New Friends on Board

We were slowly heading south on the Oxford Canal, and had moored up for the evening a few miles from Lower Heyford, when we had a phone call from Christine and Trevor, friends we have got to know in Blisworth. Could they come and visit us on the boat? Of course they could – we were looking forward to seeing them again – the only question was to work out where to meet! The first bridge we thought of looked good until we just happened to look in a different canal guide book – it told us that (unusually) there was no connection from the bridge to the towpath. Plan B was to return to Lower Heyford, which would be easy for them to get to by car, and then we could do a 'there-and-back-again' day trip.

We met up almost exactly on time, turned in the boatyard and headed south again. It didn't take long for Trevor to really 'get into' steering the boat and, as you can see, he really took the trouble to get his navigation as accurate as possible. Not to be outdone, Christine took her turn on the windlass and helped with operating some of the locks.

We reckoned that we should have time to get to Enslow and the 'Rock of Gibraltar' pub for lunch and get back to Lower Heyford in time for them to be back for Trevor's meeting in the evening, BUT somehow the time went too quickly! Perhaps we spent too much time chatting after lunch or maybe Dave's lock/mile calculations were a little optimistic – we didn't get back until just before 7pm. We tried apologising for the delay, but they were both very happy about it. Apparently Trevor got to his meeting before it ended and said he enjoyed it so much that he now wanted a job delivering canal boats! For someone who had apparently never steered a boat in his life before, his skill was amazing. Better than many others we have seen at the tiller (of other boats, of course, NOT Zindagi!)

We look forward to welcoming Christine and Trevor on board again sometime when we are back within 'range' from Blisworth, and hope that there will be others who want to come and join us for a visit, short or long!

South by North-West!

Back to 'Zindagi' and Blisworth at the end of August, a couple of weeks there to give Val a bit more recovery time and get a few things sorted out (including a large order from Switzerland for the online garden tools business) and then it was time to start out on our travels again.

We were heading for the Kennet and Avon Canal, running from the Thames at Reading to Bristol on the Avon. The 'obvious' way would have been to go south down the Grand Union to the Thames at Brentford in London, then upstream to Reading and turn off there, but we did some calculations and worked out that this apparently shorter route was actually longer in 'lock-miles' than the alternative of travelling northwestwards via Norton Junction, Braunston and Napton, then down the Oxford Canal to join the Thames and downstream to Reading. Besides, this southern part of the Oxford Canal is one of our favourite canals, with its narrow locks, contour-hugging route and quiet countryside. It was the second canal we travelled on, back in the late 1970s, and we have been back since, on our 'share-syndicate' boat in 2005 and then on 'Zindagi' in the early part of our travels in 2007.

So, in order to travel south and west, we needed to start off going northwest, and mid-September found us going up the Whilton/Buckby flight alongside the A5, the M1 and the railway (west coast main line) and then escaping that hubbub as we headed towards the Braunston Tunnel. We emerged into the slightly surreal 'canal world' of Braunston. (You can see our wind turbine on the roof of 'Zindagi'.) Val's mobility was improving well and she managed the walk up the hill to the shop and the apparently separate and quiet world of Braunston village itself.

Moving on after a few days there, we came to Napton and the start of the narrow locks of the Oxford Canal – a welcome return! More surprising was to find ourselves apparently transported back to India as there were water buffalo in the fields next to some of the locks.

It was getting towards the end of September by now, but the weather was still very mild and there were flowers to prove it, like this beautiful Campsis radicans at Claydon locks as we started the gradual descent towards Oxford.

We probably shared a picture of Cropredy with you when we travelled down this way in 2007, but we couldn't resist taking a few more as we were moored up and watching another boat coming out of the lock behind us. Here's one of them. You can probably appreciate a little more of why we like this canal so much.

On past Banbury, we began to realise that we had forgotten that the next part of the canal is a little different from the part north of Banbury. The story is that the canal builders started running short of cash as they dug southwards, and the double gates at the bottom of each lock above Banbury disappear in favour of single gates 'top and bottom'. Wooden lift bridges start appearing (only one seen north of Banbury), but stone and brick bridges are often there at the foot of a lock. Here's a recently restored lift bridge, contrasting with the M40 bridge behind it.

