Voyages of Gabriel: St Neots to Bedford

Sun 7^th July St Neots to Great Barford

The Priory Centre with a dragon boat.

We were woken up fairly early this morning when a public address system started soon after 7am. People were arriving for the triathlon. We decided to move across to the other side where we could see there was space, as we had already had two nights on the park, and it is a 48-hour mooring.

Triathlon preparations

Pontoon mooring by the Priory Centre

From there we could see the participants plunging into the river and thrashing about a bit, going around a buoy and returning to where they started. Then they rushed up onto the bank, pulled off their wetsuits and jumped on bicycles and disappeared for a while. When they returned, they ran a few times round the park to the finish.

swimmers

We only had to walk up a ramp and round the corner to get to this morning’s church, called Open Door Church, a New Frontiers group who meet at 1030 in the Priory Centre. We were early so we sat and listened to the worship band having their rehearsal. Several people came up to introduce themselves and to find out about us. The worship was good, with one song that was new to us. They also used the UP, IN, and OUT triangle that we have been using in Aylesbury.

Out and In

The talk was from Luke, and referred to two parables, and two encounters which Jesus had. The first parable was that of the prodigal son, where the younger son was obviously doing wrong things, but he humbled himself and repented and was accepted back by his father. The older son was full of the good things he had done, and was self-righteous. The second parable was of the pharisee and the tax collector in the temple, the pharisee being self-righteous, and the tax collector a repentant and humble sinner. The encounters that followed this teaching were with the self-righteous rich man, and the humble and penitent Zacchaeus, a tax collector. It was an interesting link.

Outside the priory Centre we found an unusual building: an oast house that had been converted to a restaurant.

Oast House

We set off after a quick visit to the nearby Waitrose. We passed a house where the bank had been almost washed away and they had used an interesting technique to stop further erosion.

Bank protection

We went through Eaton Socon Lock, where we were joined by three kayaks and a cruiser. Further upstream we passed under the A428, which we often use to get to Suffolk by car, and then the old and new A1 bridges.

Eaton Socon Lock

The old A1 Bridge

Roxton Lock was the next one, and there are chains to tether the gates to stop them swinging shut or open when you’re not looking.

Roxton Lock and weir

Lockgate chain

Our final lock of the day was Great Barford Lock, which is followed by a GOBA mooring on the right bank to our left, and an EA mooring on the left bank to our right. Custom dictates that the terms “Left bank” and “right bank” are as though viewed when coming downstream. We stopped on the EA mooring as it was nearer to the pub, where we went for a drink. Old Rosie and Cornish Orchard ciders on tap, a pleasant surprise.

Great Barford Lock

Moored at Great Barford

The old bridge

3 locks, 8 miles. Dep 1330, arr 1635

Mon 8^th July Great Barford to Bedford

Before we set off, we phoned Andy of A C Covers, and agreed to meet him at 3.30pm at Priory Marina in Bedford. Then we cruised under the ancient bridge, and were surprised to find it was faced with brick on the other side.

Great Barford Bridge

The same bridge from the other side

We passed an old lock, where there is a mooring on the lock island which we may use on the return journey.

The old lock

At Willington Lock James met a man who was using a bottle on a string to collect water from the river. James thought he must be testing the water quality for the Environment Agency, but it turned out he was going to drink it, using a water purifying tablet. He had a bicycle with a panier on a trailer, so we guess he was a “man of the road”.

Willington Lock and weir

The man with a water bottle

Willington Weir

Castle Mill lock was next, and this was much deeper, with the paddle gear halfway along the lock, which was side-filling. The lock was set against us when we arrived, and James worked out that he had to walk the length of the lock eleven times to complete the lock operation, as both gates need to be opened for the boat to pass through.

Castle Mill Lock and Weir

Castle Mill Weir

Castle Mill Lock

Castle Mill paddle gear

The final lock of the day was Cardington Lock which was much more gentle. As we left, we had an alarming moment when the engine died and then started again. We think it was because we were nearly out of fuel.

Cardington Lock

We went on tick over to Priory Marina, where we bought a new gas bottle, plus 100 litres of diesel. We also emptied two cassettes. While we were there, Andy came to look at our bow cover, and said he could fix it, and would contact us tomorrow or the next day when it was done.

We left the marina, and moored on the GOBA mooring almost opposite, near the pyramid shaped indoor swimming pool. There were some people fishing where we would have moored, so we moored slightly further upstream.

Turning in Priory Marina

Moored in Bedford.

3 locks, 7 miles. Dep 1030, arr 1315.

Tue 9^th July Bedford

Late last night we had heard loud men’s voices coming from across the river. We couldn’t see them, although through some reeds we saw the light of some torches. The talking lasted until about midnight, and then it all went quiet.

This morning we spotted a green woodpecker on a bush just behind the boat. The fishermen had gone, but they had left left rubbish on the grass, so James collected it all up, and we moved back to where they had been, as it was easier to get on and off at the bows.

Green Woodpecker

Fisherman’s rubbish

Today we decided to go to the nearby large Tesco Extra for breakfast. We weren’t quite sure what we would do with the rest of the day, as it depended on Andy and our cover. The decision was made for us when Hazel found a small bit of grit in her meal. We realised then that it was a piece of one of her dental crowns. We phoned our dentist in Aylesbury and made an appointment for this afternoon. We caught a bus outside Tesco which took us to Bedford Bus Station. Hazel took another bus to Milton Keynes and connected from there to Aylesbury.

James took the bus back to the boat to Tesco. He went across a footbridge to explore to find out what the men with loud voices had been doing. He discovered two tents, with clothes hanging up on trees. It was obviously a couple of homeless guys. From their camp it was impossible to see the boat.

James returned to the boat to catch up on admin while waiting for a call from Andy about the bow cover.

Mike and Julie Anne arrived on Tempo, last seen at Salters Lode. John and Helen on Saul also arrived and went past, and then returned after an hour, going into the marina.

Moored near the pyramid with Tempo

Hazel’s appointment took a bit longer than anticipated, and she missed a bus to Milton Keynes. She finally caught the next one, and was able to catch the last bus back to Bedford, but it would be too late to connect with a bus back to the boat. Instead, James took a bus into Bedford, and met her off the X5 from MK, and we went to an Indian restaurant (Indiya) for a meal which was excellent. We also spotted the prison with a very high wall, some almshouses, and a statue of John Bunyan. We then took a taxi back to the boat.