Blustery conditions.

6 Locks 8 Miles Now moored at Rushton and Diamond Sport Centre,Irthlingborough.

If it hadn't been for the wind, today would have been a beautiful day for cruising but the blustery wind made locking manoeuvres tricky. Entering the lock's under power to be able to maintain a straight line and having to use the ropes to reach the pontoons upon leaving the lock's to wait for the crew made life difficult to say the least.

Stanwick Lakes Assault Course in Irthlingborough alongside the River Nene

Except for one other boat and just a handful of fishermen today we had the river to ourselves. We made good time and upon reaching Irthlingborough lock we found EA staff carrying out some maintenance and lock clearing. They had fished out 2 bicycles which presumably had fouled the gates.

A photo of beautiful thatched cottages in Elton taken a couple of days ago

1195 locks, 1755½ miles, 41 Tunnels, 41 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006

Swan Rescue

5 Locks, 12 miles now moored at Islip 48hr moorings

With the weather forecast showing doom and gloom for this afternoon we opted for an early start to hopefully beat the onset of wind and rain. We said farewell to Bill and Pam on N/b 'Pickle' but everybody else appeared to still be in slumberland so we just had to make do and send them text messages after we had left.

When we reached the first lock we found we had a problem in the form of a swan cygnet in the lock with the rest of the family above the lock. It appeared to have been swept over the top of the lock gate which is like a weir with water pouring over it and of course it couldn't get back. We stayed at the back of the lock leaving the cygnet in front of us but it panicked and nearly drowned under the flow of water coming over the gates. The next thing I saw was a half drowned cygnet trying to swim down between the lock wall and the boat. I managed to push the boat away from the wall so that it could get past without getting squashed but then it shot out of the lock before Dot had had a chance to fully lower the guillotine gate. It was now well and truly separated from it's parents and as such wouldn't stand much chance of survival on its own, what to do now?

Once the lock had filled we pulled the boats out of the lock and Dot lured the rest of the swan family into the lock with food. We shut the gates behind them and we could see the parents were not too keen on this but once we started to drain the lock there was no way back and they seemed to settle down and accept what was happening. As soon as Dot had opened the guillotine gate high enough the swans rapidly left the lock but the funny thing was that the isolated cygnet seemed oblivious to the fact that the rest of the family had now joined him and he just carried on as if nothing was wrong. Eventually he did spot the others and rapidly swam back to rejoin them. Now I think there is a message there somewhere for children, don't play around locks, they are dangerous.

After this little bit of animal rescue the rest of the cruise was pretty mundane except for the wind which was getting stronger by the minute. The rain never got worse than light showers but the wind was making locking manoeuvres difficult so by the time we reached our present location it was just about lunchtime so we decided to call it a day and moor up for the night.

Ilford Hall, Home of Baron Ilford aristocrat and member of Parliament , on the banks of the River Nene close to Wadenhoe

1189 locks, 1747½ miles, 41 Tunnels, 41 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006

Re-union at Ashton lock.

5 Locks, 7 ½ miles now moored at Ashton Lock

Today's cruise was going to be an easy day so there was no great hurry to get started. There were plenty of fishermen out again today but the river is plenty wide enough so they caused no problems. We made Ashton lock in time for lunch and there were plenty of moorings available.

Fotheringhay Church

During the course of the afternoon we were joined by Pam and Bill of N/b 'Pickles' who we had met at Ferry Meadows, next to arrive was N/b 'Densie' with Mike and Denise who we had travelled with last year down the Grand Union to London. Mike and Denise went for a walk into Oundle so Dot joined them. While they were away Dick and Jane on Nb 'The Chequered Flag' arrived, we have met these good folk several times at Weedon and they were very helpful with information about our visit to the Nene, Fens and Ouse. In fact the whole evening has been one big re-union.

1184 locks, 1735 ½ miles, 41 Tunnels, 41 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006

Where have all the fishes gone???

5 Locks, 12 ½ miles now moored at Elton

Our mooring at Ferry Meadows last night

Today has been a day of hold ups and hindrances. We set off at 8.15 thinking that we would be moored up by lunchtime, huh fat chance. The first lock we reached was being used by a couple that had only had their boat 3 months and this was their first experience at locking. They slowed us down a bit but not as bad as the next hold up.

It was the Environmental Agencies fishery research team doing a fish survey on a 200 yard stretch of river. They had 4 nets stretched out across the river, 1 at each end of the section of river and 2 that they dragged down the river to catch what ever was in this stretch of water. Needless to say we had to hove too until they had finished which took about an hour. I went and had a look to see what they had caught as each net was pulled in and it was very disappointing. The first net had a Pike of about 7 - 8 lb, a Tench of about 2lb and a Perch of less than 1/2lb and about 30 sprats mainly roach. The second net was even worse with only 30 - 40 sprats. Not exactly encouraging for the fisherman. Once underway again we encountered a never ending line of fisherman who I felt like telling that they were wasting their time after what we had just seen. We did see one guy land a reasonable sized Carp but that was all.

At Yarwell lock we planned to fill the water tanks as there is a water point above the lock. This was where hold up No3 arose. We were just about to exit the lock when 2 narrowboats arrived from the opposite direction and they went straight onto the water point, damn! We then had to wait in the lock for nearly 30 minutes until they had finished. This time wasn't lost as we had our lunch while waiting. After some discussion it was decided to swap over with a 1 out, 1 in manoeuvre which was the simplest way of doing things as there is not much space between the lock, weir and water point.

