 however the steam engine continue to operate until 1941. Just beyond Streatham we arrived at the marina close to the Lazy Otter Pub passing under the old A10 Bridge I found it difficult to work out which way our route went, the river here was narrow with a larger turning going off to the marina making for difficult route finding, round another very sharp bend and a very shallow section of the river we passed under the new new A10 bridge from here the river continues to make it twisted journey across the fens with higher ground over to the west. Eventually we arrived at Hermitage lock were the Old West becomes reunited with the main course of the Great Ouse. The lock is just downstream of Earith and marks the upstream end of the tidal New Bedford river. Passing through the lock we entered the short tidal section of river taking us to Brownshill Staunch this is a lock taking us back on to non tidal Waters. The tidal section flows is very close to the town of Earith but alas there is nowhere to moor to explore the town. We were looking out for seals at this section as they are often seen, having made their way from the Wash. To our disappointment we didn't see any on this occasion. Passing through the lock at Brownshill, we found ourselves on a wide deep section of river passing through some charming countryside and villages. A several miles further on we arrived at St Ives lock. Passing through, we took an immediate turn to the left to enter Jones Boatyard and St. Ives Marina. I had ordered a new solar panel and the boatyard had kindly agreed to take delivery of it for me. As it was late in the afternoon we decided to tie up in the marina overnight. We put on the TV to watch the concluding overs of the cricket world cup final and and the now well documented very thrilling finish resulting in an England victory. Monday morning arrived and I went over to the Marina Office where I found my panel and ancillary parts duly delivered. We spent the rest of the morning installing the panel however I realised I was a couple of connectors short so could not connect the panel. Later that day we moved into St Ives having ordered the missing items for next-day delivery to the marina.St Ives is a lovely little town with a pretty waterfront and a couple of streets behind, a charming high street running in parallel with the riverfront.The town is linked to its larger neighbour, Cambridge, by a high speed guided bus link, we passed beneath this on our way up the river and I was amazed just how fast they travel!
We moored in the Waits, a small channel off the river that required careful navigation past other moored boats before we got into the one remaining space.

The Waits moorings in St Ives

We tried to moor on the waterfront but it has a very high wall with stone projections making tying up difficult. There are other moorings available on the opposite side of the river,close to the Dolphin Hotel, however on this occasion they were full.

The Quayside St Ives

The river is crossed by and old road bridge, some of the earlier structure still remains, retaining the pointed arch design, whilst part of it was rebuilt in the 17th century, these arches have to more common rounded design.

The town bridge St Ives

The riverfront St Ives

 The bridge also boasts a chapel half way across, one of only three left in the country, both the others being in Yorkshire, one at Rotherham and the other, the eldest, at Wakefield, we visited this and recorded our visit in an earlier blog.St Ives celebrates the fact that Oliver Cromwell lived their for five years (1631-1636), by a large statue of him in the market square.

Cromwell statue St Ives

Some of the history of the town can be explored in the Norris Museum close to the Waits moorings. Among the many local and traditional shops is J Wadsworths  off license, boasting the largest array of single malt whiskeys in East Anglia, we took a look inside and they also have an impressive stock of wines and other spirits too. The other locally famous shop is Toms Cakes, a true cake emporium with a large range of delicious confectionaries to choose from. We stayed here for a couple of days and Ian’s mum came out from Cambridge to visit us, we spent an enjoyable day exploring the town with her. Whilst moored here I also took the opportunity to complete the installation of the solar panel having collected the “missing” connectors, from the boatyard.It was time to move on as the moorings here are limited to 48 hours, so on a fine and sunny Wednesday morning (great for testing the new panel) we reversed out of the moorings back into the main river channel. Continuing our journey upstream we headed off towards St Neots where we had agreed to meet my sister and brother in law along with grandson Henry.The above St Ives is very pretty, it is wide and deep and makes for easy cruising around large river meadows, the fenland scenery now replaced by a more traditional riverscape. Entering a wooded section we arrived at Hemingford Lock nestled amongst the trees in a picturesque location.

Hemingford Lock

Passing through we quickly arrived at the very pretty riverside at Hemingford Grey, we made a note to stop at the extensive moorings here on our way back downstream. We continued in lovely, July sunshine passing through a busy Houghton lock before entering a long, lock free section through Huntingdon.

