Our travels continue -
Leaving Ely we entered the River Cam for a short 14 miles trip to
Cambridge. Many more plastic cruisers
along this stretch of river. Moored up
next to Jesus Common right in the heart of Cambridge for the weekend.
Bicycles everywhere! |
A very, very old
place – with most of the colleges over 500 years old. So many busloads of tourists arriving each
day and as well it was the week that a lot of the students came to book into their
accommodation for the new school year so lots of parents added to the
throng. On every corner there were 4 or
5 people selling ‘punting on the river’ trips.
We visited quite a few of the colleges that were open – and all had the
hallowed green lawn in the centre which absolutely NO-ONE steps on. We spoke to one of the gardeners who said that
the lawns are mown every 3 days – no wonder they look so good! In the centre of all the old buildings there
is now a huge 3-storey shopping mall with has all the High Street shops. Not quite sure how they managed to build this
and still retain the old feel of the city.
Just a few of the Cambridge colleges |
Left Cambridge and travelled back to Pope’s Corner and the
Great Ouse River where we turned left towards Bedford. First stop was the village of Earith where
amazingly we spotted a seal swimming along the river. It came out on the bank just opposite where
we were moored and sunned itself for half an hour or so.
A huge 3 boat lock |
Next night we stopped at the Dolphin
Moorings at St Ives The Old Riverport, near a 500 year old bridge which has 55
arches and includes a chapel on it built in 1426 which has also been used as a
toll house, an inn and a private dwelling over the years since.
Lovely town with some very old buildings and
lots of flower baskets lining the streets.
The mooring was in a small arm next to a hotel and a strong wind blowing
caused a bit of fun when we were leaving and trying to manoeuvre our way out past some Tupperware
cruisers.
Very windy trip next day to the village of Huntingdon. Another long arched bridge here as well
across to Godmanchester on the opposite side of the river.
Decided to go to a renowned Car Boot Sale on
the Saturday morning but there was over an hour wait for a bus so we caught a
taxi. When we arrived at the racecourse
where the sale was being held – there was only one stallholder. We were assured there would be ‘hundreds’
there on the Sunday so were driving back towards Huntingdon when we saw a
National Trust Mill sign. The taxi
dropped us off there (in pouring rain) but it turned out the mill building is
now a restaurant/conference centre. We
filled in time with a cup of coffee but
the rain didn’t look like stopping so we saw a little ferry moored up outside
who agreed to take us back to Godmanchester.
Captain Jim told us the boat was originally a cruise ship lifeboat to
which he had added a roof (which leaked), plastic side curtains (which also
leaked) but the worrying thing after he had bailed out the water in the bottom of the boat was when he got out a blow
torch to start the motor! Anyway it all
worked out fine and we managed to get back to our boat.
Captain Jim starting the motor with a blow torch |
The Great Ouse Ferry |
Godmanchester village across the river from Huntingdon |
We were moored up next to path alongside a
brick wall which was probably about 10 feet high. There were a group of young Polish men
sitting on the wall when we got back in the afternoon just talking quietly and
they were still there when it started to get dark about 9 o’clock. Suddenly there was an almighty crash on the
roof of the boat. One of the fellows
had fallen backwards off the wall and was lying on the path next to our boat. A couple of the other chaps jumped down to
him (one nearly breaking his leg in the process) and they said the fellow was
OK and not to worry about calling an ambulance. We kept looking out the window and he hadn’t
moved for about 10 minutes but they eventually got him to his feet and they all
went away. We’re sure he would have been
feeling pretty sore the next day.
Sunday morning we repeated the taxi ride to the racecourse
(because the buses don’t run on Sunday in Huntingdon). They were right – hundreds of stalls there
but mostly very second-hand rubbishy stuff just spread out over the ground by each
seller. We walked up and down and then
the heavens opened and everyone very quickly cleared off. We had to wait for our taxi to come back so
were thoroughly soaked by the time we got back to the boat.
Bridge at Great Barford mooring |
Little bird's nest in lock wall - with an egg |
Moved off next day in more gale force winds to nearby St
Neot’s. Moored up next to a conference
centre but decided to leave seeing the town until the return trip. Next stop was a lovely mooring at Great Barford where we had arranged an
appointment with a Bowen lady to treat a shoulder/wrist problem ‘the captain’
was having. She actually came onto the
boat – can’t complain about the service.
The next stop at the end of the Ouse navigation was Bedford
which we heard was holding a bi-annual River Festival. Because we hadn’t booked a mooring spot we
stopped a little way out of town near a Tesco store and walked into all the
action. They were just setting up on
the Friday when we arrived.
Street performers in Bedford |
Moored up outside the Bedford Oasis Swimming Centre |
The town of Bedford
has quite a history. We went to the
John Bunyan Museum (born 1628 in Bedford - he was a tinker, Christian, soldier
and was jailed 12 years for preaching.