And picturesque villages still hide near the canal. Some parts of both Upper and Lower Heyford have a timeless quality – apart from the cars and TV aerials, Upper Heyford's High Street seems to have remained unchanged for centuries.

There's more to come – hopefully very soon – as we update the story for you . . .

Devon, Scotland and Devon Again!

Yes, there ARE canals in both Devon and Scotland, but they are not connected to the rest of the system, so we have been driving around quite a bit since the end of June.

As you know, Val's second knee replacement operation was scheduled for 1st July, so we drove down from Blisworth to Lapford on the 29th of June, ready for Val to go in on the 30th. We stayed the night with Colin and Janet and then Dave stayed the next few days with Joe and Wendy in Barnstaple, until Val came out of hospital.

The operation went well, if anything better than the first one, and Val didn't have the same bad effects from the anaesthetic this time. She also ended up in a ward with 3 other ladies with knee and hip operations, where quite a lot of fun was had!!

So, after the expected 5 days in hospital, Val was allowed home and we went back to Lapford to stay with Colin and Jan again. And here is Val, just 8 days after the operation, getting the second knee (her right leg) into action again. Seems that this second knee has had slightly better mobility a bit sooner than the first one, but there has been rather more pain and discomfort and a few more disturbed nights' sleep.

Overall progress was good, though, and the physios released Val after 4 weeks, as we had hoped. Shireen had invited us to come and spend some time with her up in Glasgow, so we drove up a few days later, stopping overnight with Adam and Rachel in Shrewsbury on the way. Thanks, folks, that really made a difference! We were towing our trailer with a bookcase for Shireen, one that had belonged to Dave's parents, plus a little chair which we no longer need and she should find useful. Dave had spent some time renovating the trailer while we were in Lapford, so that worked out well.

We hadn't seen Shireen and Thor since March and, as you can see, he had grown – no surprise! Here he is, 'helping' in the garden. His watering efforts were actually quite useful as Shireen was starting some containers of herbs and flowers! This is the first time they have all had a garden of their own, and it is rather empty at present, so there is plenty to do.

Val's knee was recovering well but of course she couldn't go running around just yet. We thought we could manage a trip to the Falkirk Wheel, though, and played at being 'canal tourists' as we took a trip in the boat and went up the Wheel, along the canal and through Roughcastle Tunnel before turning round and coming back down again.

While Val and Shireen had a little break, Dave and Thor went up the hill beside the Wheel and had a towpath-side view – yes, that's Thor in the pushchair, taking an interest in a boat going up the locks above the Wheel.

While we were up in Scotland, we took a couple of days out from Glasgow and explored some of the eastern coastline south of Edinburgh. Too late to see puffins and some of the other seabirds, but there were kittiwakes still nesting on the cliffs at St. Abb's Head and snorkellers among the rocks just outside St. Abb's little harbour. We found a nice B & B just outside Coldingham and stayed there two nights before making a long and circuitous return trip to Glasgow via the borders.

We stayed a few more days in Glasgow and Dave walked up to the Maryhill Locks on the Forth & Clyde Canal a few times. There is not much chance of us travelling along this canal in 'Zindagi', but we have toyed with the idea of trying to find a narrowboat owner who is based on the Forth & Clyde and arranging a swap for a week or two. Not sure whether that would work, but it is an idea! And then, of course, it would also be great to take the boat from Fort William to Inverness, travelling through Loch Ness . . !

Val's final appointment with the surgeon was on 26th August, so we went back to Devon a couple of days early and got routine dentist appointments out of the way. We stayed with our friends David & Mary in Okehampton and, once again, Dave enjoyed walking out onto Dartmoor, just about 5 minutes' walk from their front door. By now, Val was walking with just a stick and not really needing it all the time – good progress!

The surgeon was happy with Val's progress, and just wants to see her in 12 months time for an 'MOT' on both knees.

So . . . Time to go back to Blisworth and rejoin 'Zindagi'!

Keeping Appointments

I should really start with an apology: It has been a very long time since I made a blog entry, and even what is here is not up to date! I'll try to get that fixed in the next few days, now that we have a slightly better internet connection. In the meantime, I need to continue where we left off, in Peterborough, towards the end of June . . .