Wansford Station on the Nene Valley railway now has a new mooring
(for your info Sue it is now open)

Beautiful Water Eaton Lock cottage

We finally reached our overnight mooring 2 hours later than expected but it had been a busy sort of day.

1179 locks, 1728 miles, 41 Tunnels, 41 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006

Fishing season opens.

1 Lock, 4 miles now moored at Overton Lake, Ferry Meadows

After a bit of last minute shopping and an early lunch we left Peterborough for the last time, any returns here will have to be by bus or train. We only had a short trip to undertake so there was no hurry. Along the way we found fisherman staking their claims to their favourite fishing spots and getting ready for 3pm and the first cast of the season.

As we exited the only lock, 2 narrowboats approached in the opposite direction so we were able to leave the lock open for them. It was strange coming off the river and motoring across a man made lake. We found the moorings were floating pontoons and there was only one available so Kalimera went in first and we have breasted up against them. Since then 2 boats have left and we did find another single mooring further round the lake but we decided just to stay put for the night.

We have been for a walk around the lake which is 1 of 3 lakes here.They all are used for different activities such as sailing and boating, fishing and mooring facilities. There is a vast expanse of parkland with a kiddies playground, walkways. hire boats, 2 restaurants and a miniature train ride which is about half a mile end to end. Being a fine Sunday this was doing a roaring trade. There is plenty of open spaces for ball games and even kite flying.

When the lakes were being quarried for roading material the site of an old Roman settlement was uncovered and this has been saved and documented.

1174 locks, 1715½ miles, 41 Tunnels, 41 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006

East of England show.

Still moored at Peterborough

Saturday was going to be a busy day for us. We started off by walking to the bus station where we caught the open top bus to the show grounds at Alwalton for the East of England agricultural show. The bus itself was a rarity being an old Routemaster of approx; 30 years of age. As we boarded the bus the first people we saw were Sue and Vic on N/b No Problem, along with Ann and Chas plus 3 dogs, they had caught the train to Peterborough and then the bus. The bus trip only took about 20 minutes dropping us at the main gate of the show.

Once in the gate it was a case of where to look first. As it turned out the Royal Artillery Motorcycle stunt team were just about to start the first performance of the day so that's where we started . As well as precision and formation riding they also performed a 13 man pyramid on 5 motorbikes and then 3 riders took turns to jump over cars starting with 1 and finishing with 4.

Next came the Shire horse's beautifully adorned with immaculate Brewer's dray's and the like in tow. Magnificent animals doing what they do best. This was followed by ponies and traps of various sizes.

While heading off towards the giant steaming traction engines, road roller and fair ground engines we found the vintage car section with 70 to 80 cars of all makes and models on show. A 1950 Ford Anglia even had the original car dealers advertising inside it on display. The new price for the car in those days was £297 but the average weekly wage in those days might have only been £15. As well as the full size traction engines there were a couple of working miniatures perhaps about 1/4 scale correct right down to the smallest detail. Two machines were busy running a saw mill and a hay bailing machine. The saw mill really made the traction engine strain as the saw bit into the log's being fed onto it. There was also traditional fair ground caravans from the steam era and a beautifully restored fairground organ belting out some fantastic music. Made the hair on the back of my neck curl.

As well as all this was the most important part of the show as far as rural folk were concerned, that was all the latest tractors and machinery. For the city folk there was the display of all the vintage tractors and machinery showing how things used to be down and how primitive early agricultural machinery used to be.

Among the exhibitors caravans and motor homes we found 2 ex military trucks of WWII vintage. Upon closer examination we found that they too had been converted into motor homes and one was adorned with rally plaques going back nearly 40 years.

Of course there was the live stock where farmers could check out potential new breeding stock and city folk to get up close and personal with sheep, pigs cattle, horses and alpaca's. It has been found that running a couple of the latter beastie's in a flock of lambing sheep reduces the number of lambs lost to predators such as foxes.

There were so many trade stands that we didn't have a hope of getting to them all and we had to catch the 3.30 bus back to town as we were going out to dinner with my cousin and family. All in all a brilliant day out.

1173 locks, 1711½ miles, 41 Tunnels, 41 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006

Back in Peterborough.

1 Lock, 6 miles now moored at Peterborough

As today was market day in Whittlesey the girls went to see what was on offer but were back on board very quickly as the market only consisted of 5 stalls. We had read that this market was of no great consequence due to its proximity to Peterborough.

Even though we were not booked to go through Stanground lock until 2pm we set off just after 11am which gave us plenty of time.The weather was slightly better than yesterday but there was a chilly wind blowing. It was an uneventful cruise and we reached Stanground lock just after 12.30. Madam lock keeper was already on hand and she was quite happy for us to go straight through. We learnt that she had taken over the job from her father who had done the job for 55 years and at 77 years of age he was still on hand helping his daughter. It also transpired that she had lots of cousins living in New Zealand. Their parents had emigrated to NZ but once the children were old enough Mum and Dad returned to Peterborough because Dad missed the football (soccer). Obviously not a Rugby man.

We have a busy week-end ahead of us with the Saturday market first on the list, followed by a visit to the East of England Show ( copy cat Sue) and then going out to dinner with my cousin Pam and family. Sunday we will move up to Ferry Meadows to see what the moorings are like up there. It's just as well we are settled in for the night as it is now pouring with rain, I hope this doesn't create more flooding and disrupt our plans again!

1173 locks, 1711½ miles, 41 Tunnels, 41 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006