Saturday 22 June 2019

Titchmarsh to Peterborough

Wed  19th June  Titchmarsh to Ashton Lock

There was more waiting around this morning. We spent some time chatting to the other boaters who were waiting to go upstream. The river looked calm and easily navigable. We realised that some of the EA staff were probably at Wainfleet in Lincolnshire where severe flooding had taken place.

Then an EA van appeared, and a man closed the top gates of the lock and raised the vertical guillotine gate. He said the red boards would come down at about 4pm when all the locks had been reset. He also added that after he had left boaters would probably ignore the red boards and set off.

When he had gone, two boats from the cruising club went into the lock and came up. We used the lock straight afterwards and went down. There was another boat waiting to go up when we left.

The first boats through Titchmarsh Lock

Our turn

Farewell to MNCC

At last we were moving again. The flows were fine – no problems. We passed the unusual church at Wadenhoe, and this was followed by the Kings Head, where there were a few boats tied up, and as we turned into the lock cut, we saw one boat move forward to the water tap there.

Wadenhoe Church

Poppies

We passed through Lilford Lock, and then under an ornate bridge. Lilford Hall has 100 rooms and dates back to 1495. We could only glimpse part of it through the trees, so we have nicked an aerial view from the internet to show the scale of the place.

Ornate Bridge

Lilford Hall

We have seen several of these red and white signs.
Does anyone know what they mean?

At Upper Barnwell Lock there is a lovely mill which at one time was a restaurant, but it looks private now. This is quickly followed by Oundle Marina and and Lower Barnwell Here we saw a red sign displayed, and we noticed that the lower landing stage was level with the water. The flows were still manageable so we continued.

Approaching Oundle Mill

Oundle Mill

In 2011 we had moored in the cut leading to the weir above Ashton Lock. There had been several boats there, and it had been one of the best moorings we had found. We walked from there along a path, over a small bridge and across a meadow into Oundle. This was our intended mooring this time. Our Friends of the River Nene moorings booklet had indicated that this was now one of their moorings, called Ashton Carr. However, when we arrived this time, we saw that there were big red signs saying no mooring at any time – private land. We still wanted to go into Oundle for a haircut and an Indian meal, so we moored just behind the lock bollards, among some bushes, doing a bit of gardening with the nettles.

Moor no more at Ashton

Moored above Ashton Lock

In the bushes

A boat arrived from behind us – it was the one we had seen on the water point at Wadenhoe. They told us that mooring was possible on the meadows below the lock, but that it was noisy from the road. They agreed that we could just stay put and walk into town from where we were, so we decided to do that.

We set off walking along the lock island where the “no mooring” signs were, but when we came to the bridge, we discovered that there was a gate, and it was closed with a padlock and chain! We gave up and returned to the boat and Hazel rustled up something for a meal instead. The FOTRN website no longer mentions this mooring.

5 locks, 8 miles


Thu 20th June Ashton Lock to Yarwell

Ashton Lock



After a peaceful night we did battle with the wheel on the lock, and travelled down to the unofficial mooring on the water meadows, where we moored successfully with no need for a plank.

As we walked into Oundle we saw a sign saying moorers must leave by 8am. They didn’t say which day.

Moored on the meadows

Oundle is a lovely town, with stone-built houses and a vibrant marketplace. James found somewhere to get his hair cut, and we bought a few things in the market and in Waitrose, before returning to the boat. 


Oundle



As we crossed the meadow, we saw another boat coming downstream, so we called to the helmsman and suggested we share locks. We set off through the old bridge at Oundle, under interesting skies.

Oundle Bridge

Cloudy skies

We caught up with the other boat at Cotterstock Lock. It was a solo guy called Ian and his boat was called Loose Cannon. We arranged that he would go first and lower the guillotine gate at the next lock, while James raised it again when we had left the lock. The system worked well.