Our 'appointment' in Peterborough was to meet up again with Jeremy's old school friend, Dan, whom we had last seen at the beginning of May in Huntington. This time, though, he was bringing his Mum and Dad (Barbara and Dave) and his girlfriend Dianne, who lives in Peterborough. Unknown to him, we had arranged for Jeremy to join us the evening before, so that he and Dan could meet up again after 20-odd years. So here is the crew at the back of Zindagi, setting off for a day afloat together! (L to R: Jeremy, Barbara, Dianne, Val, Dan, Dave) And yes, Dianne is at the tiller!

They had done their homework and planned ahead, leaving a car at Wansford Station before coming to join us at Peterborough Embankment, so we were able to enjoy a leisurely one-way cruise without having to worry about getting back.

After stopping at Ferry Meadows Country Park for a bite to eat, we carried on through Alwalton, where Dianne and Barbara got to grips with the lock, and on to Water Newton, which we think is one of the most picturesque places on the Nene. The old Mill, the waterside setting of the Parish Church, the impression of slow-moving country life – they all add to the enjoyment . . .

. . . and so to Wansford Station (which is not actually at Wansford), with enough time to look around the station before Dan and co. needed to get in their car to head back home. Jeremy stayed on board with us, planning to take the Nene Valley Railway back into Peterborough the next day – until we realised that the trains don't run on Mondays! He ended up walking into Stibbington the next morning to catch a bus instead.

But we had another appointment to keep as well. You may remember that Val had been given 1st July as the date for her second knee replacement operation, in Barnstaple in North Devon. Here it was, getting towards the end of June, and we needed to get back to Blisworth to pick up the car to drive down there. After our dawdling through the Middle Level, we now needed to accelerate a little!

Instead of only cruising for a couple of hours each day, we now needed to keep going for an average of over 5 hours. We had good weather, so it really was no hardship; in fact, really enjoyable to be doing some 'proper' cruising again! Our first day, we cruised for just under 6 hours, which brought us to another favourite spot, the quiet and remote moorings just above Ashton lock, not far from Oundle. On our way downstream in April, we had tucked ourselves away here for a few days while I (Dave) was recovering from 'flu – it seemed an age ago!

The next day, at Wadenhoe Lock, we met up with Duncan and Margaret on 'Petrel', a lovely old 1914 working boat. It may be nearly 100 years older than 'Zindagi', but it could certainly move, and overtook us on the way to Titchmarsh Lock, where we stopped for lunch while they moved on. We hope to be able to look them up whenever we eventually visit the Chesterfield Canal. By the time we moored up later in the day, at Irthlingborough, we had been travelling over 7½ hours.

We caught up with 'Petrel' again the next evening at Cogenhoe lock, after a 6-hour cruising day. We had made such good time that we could afford to ease back a little now, so the next day's travel was only 2¾ hours, bringing us into Northampton by lunchtime – an opportunity to get a little shopping done before the final 'leg' up the Northampton Arm of the Grand Union Canal.

For us, there's something special about returning to narrow locks after a longer time spent on rivers and broad canals. As we have said before, it's as if narrow canals feel like 'home' in a special way, so coming up the first narrow lock from Northampton felt welcoming despite the somewhat plain surroundings.

It was nearly the end of June now and we had set out this way in early April, when Val's left knee was still feeling a bit strange after the operation at the end of January. Now it was the right knee that felt like the 'bad' one – the second operation was definitely due!

By later that same day, we had travelled up all the 17 locks and were back at Gayton Junction and turning in to Blisworth Marina. Pete and Val were expecting us the next day, but there was still room for us and we had a couple of days to spare before we needed to drive down to Devon.

On The Level Again!

When we came back through Denver Sluice on 9th June, it seemed a very long time since we had first come through – the other way – on 24th April. In those 6½ weeks, we had become accustomed to the 'dual personality' of the Fenland rivers; sometimes hemmed in by high flood banks with very little to see from the boat, sometimes meandering through flat, lightly wooded countryside.

All the time, we had been developing a greater awareness of the unique nature of this area, where land level is often well below river water level and the threat of devastating floods has only receded in comparatively recent years, thanks to systematic drainage and flood relief measures.