He wrote ‘’A Pilgrim’s Progress” which we haven’t read – looks a bit
heavy!) The display was upstairs and we
had a guide show us around – we were a definitely a captive audience – he
explained every last detail right down to what every jar in the kitchen would
have been used for, the height of the chair legs because John Bunyan was a tall
man, etc etc etc. He just went on &
on..... Terry managed to sneak away and
see the rest of the exhibition in a couple of minutes then waited outside –
laughing!!
Went through the Bedford Museum and Art Gallery and then
over the road to the Panacea Museum.
This time the guide at the front counter was great. Even told us not to bother visiting the Cafe
there because the tea and coffee were
lousy! We hadn’t heard of the Panacea
Society before. Apparently it was a
unique religious sect founded by a Mabel Barltrop in 1919 that created its own
Garden of Eden in the centre of Bedford.
She thought she was a prophet and used to breathe on small pieces of
paper which were sent around the world to heal all sorts of diseases. On display is a copy of a big mysterious lead
box created by Joanna Southcott, also a self-proclaimed prophet, who wrote down
her prophecies and sealed them in the box in the 1700s. It is not to be opened unless there are 24 Church
of England Bishops in attendance.
Apparently this Pandora’s box is well known around England and there
were attempts to have it opened during World War II so that the result of the
war may be known. Also there was a Monty
Python sketch about the Box as well. It’s
still a world-wide organisation with lots of followers in Australia apparently.
Panacea Museum entrance |
'Garden of Eden' in Bedford |
Joanna Southcott's box |
On Saturday the Festival was in full swing. More than 300,000 people attended. Over 120 boats were moored up – some 20
narrowboats the rest Tupperware ones.
There were activities both sides of the river with displays by sporting,
cultural and community groups and some decorated boats. Lots of eating places with every taste catered
for. Quite a few stages with dancing and different
styles of music while the river had dragon boat racing, slalom racing, men on
turbo powered lifts (one even shook hands with people on the bridge) a
narrowboat parade and cruiser boat parade.
We apparently are in the local Bedford Press – had our photo taken in
front of one of the decorated boats by a reporter for the paper. They are posting a copy to our London
address. When it got dark there was a
terrific fireworks display which we enjoyed from the front of our boat.
Decided to call in to Houghton Hall Alpacas – they bought 7
of our best alpacas when we auctioned them off in 2012. We moored up on an island just through the Houghton
Lock but couldn’t get across to Houghton Village even though Google maps said
it was only 800 metres to the alpaca farm.
Continued downriver to St Ives and moored up at The Waits
right in the heart of the town. Caught
a bus back to Houghton and finally arrived at the alpaca farm where we met owner
Mick George. Lovely fellow – he runs a
large recycling business (employs over 800 staff). It was great to hear that our alpacas had
settled in well. We think they must
have thought they had died and gone to heaven when they arrived at
Houghton. It’s such a beautiful property
with all the alpacas on manicured green pastures under groves of apple trees –
so different to the dry paddocks at Ruffy when they left. Mick
is back to Australia next week to visit the National Alpaca Show – and probably
to buy some more alpacas.
Walked back to Houghton Village – another picture perfect village with many thatched cottages and went to the National Trust Houghton Mill which has been producing flour for hundreds of years.
Walked back to Houghton Village – another picture perfect village with many thatched cottages and went to the National Trust Houghton Mill which has been producing flour for hundreds of years.
We went to a concert “The Merry Wives of St Ives” a play
based on the old riddle “I met a man with 7 wives......” on Saturday
night. This was held outdoors at the
quay by the old arched bridge – a beautiful setting. On Sunday afternoon we went to a free Dixieland
Jazz concert in the St Ives Methodist Church right across the road from our
mooring.
Moving on - this time at Earith we saw four seals. Had mother and her baby seal lined up for a lovely
photo until mother seal pushed her baby’s head underwater and they swam away.
Cutting rushes for chair seats, mats. |
Next it was back to Ely (our favourite place this trip) where we moored up in the same spot and were entertained that evening by the Ely
Military Band which gave an impromptu concert in the bandstand in the Jubilee
Gardens right next to the boat.
Spent most of yesterday contacting lockkeepers to arrange
times to go through the locks– one at the big Denver Tidal Lock - the last on
the Great Ouse, then the nearby Salter’s Lode lock which also works on the
tides. After the Middle Level Navigations we have
the Stanground lock back onto the Nene River near Peterborough and then the Dog
& Doublet Lock which leads into Wisbech where we have booked with a pilot
to go out to sea in a convoy of boats at 6.00 am! next Monday morning across
The Wash to Boston.
Huge Denver lock |
Presently sitting in the Salter’s Lode Lock where we have been
nearly 4 hours waiting for the tide to go out so they can open the smaller lock
gates to let us through.
Small extra gate for longer boats |
More news later.......................
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