Approaching Brampton Mill and lock, Huntingdon

Boaters used to canals need to be aware that facilities are less common on the river but most of the marinas we encountered were very accommodating and charged very little, if anything, for use of their facilities. We called into the enormous Hartford marina just below Huntingdon, they seemed to have all sorts of berths ranging from the many river cruisers, wide beams and narrowboats, to large floating holiday chalets and homes.The river skirts the edge of Huntingdon with riverside gardens and parks, before passing beneath the extremely busy A14 bridge, a little further on they were busy building yet another large bridge taking this busy highway away from the town.Beyond the bridge the river takes a narrow channel to the right leading down to Godmanchester lock. We had to wait here for a couple of boats to pass through in front of us, whilst waiting, a chap who was stood watching us, came over for a chat, he said he had seen us on the boat in Skipton and taken a photograph of the boat moored there, he found it hard to believe he was looking at the same boat so far away and took a

Offord Lock nr St Neots

nother picture for his records.

Several more locks and some lovely scenery through wooded countryside brought us to St Neots, unfortunately we were running late mainly due to the slow operation of the guillotine locks and the fact that we had to queue at each one. Carole Jim and Henry had to get back so we only managed a brief fifteen minutes with them.St Neots has plenty of moorings, some alongside a recreation ground and others on a floating pontoon on the opposite side of the river.

Moored at St Neots

We moored by the park and stopped over for a couple of nights. We had a walk round this charming little town again it feels influenced by Cambridge but still retains its charm, the large market square was holding its weekly market whilst we were there and there were a few traditional stores as well as the usual tat found these days.Moving on we set off further upstream heading for Great Barford a few hours away, heavy rain was forecast and it began just as we were tying up. The rain continued for most of the evening but it didn't stop a few brave souls from entering the river to do some wild swimming, something that seems very popular around here.

Great Barford bridge - this marks the navigation for many taller cruisers

The following morning brought much improved weather as we set of to the end of the navigable section at Bedford. A mile or two from Great Barford we passed the intriguingly named Danish Camp, its name probably taken from the fact that there was a large inland port here during the viking invasion. The site was very busy with cyclists and walkers making use of the popular cafe. The site sits on the cycle way linking Bedford to Cambridge along an old railway line. We passed by as there was no mooring space available. 

Feeling Peckish

Above here the river enters a very picturesque stretch, surrounded by steep wooded banks, on one of the bends we passed a few moored boats sat below some very pretty wooden cabins sat in idyllic locations amongst the trees. Beyond here the river widens and becomes much straighter, making it popular with canoeists and kayakers enjoying the July sunshine. We called into Priory Marina to use their facilities and the strong wind made mooring here quite difficult. We called into the office to chat with the lady on duty, she was extremely helpful with a lot of good advice regarding our next couple of miles in Bedford. We set off on our last few miles soon arriving at town lock close to the centre of Bedford, the lock is situated at 90 deg to the river and sits in a large area of parkland. Leaving the lock we made the sharp left turn to head up through the towns riverside, being good weather and a Saturday the town was very busy. We passed under the main road bridge to reach the visitor moorings just beyond, the moorings were just beyond the town and didn’t appeal to us, plus a large tree had fallen nearby partially blocking the channel by the moorings. We called the Environment Agency to report the tree but it took nearly half an hour painfully trying to explain the problem and its location to the girl at the other end of the line. She insisted on me giving a postcode even though I had stated that it was on the only visitor moorings in the town. Giving up on mooring in the town we turned round to make our way back downstream, we had spotted a GOBA mooring on the way in and headed for that, it was clear on our way into the town but on our return we found two narrowboats moored there, fortunately we managed to squeeze in behind them.The moorings are dominated by a huge pyramid shaped building that we later discovered to be a very popular aquadome. Just behind this is a useful Tesco store. 

Pyramid swimming pool Bedford

Moving on, we made our way downstream passing a very busy Danish Camp, as it was a Sunday morning there were people partaking in just about every watersport possible and we had to pick our way carefully through them all. 

Wild swimming

We arrived at St Neots to find all the moorings taken and were discussing where to moor downstream when we noticed a boat pulling away from the floating pontoon, we hurriedly turned around and grabbed the spot. 

Hemingford Grey

The weather was becoming very hot as we made our way the following morning, up to Hemingford Grey, we found space on the 48 hour moorings beside the parkland just above the village. It was a scorching afternoon as we tied up and spent an enjoyable summers evening bbq on the riverbank in the company of Julie and Steve Levitt who came across to join us. 