Denver Sluice itself plays such a pivotal role in the whole process that it is specially significant as the gateway to the Fenland rivers. Now we were leaving as we came, through Denver, down half a mile of tidal Great Ouse, then nipping in to Salter's Lode lock to retrace our route through the Middle Level to Peterborough.

We showed you the inside of Salter's Lode lock as we came through it – here's a view of it from the tidal river side, taken when the tide was a little higher. Just imagine bringing 57feet of steel narrowboat downstream (from the left of the picture), moving fairly fast on the ebbing tide and trying to turn across the current to enter the lock between the yellow cross marker and the side wall – tricky, but not impossible, and we only bumped a little!

Back on the Middle Level and with plenty of time to spare, as we had an appointment in Peterborough, but not until 21st June, twelve days away. Time to dawdle!

Just 2 miles from Salter's Lode lock is the little village of Nordelph. Last time, we just chugged straight through it, but did notice some public moorings as we came under the bridge. We needed to get some shopping, and the local bus route would take us into Downham Market, so here was our opportunity. We liked the village sign, with each side showing one distinctive characteristic of this area – farming (with a river and windpump in the background) and ice skating, with its long history in the Fens. The moorings are provided by the Well Creek Trust (WCT), along with others along the Well Creek, the section of the Middle Level which runs from Marmont Priory Lock to Salter's Lode.

After our shopping trip in Downham Market, we moved on just 4 miles to the twin villages of Outwell and Upwell. On the way, we passed an unusual sight – a 'trig' (triangulation) point! As most countryside walkers know, these are always placed on the highest points in the landscape and are used in land surveying. So here we were, chugging along just a few feet below the highest point for miles around – we were certainly still in the Fens! We reached Upwell and moored on the WCT moorings there, as we had on the way through. We spent two nights there, sharing the moorings with four boats who were travelling together. They moved on before us and we next caught up with them in March. The picture shows nine boats moored near the Town Bridge – at one point there were thirteen!

The four stayed there as we moved on to Whittlesey, where they caught up with us a few days later but left ahead of us. When we were about to move on, we were hailed by a small cruiser across the other side of the river – could we help him, as his steering had failed? He needed to get back to his mooring at Stanground, which was on our way, so it was simple enough to take his bow rope and soon we were towing 'Isla May' with Stephen on board!

In spite of the slight delay, we arrived early for our locking-through time at Stanground Sluice and were soon on our way into the outskirts of Peterborough, 2½ days early for our scheduled rendezvous.

Triple Diversion

When we first came up through Denver Sluice back in late April, we saw that there were three tributaries leading into the Great Ouse and wondered about exploring them first or leaving them until we were on our way back. We decided then to press on towards Bedford and look at the Rivers Wissey, Little Ouse and Lark on our return journey.

Now (very late May) we were on the way back and conscious that some of the most attractive parts of our journey lay behind us. We now knew that the lower part of the Cam and Great Ouse were not so picturesque as the higher parts. Apart from anything else, the high flood banks do tend to restrict the view! So we left the River Cam and came back to Ely, filled up with diesel and water and set off down the Great Ouse, ready to turn up the Lark, the first of the three. What would this be like, same old high flood banks or what? Once again, we were very aware that we were in fen country. The highest pieces of land for miles around were the roads, the railway and the flood banks either side of the river! The water level in the river is several metres higher than the surrounding farmland, which has sunk many metres as the peatland has gone on shrinking since fenland drainage started in the 1600s. It is difficult to show the different levels in a photo, but this one shows an old pumping station in the foreground and a newer one built behind and below it, simply because the old one is now too high above the surrounding farmland!

We moored overnight in the village of Prickwillow, but found that its 'Museum of Fenland Drainage' was closed that day. No problem, we could catch it on the way back, so we chugged on to see what the Lark was like. There were some very straight bits but the flood banks began to reduce a bit We passed 'The Pepperpot', a former land drainage windpump.

Apparently there used to be many of these in the early days of fen drainage, strung out along the banks of this river and others. The sinking land levels made them ineffective, and few remain.

