Brandon to Downham Market

Wed 24^th July Brandon to Lakenheath

After the youngsters had left yesterday there was rubbish everywhere. Plastic bottles and cans, sweet wrappers etc.  This morning there was a man collecting it up and putting it into a sack. Does he have to do this every morning?

The lock next to the weir was built as recently as 1995 but it can only take boats less than 40ft! So that is the limit of navigation for most narrowboats including ours at 59ft.

We left our mooring and turned in the weir stream to start our journey back downriver. It was a very hot day with record highs being forecast tomorrow. We cruised under the railway bridge and came to the road bridge at Lakenheath. We spotted a place we could moor underneath the bridge where we had some lovely shade.

Winding by Brandon Lock

Under the railway bridge

A shady mooring under the bridge

Unusual view from the boat

James scrambled up the bank, and stepped over a crash barrier onto the road, and after walking a short distance along, came to the entrance to the RSPB reserve.

RSPB sign

He walked about 4 miles along the footpaths in the reserve, hoping to see bitterns and cranes. Sadly, he saw neither, but there were lapwings, warblers and a kingfisher, plus lots of dragonflies and butterflies.

Dragonfly

Red Admiral

Cinnabar caterpillars (the third group seen this year)

This place had been a tree plantation for making matchsticks before it was landscaped and converted to a reserve by the RSPB. There are still a number of tall poplar trees, which are home to golden orioles. A few of the trees have been blown over in gales and have left gaps in the woodland, with huge tree roots standing up.

Trees blown over by the wind

Between the reserve and the river are some shallow washlands which fill with water after heavy rain, or when the river overflows the banks. After this hot summer they are drying out, revealing large shellfish on the mud.

The Little Ouse at Lakenheath

Washland drying out

James returned to the boat, and we set off again when it cooled down a bit. Today was the hottest UK day on record, with 37.9C being recorded in Cambridge. We had over 35C on the boat. We moored on the GOBA mooring where we had seen cranes in 2011.

GOBA Lakenheath

At dusk as the sun was setting, James briefly glimpsed two cranes flying silently overhead before they were hidden from view behind some trees. Sadly, there was no time to take a photo, but what a brilliant end to the day!

Sunset

0 locks, 5 miles. Dep 0815, arr 0930 Wilton Bridge. Dep 1935 arr 2025 GOBA Lakenheath

Thu 25^th July  Lakenheath to Wissey Bridge

There were several little egrets clustered together on the bank, but they dispersed as soon as we set off.

A wedge of egrets

Leaving the mooring at Lakenheath

The water was very clear, and there were good views of fish as we cruised along. Others had told us about a problem with weed, but it was only at the edges, so we had no difficulty.

Clear but weedy at the edges

A wake in the morning (get it?)

Dangerous building again. Has it collapsed even more?

Then we saw another Great White Egret, the first being near Ely a few days ago. It didn’t wait to be photographed in the reeds, but it flew round and passed overhead.

Great White Egret

We paused at the end of the Little Ouse for some fuel. We had filled our two 5 litre cans at a BP filling station in Brandon, and we had already poured the contents into the tank, as the level was so low. Thankfully we have a fuel gauge. Why aren’t these fitted as standard on all boats? So now we filled the tank and the two cans, ready for the next time we run low.

The weather was still very hot, and we wanted to sit somewhere in the shade, so we decided to visit the Ship Inn, where we could moor and enjoy a nice cool drink. This pub is where the Little Ouse meets the Great Ouse. We had to wait for them to open at midday, so we took our chairs up onto the bank and sat under a tree, with a lovely view over the Great Ouse.

The Ship Inn

The view from the Ship Inn

After a pleasant lunch we set off once more downstream to find somewhere shady. We turned into the River Wissey where there was a GOBA mooring with trees, where we had a barbecue with Andy and Sue (Springwater) in 2011. We had 5 miles of the Great Ouse to cover first, passing under one road bridge and one rail bridge on the way.

Hilgay Bridge

St Marks Church on Ten Mile Bank

Ouse Bridge (original name isn’t it?)

The entrance to the Wissey

Wissey Bridge (cleverly thought up by the same person)

We arrived at the GOBA mooring and were pleased to be able to tie to a tree to provide some shade in this very hot weather. Thankfully there was a cooling breeze and we slept with the front doors and many windows wide open.

A tree for shade on the Wissey

Sunset on the Wissey

0 locks, 13 miles. Dep 0840, arr 1105 Ship Inn. Dep 1350 arr 1500 GOBA Wissey Bridge

Fri 26^th July  Wissey Bridge to Downham Market

We had been warned about the high temperatures and possible thunderstorms, but they hadn’t mentioned the very high winds which rocked the boat. At 4am James was on the bank in his dressing gown armed with a boat hook, retrieving one of our folding chairs which had been blown into the river!

When morning came, we continued upstream, as there was nowhere wide enough to turn the boat. We had to go for two miles, and we arrived in Hilgay, where we finally managed to turn. We moored for a while on the visitor moorings, while we used the water tap, and James emptied two cassettes. James also checked the propeller and discovered an item of clothing wrapped round it.

Leaving the GOBA mooring on the Wissey

Hilgay

Clothing on the prop

We cruised back downstream to the Great Ouse, where we turned right and moored on some EA moorings on the right bank near Denver. After an hour there, we moved on to the moorings by the Jenyns Arms, where we enjoyed an early lunch.

Jenyns Arms

We went from there through the lock that connects with the Relief Channel. The lock is interestingly called the Relief Channel Lock.

Into Relief Channel Lock

Relief Channel Lock

Into the Relief Channel

We cruised then for a mile and a half, dead straight, to the EA mooring pontoon at Downham Market. There were four boats moored there already, but there was room for us at the end. There were also some swimmers in the water at the end which made mooring up quite tricky, as we didn’t want to pollute the nice clean water with human blood! In the end one of them took our bow rope and we were able to use that to power our stern round.

We had some welcome rain later.

1 lock, 7 miles. Dep 0850 arr 0935 Hilgay. Dep 1005 arr 1105 EA Denver right bank. Dep 1215 arr 1230 Jenyns Arms.  Dep 1535 arr 1625 Downham Market.

Sat 27^th July Downham Market

From our pontoon mooring we had a wonderful view of Heygates flour mill opposite. (!) Rain was forecast, and when it came it was heavy.

Heygates flour mill

Rain!!

We went to do some shopping and explore Downham Market. We took our trolley and some umbrellas. The town is quite interesting with some old buildings. We a drink in a Turkish café whose menu was not very Turkish. We had a long chat with a butcher about boating and then went to Morrisons to stock up. We had bottomless coffees in Wetherspoons, and James went to explore the best way to the church we want to visit tomorrow.

Downham Market mooring

Castle Hotel in Downham market

There was more heavy rain in the evening, and more is forecast for tomorrow.

No boating today

Next: a visit to Downham Market Christian Fellowship tomorrow afternoon. A short tidal link from Denver to Salters Lode on Monday.  A trip to Aylesbury by hire car on Tuesday for a dental appointment for Hazel. Then moving towards Peterborough for New Wine, a Christian event on the agricultural showground there.