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 . . .

Up To Bedford And Back

Almost as soon as we went through Brownshill Lock, upstream from Earith, the Great Ouse seemed to change its character. From having been very much a 'fenland' river, with marshy edges contained by man-made flood banks, it transformed itself into a slightly more 'upland' river, not exactly in a valley but flowing through woods, farmland and the occasional village like Holywell, with its thatched cottages. It began to remind us of parts of the upper reaches of the Thames but was less remote. Locks became more frequent and were all self-operated and much smaller than Thames locks.

And then we came to St. Ives! We had heard that the bridge was something special, but it certainly made an impact as the river swung round into the town! Apparently, the chapel on the bridge (dating from 1426) is one of only three bridge chapels in the country - the other two are in Yorkshire. We walked around the town and visited the little Norris Museum, covered with its sweet-smelling wisteria.

A few days before, we had received a surprise response to an earlier blog entry. One of Jeremy's old schoolfriends from Romford days did a search on the internet which somehow led him to our blog. The next thing was obviously to try to meet up. Dan often visits Peterborough, so arranging to meet us at Huntingdon was not too difficult. We chugged upstream to a very convenient pub, enjoyed a pizza lunch and chugged back to Huntingdon. And, just to prove that he really DID do it, here is a picture of Dan steering 'Zindagi' - and very well too! We look forward to another visit sometime soon.

As we travel on the Great Ouse, we are always on the lookout for suitable overnight moorings, so we were glad to find that there was just enough room for us at a small mooring site near Little Paxton. What we didn't know was that it is right next door to Paxton Pits Nature reserve, and that the local nightingales were in excellent voice! There were plenty of experienced birdwatchers trying to SEE the nightingales, let alone photograph them, so we make no apology for the lack of a picture! We enjoyed being serenaded in the evening and morning. Perhaps they went on all night - we didn't check!

We got another surprise as we came to Willington lock - it was out of action, as some emergency repairs were needed, so we had to wait while the divers sorted it out. No problem, at least it would be done by lunchtime the same day!

And so, maybe a bit quicker than we had thought, we came to Bedford, the limit of navigation - at the moment. There are plans to link the Great Ouse at Bedford with the Grand Union Canal at Milton Keynes. This is not a new idea, apparently, as the original plan dates back to 1811! Explore this link if you want to know more.

On the way back downstream, we found a snug little mooring at Barford Old Mill (the site of a former lock) and were serenaded again by the nightingales at Paxton Pits. We have noticed a gradual increase in the numbers of narrowboats on the river - perhaps more have been following the route through the Middle Level. There seem to be many more fibreglass cruisers based on the river, as on other rivers we have visited, and the increased 'traffic' levels at weekends is very noticeable!

Now we are back in Ely, planning to head up the River Cam in the next few days, visiting some old friends and exploring the Cambridge Lodes.

First Impressions of the Great Ouse

Another (brief) brush with tidal waters as we left Salters Lode Lock and swung into the ebb tide of the Great Ouse, before turning to face it and travel the half mile or so upstream to Denver Sluice, which was open and ready for us. Once through that, and we were back on non-tidal river, but still in the world of flood control, with flood protection banks that would accompany us for several miles to come. We continued to be aware that we were very much in the Fens, with their long history of floods and drainage. Denver Sluice itself is a major element of the flood control for this whole area. The smallish 'guillotine' gate to the right of the picture is where we had just come up - another narrowboat was waiting to go down next.

We moved on for a few miles, having decided that we would aim to travel all the way up to Bedford and explore the 'side turnings' on the way back downstream. Ely was the next place to look out for, and next day we could see its cathedral rising over the surrounding countryside.

Val may have only had one knee operation done so far, but she certainly seems to be extending her walking range! We walked into the centre of Ely and the cathedral, and back again, without too many ill effects!

After a couple of days on the edge of the town (city, really!), it was good to move on just a couple of miles and moor up in the countryside. There are lots of moorings on the whole Great Ouse system, some provided by the Environment Agency for all boaters and some by GOBA (the Great Ouse Boating Association). As we have joined GOBA, we have the freedom to choose almost any mooring site. It's not quite like the canal system, where we can moor almost anywhere along the towpath, but it is a lot better than the River Nene, where moorings are scarce, to say the least!

One of the benefits of the rural moorings is the abundance of wildlife, especially birds, though often we can hear them much more easily than see them. Here's a Sedge Warbler (I think!), still pretty invisible in spite of the telephoto lens . . . Try clicking on the picture to enlarge it. There are swans in abundance, geese, Coots, Moorhens, Mallards, Tufted Ducks, warblers (various), Reed Buntings, Lapwings, Redshank, Cormorants, Terns, Swallows, Sand Martins . . . the list goes on!