Meanwhile, spring had been moving into summer and we had seen more and more young waterbirds. The early ducklings were afloat in April, but cygnets take a little longer and swans seem to be doing very well this year. 6 or 7 youngsters seems to be the norm. Maybe fenland suits them especially well?

After crossing several miles of fenland, we came to Isleham Lock, the only one on the Lark, and experienced the familiar shift of landscape as we rose only a metre or so, but soon found ourselves in wooded coutryside, leaving fenland behind. Only a couple of miles later and we reached the end of the navigation at Jude's Ferry, which turned out to be the name of the pub, not a village!

Overnight there, then back down to Prickwillow, where we did visit the Drainage Museum – very interesting too! There is a good introduction to the history of the Fens and the centuries of drainage on their website. Definitely worth a look! (Go to the 'Education/Research pages for the historical background.)

REACHING FURTHER EAST. Our next 'diversion' was the Little Ouse, aka Brandon Creek, which was to take us to the furthest east that we can travel on the (connected) inland waterways. We thought we had reached our easternmost point back in 2007 when we reached Bishop's Stortford on the River Stort, but we had reckoned without the fenland rivers!

It started well - the flood banks are quite low at the Ship Inn on the Great Ouse, where we turned off, and the first mile or more of the Little Ouse is lined with mature poplar trees. After another mile, we passed the settlement of Little Ouse and the river started becoming more 'fenny', but still without high flood banks.

We passed a man and his dog, exploring the river by canoe, and passed under the isolated Redmere Bridge, the last one for about six miles.

After a few more miles, we were looking out for the GOBA moorings shown in our guide book, and hoping that they would not be full up as it was getting a little late, moving from late afternoon to early evening. We found there was just one other boat there, and the moorings themselves were delightful - quiet and remote and in a good wildlife area.

We moved on to the town of Brandon the next morning, as far east as we could possibly go. Although the river is still navigable for a few miles beyond Brandon Lock, the lock chamber itself is only able to accommodate boats up to 12 metres long, and Zindagi at 57 feet is over 17 metres long. The 'end of the road', then, for us! Having arrived at lunchtime, we stayed the night and the next morning and then started back downstream. (If you want to find Brandon on the map, it is in Suffolk and very near to Thetford Forest).

We hoped to find enough space to moor at the remote mooring we had used on the way upstream and it only took us two hours to get there, where we found that we had it all to ourselves - great! There was no hurry, so we just relaxed and enjoyed being there for a couple of nights before moving on. On the opposite bank there seemed to be a bit of activity from time to time, and it seems that there was a major bird-watching 'twitch' going on. Apparently there were some Golden Orioles and Hobbys around, but we didn't see any of them, just a Marsh Harrier or two, which was quite good enough!

Then back to the Great Ouse again, going under the road bridge at Little Ouse on our way, which seems to be very well-used for a bridge that looks like it belongs to a bygone age!

The last of the three rivers was the River Wissey, which flows into the Great Ouse quite close to Denver Sluice. We chugged in as far as Hilgay and stopped for lunch, then went on to the end and were there at Stoke Ferry by the mid to late afternoon – not very far to go!

On the way, we saw some Great Crested Grebe with well-grown youngsters. They seem to have grown well this year – we only saw very few at the 'small chick' stage, when they often ride piggy-back on one of their parents' back. These ones were almost full size, with their curious, almost snake-like, stripey necks and heads.

The river follows a pleasant course, through large lakes (flooded gravel pits, probably) and, right in the middle of apparently remote fenland, passes the enormous Wissington sugar beet factory, built here for obvious reasons, close to one of the centres of sugar beet production. It is apparently the biggest sugar refinery in Europe and British Sugar's first bioethanol plant. On the way back the next day, we found a cosy mooring spot for lunch by the riverside. Only when you climbed the bank could you see how close this gigantic plant was!

So, back to the Great Ouse again, with almost no distance to travel to get to Denver Sluice. Our diversions up these three rivers were definitely worth it, though we agree that, of the three, the Little Ouse was the best!

Now we were about to start our return to Blisworth via the Middle Level and the River Nene. . .

Cambridge and the Lodes

Sorry for the long delay in posting news here on our blog. We have been in such remote areas that our mobile internet signal has been very poor. This means that uploading to the blog is VERY slow, sometimes almost impossible, so we have not been able to keep you up to date as well as we would like to.

