Tuesday 24th June

Thanks to Michael, we have now managed to put some pictures on the blog. If any of you are wondering what they are, there is Stanground Lock, Peterborough Embankment, Tom at the helm having negotiated a 90 degree bend which you can just see in the background and the stretches of fields that were our view for most of yesterday.

Well yet again we changed our plans for today. We woke up to glorious sunshine and had a leisurely cooked breakfast and a general potter around. Just as we were thinking of leaving 3 boats came towards us heading for March. As we hadn't seen any coming in the other direction, we thought the chances of securing a mooring were still fairly slim. We decided to carry on and see March on our return journey.

We had needed to use a plank last night at our mooring as it was quite a steep bank and we couldn't get in too close. I spared you the details yesterday of the sight of me trying to jump off the boat and grasping at the grass to get up the bank. Tom then threw me the mallett and two stakes to hammer in to secure the boat.

This morning I thought I would be clever and take the helm while he reversed the procedure. Unfortunately as he took the first stake out, a boat passed making the boat move and the plank looked in danger of falling in the water. I had a little panic and the end result is that we have one less solar light on the roof, but the bottom of the river will be well lit up tonight!

With Tom, plank etc safely on board we set off and had an uneventful couple of hours until we came to the next lock. It transpires that we should have telephoned ahead to book to go through, but the lock keeper took pity on us, and even told us where we could moor in the next village. He told us that he had been in the RAF and his wife bought the cottage adjoining the lock without telling him. At that time the lock was derelict and stayed that way for the next ten years. When they decided to make it navigable again, his wife became the lock keeper and he helps out.

So here we are at Upwell (pictures above)- on the borders of Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. It is a very pretty village that has the river running through the middle with a road either side. We retraced our trip on foot this afternoon looking at all the riverside properties from the road.