More reminders of the history of drainage in the Fens as we cruised past 'Stretham Old Engine', built in 1831 to lift water from 2,500 hectares of fenland into the river. As the drainage continued, the land level fell and the diameter of the scoop wheel had to be increased from 8.8m to 10m and then again to 11.25m. If the engine was still in use, this largest wheel would now be ineffective too, as the fenland continues to shrink!

We were now on a section of the system known as the 'Old West River' which joins the 'Ely section' of the Great Ouse with the 'Bedford' part, and strangely, after the next lock, we would join another short tidal section, as the 'Old Bedford River' links straight to the tidal river below Denver Sluice. Complicated? Just the result of centuries of schemes to drain the Fens! This was our first lock in about 30 miles of cruising since Denver Sluice, and the only manned one on the whole Ouse system.

Here at Earith the Great Ouse begins to change its character, but we'll tell you about that next time . . .

Eastwards Through the 'Middle Level'

This railway bridge at Peterborough was to take us into completely new territory. The mysteries of the Middle Level awaited us, our first real encounter with Fenland waterways. Looking on the map, we had seen the many miles of the Great Ouse and all its tributaries, but the only way through from the rest of the canal system was to follow the route we had taken, down the Northampton Arm of the Grand Union to the Nene at Northampton, then down the Nene to Peterborough and now off the Nene and onto the Middle Level. There is a plan to join the Great Ouse at Bedford to the Grand Union at Milton Keynes - they are very close, so it's logical enough! In the meantime, we needed to take the scenic route!

The Middle Level has a long and complicated history, largely concerned with land drainage over the centuries but also including boat transport. But we were in for a surprise as soon as we phoned up to arrange to go through Stanground Sluice. Did we know that the lock at Salters Lode (at the other end, joining onto the Great Ouse) was closed, awaiting completion of the new hydraulic sluice gate there? No, that was news to us; how long would it take? Apparently it had been scheduled for completion in December - it was now mid-April, but they thought it should be done in a week or so!

We hadn't planned to do more than just go 'straight through', but we could always dawdle a bit more - a little more recuperation from the 'flu would not go amiss . . .

We soon came to Whittlesey, chugging along well below street level in a narrow concrete-lined channel and then negotiating a tight bend under a bridge. Then it all opened out a bit and we found the moorings next to the Leisure Centre. Nice and quiet, but not too far to walk into town if needed. Also a good rendezvous for our friends Alan and Jan from Blisworth, who had offered to bring out yet another heavy parcel of tools which had arrived late at Sally's house - and Sally and Ellie (her cocker spaniel) came too. It was great to see them all and enjoy a meal together at Whittlesey's Sunshine Cafe. Thanks to you all for your help and friendship!

After a few days there (and the occasional phone call to check progress at Salters Lode), we moved on into real fenland. 'Big skies' we had been told. That's because the land is so flat and there are very few trees! Come to that, the waterways are mostly straight and often a bit below the level of their 'flood banks'. But the weather was warm and sunny, so we didn't mind, finding variety where we could - like these trees, for example!

Back in the 1980s, when we lived in Romford and were wondering where we could find somewhere with some land, we looked at this area (and others) before finally settling on Lapford in Devon. It was a little odd to see the countryside that could have become our own familiar territory over the last 20-odd years. Lovely rich peaty soil here in the fens, but we both agree that Lapford was the right choice for us - Devon clay or not!

After a couple of days moored at March, the news from Salters Lode was getting more hopeful - they hoped to have the lock operational on the Thursday, which would mean a 7.30 am 'locking-through' time to catch the tide right on the Great Ouse. If we left it until the Friday, we would go through about an hour later. That seemed a bit better and gave us time for a leisurely cruise, as well as allowing for the possibility that all would NOT go well at the the first attempt!

So we set off, past lots of wind turbines, and on to the twin villages of Upwell and Outwell on the Well Creek. More history and information about this from the Well Creek Trust. To get here, we had climbed UP a level again, having gone DOWN two locks from Peterborough. We realised afresh how much of the fenland lies below high tide level! Even so, as we were travelling along Well Creek, we were still below the level of the two roads either side of us.

A couple of hours cruising brought us to Salters Lode. By now the news was good! Paul the lock keeper was delighted as the first use of the new gate had gone smoothly that morning, so we booked in for 8.30 on Friday morning. Our timing could hardly have been better! We had heard stories of several boaters who had been 'trapped' one side or the other, unable to get either on or off the Great Ouse for months. We had just chugged along and here we were, able to go straight through - Thank You, Father!

So, here it was, the new lock gate/sluice at Salters Lode, with all its new hydraulics and computer controls. Paul was very pleased to have it working again at last but just a little concerned at the potential for the technology to let him down. So far, so good! Only when we looked the other side did we realise how much below high tide level we still were - and the tides were not yet at their highest!

Ready for our next bit of tidal water the next morning, though it would only be about half a mile before we would lock through Denver Sluice onto the (non-tidal) Great Ouse.