In our last episode, we had just returned to Ely and were about to head up the Cam to Cambridge. The journey continues . . .

In cruising up the Great Ouse and down again, we had already passed Pope's Corner twice, where the River Cam flows into the Ouse. Actually, at this point, the Cam looks like the larger river whilst the Old West River (as this part of the Great Ouse is known) looks much smaller. Probably most of the water flowing down the Great Ouse from further upstream flows straight down the tidal New Bedford River from Earith to Denver, leaving only a comparative trickle to flow down the Old West!

Anyway, now we were heading back up from Ely to Pope's Corner and, this time, turning left up the Cam. We had arranged to meet up with Stuart and Charlotte, friends of ours who have just moved near Cambridge. At last, we were in the same area as each other!

We found the same transformation with the River Cam as we had seen on the Ouse. From Ely and up past Pope's Corner it was still the same fenland riverscape - high flood banks, sometimes not very interesting. From Bottisham Lock, once again the river changed:- the flood banks soon disappeared and we could see the surrounding countryside for some distance. Then we started coming into the outskirts of Cambridge, and moored up at Waterbeach, where Stuart and Charlotte joined us and stayed overnight, ready for the next day afloat.

The next morning we set out towards Cambridge. Even before going up Baits Bite lock, we encountered rowing crews out for their Saturday morning training, and the 'traffic' became denser as we headed towards Jesus Green (photo), which was as far as we could go. We filled up with water, turned around and moored up for lunch. Clint and Becky (more friends!), who live a few minutes' walk away, popped in with little Millie for a short visit, but then we needed to head back downstream and moor out in the countryside and Stuart and Charlotte needed to do some running training, so we dropped them off about 4 or 5 miles from their home so they could run back!

We headed for Upware, where the lock gives access to three 'Lodes', leading to Reach, Burwell and Wicken. (A lode is apparently a medieval word for a waterway which has been retained in this part of the world). Reach was the one we aimed for first. Although the water level was perhaps a little higher than the Cam, so we could see a bit more of the miles of fields around us, the lode itself was very straight and increasingly shallow. Progress was slow, and the end of the lode was a disappointment. The map showed mooring there, with some access to the village, but when we arrived we found that the mooring was almost non-existent and another boat completely occupied it! There was no-one on board, so we didn't feel free to tie up next to it and so turned around and headed back to the moorings near the junction of Wicken Lode. The next morning, we decided to chug up the short and very narrow Wicken Lode, and enjoyed the mooring there and lunch in the café at Wicken Fen Nature Reserve.

Then back to Waterbeach on Sunday night, ready for a quick dash down to Devon! At very short notice, we had heard a couple of days earlier that Val had a 'pre-op' appointment at Barnstaple on the Tuesday. At first we thought it would be impossible, but thanks to coach bookings on the internet and kind permission from the Cam Conservators to stay a bit longer on the moorings, it was suddenly 'do-able'. Stuart and Charlotte made it really easy for us by giving us lifts to and from Cambridge, where we caught the National Express bus to Northampton. A local bus took us to Blisworth, where we collected our car from its temporary home in Jim & Beryl's forecourt and drove down to stay with Joe and Wendy for a couple of nights.

The pre-op appointment was fine, and Val was given a date of 1st July for her second replacement knee operation. That date suited us just right, as it would give us enough time to finish all the exploring we wanted to do on and around the Great Ouse and get the boat back up to Blisworth, ready to drive down to Devon for another longer stay. Our heartfelt thanks to Joe and Wendy for making us so welcome again - we really appreciate it. Here's their cat Sox, waiting patiently (?) outside the kitchen door while his food is being prepared. The reason for the T-shirt? He has a chronic skin condition, and it stops him scratching it raw. Gets a few funny looks, too!

Then the whole trip in the opposite direction and we were ready to resume our travels on the Thursday morning! A brief trip up to Cambridge to fill up with water, then back out to the Lodes again. This time we went to Burwell, where it was possible to moor, and then we headed back to Wicken and enjoyed a couple more nights there.

We needed to start heading back down to the Great Ouse, but we had left ourselves a few little excursions on the way . . .