Studying the map with Steve

Julie and Steve live in Titchmarsh which is on the river Nene, I hadn’t realised just how close the rivers came to each other, at this point only 20 miles. It was great to meet them on our journey and we arranged another meet up when we get closer to them on the Nene.

Post BBQ evening at Hemingford Grey

The following day was too warm to bother moving so we stayed put, explored the village and enjoyed the lovely weather by the boat.Moving on our next stop was at Holywell, another charming village, the moorings are limited in length but to our delight we managed to squeeze in. 

Holywell

The moorings sit alongside a popular recreation field overlooked by the very old and quaint Ferry Boat Inn, too much of a temptation in the heat. Thursday brought an even hotter day, we found out later that the hottest day on record was recorded in Cambridge, only a few miles away. The heat brought scores of people out to the recreation ground with people swimming and paddle boarding along side the boats. We offered to shuffle along the mooring to allow space for a cruiser to squeeze in behind us, this meant the bow was right into the trees and shrubs, a mistake as this was the dwelling place for hordes of mosquitoes, many of which decided to join us on the boat!Friday arrived and it was time for us to move on again, we retraced our steps to Earith, calling at the marina to use the facilities, to our delight a seal appeared on the opposite bank, a delight to see them so far inland. We arrived at the lock and mentioned we had seen the seal to the lock keeper, he said they often had problems with them getting in the lock and that they had to chase them out to prevent them ending up on the wrong side of the gates, in the fresh water section.Leaving the lock we had to battle our way through dense duckweed, something that had plagued many of the tributaries, due to the heat.We finally arrived at the Lazy Otter  moorings and we were thrilled to meet Ian and Cherryl on Stanton Rose, we moored up on the lengthy GOBA moorings just downstream from the pub and they joined us shortly afterwards. 

Moored near the Lazy Otter

We enjoyed a couple of evenings in their company swapping various wines and spirits sat outside on a  warm summer's evening. Sunday brought cooler and wetter weather so we walked down to the pub and enjoyed a convivial Sunday lunch together. Later that evening Ian and Cherryl moved onto Fish and Duck marina where they had an appointment the following morning.Monday morning  saw us moving down to Ely for a second visit, again we were joined by Stanton Rose to spend another couple of enjoyable evenings.Our time on the Great Ouse was coming to an end as we waved goodbye to Ian and Cherry heading back to Denver Sluice. Arriving at Denver we checked out the locking out times for the short tidal hop to Salters Lode lock and the Middle Levels. Whilst discussing the locking times with the lock keeper I watched a boat pass through on its way to the Middle Levels. The chap on the boat looked familiar and to my amazement the boat was Marj, they had been moored with us in Apperley Bridge some nine years ago, they had moved their boat to Ely and were just setting off on a trip to Stratford Upon Avon. 

NB Marj in Denver Lock

 Sunday morning was the most suitable for us giving us a few days to drop down onto the Relief channel and explore a little more of the area. We passed through the lock at Denver that leads onto the lower level. Boaters are required to register their entry and exit onto this waterway, leaving a contact number. The reason for this is that should the weather deteriorate and it is required to release water into the channel, the EA can contact any boaters in the system as significant flows and level variations can occur at such times.

Cruising on the Relief Channel

A misty morning at Downham Market

Mooring up on the floating pontoon at  Downham Market, we had a walk up into the town and found it a little disappointing as there is not a lot to see there, it does have a station, however,  with a regular service from trains travelling between Kings Lynn and London. We decided to get the train to Kings Lynn and explore this delightful place on a very warm Friday. The town was once one of the busiest ports in the country and its links with the sea are to be found throughout. It boasts a Customs House, fisherman's cottages as well as other delightful old buildings.By sheer coincidence Ian and Cherryl had also decided to visit the town so we met up for lunch, enjoying a fine Italian meal, washed down with a couple of bottles of wine.

The Exorcists house Kings Lynn

Fisherman's Cottages Kings Lynn

The Customs House Kings Lynn

King John- reputedly lost his treasure in the Wash near Kings Lynn

The river at Kings Lynn

We moved back up to Denver on Saturday to await our passage through the lock on Sunday.In conclusion we really enjoyed our time on the river but it has to be noted that facilities are less available than on the canals, mooring can also be tricky particularly at weekends, as is the case with most rivers, with careful planning and by joining GOBA these issues can be minimised. 

Sunset at Hemingford Grey