Sharing with Loose Cannon

Ian and Hazel

There are some fine old churches on the Nene, such as the ones at Cotterstock and Fotheringhay, which both look impressive from the river.

Cotterstock Church

Fotheringhay Church

Fotheringhay Bridge

Fotheringhay Castle Mound

We arrived at Warmington Lock, the second manual wheel of the day, and the final one on the Nene. There were two boats on the lock bollards, and we thought there might be a problem with the lock. No – the other boaters were merely having a spot of lunch, so we used the lock.

Boats at Warmington Lock

At Elton Lock a boat was already using the lock, coming up stream. This was useful, as we did not need to lower the guillotine gate. The boat was nb Petrel, built in 1914

Nb Petrel

Arriving at Elton Lock

Elton Mill

When we arrived at Yarwell Lock, our friend Maureen was just passing through, walking her dogs and going to visit someone. For both Loose Cannon and ourselves, this was our last lock of the day. We said farewell to Ian, who went first. He needed to turn around and face upstream to arrive on his mooring.

We continued a little further and turned to starboard into a private marina where Maureen lives with her husband Peter. They are BCF members, and we met originally three years ago on the tidal Trent at Gainsborough. They had kindly offered us their mooring for the night, and dinner at their home. We had a good time of catching up.

We did take some photos, but accidentally deleted them!

6 locks, 12 miles


Fri 21st June  Yarwell to Ferry Meadows

We attempted to slip away quietly this morning without disturbing any of the residents. We headed downstream through Wansford Lock, and under Wansford Bridge. There were no places to moor except by tying to trees almost under the bridge, as we did last time.

Leaving Maureen and Peters place

Wansford Bridge

Wansford is a lovely old town, so we were surprised that the A1 bridge there is so ugly.

A1 road bridge

Two miles further downstream, the river goes under a railway bridge, which is at the end of the Nene Valley Railway, which starts in Peterborough. Some of the trucks and wagons can be seen across the fields.

Water Art

Nene Valley Railway rolling stock

The lock at Water Newton is in a very attractive setting, with a mill and a church nearby. There were two ladies with two children there, and one of them said she lives in Castor, half a mile across the meadow, but this is the first time she had found this place.

Water Newton Lock

Water Newton Mill

Alwalton Lock was next, and we took note of the two mooring possibilities here. One was a FOTRN mooring, and the other was some mooring bollards on the weir side of the lock island. There was no sign for these with any mooring restrictions, so we are hopeful we can moor here for the New Wine event on the showground in August.

That was the last lock of the day, as we now had a 3-mile loop round Ferry Meadows Country Park. We passed under Milton Ferry Bridge and entered a narrow channel which connects the river to Overton Lake, where there are moorings on two pontoons.

Milton Ferry Bridge

The entry channel to Ferry Meadows

On the lake

Moored on Ferry Meadows

We went for a walk, had a coffee in a café, and visited some bird hides. We were very surprised to see a ring-necked parakeet, as we hadn’t realised that they were in this area. There are lots in Surrey, and we saw them almost as far north as Rickmansworth this year, and they are up the Thames almost to Henley. We saw one in Skipton a few years ago.

Parakeet

We also saw a greater spotted woodpecker. In Northampton we saw a black swan next to a mute swan. Here, at the other end of the Nene we saw another black swan next to white one.


Greater spotted woodpecker

Black and White swans in Northampton

Black and White swans in Peterborough

We met some lovely people on another boat, Tricia and Steve Higham. They have offered us a lift to their church on Sunday morning. We were treated to a lovely sunset, reflected on the water.

Tricia and Steve's boat



Sunset at Ferry Meadows

Next: Through the final lock into Peterborough for two nights. A visit to Kingsgate Church on Sunday with Tricia and Steve, followed by a Sunday Asian buffet on a floating barge called East. Then we have booked a passage through Stanground Sluice on Monday morning. This will take us onto the Middle Levels to March, where we leave the boat for two days to attend two funerals.


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