Sunday 29th June

Another fine day so after breakfast we set off in the boat for our return journey along the River Wissey. It was uneventful and a couple of hours later we arrived at a village called Hilgay where we moored for lunch.















It was bright but still very windy - it didn't stop the local children from swimming in the river though. We got the bikes and set off to explore the village. There is only one shop - the butcher but he seems to sell everything. We found the local church which is approached by a long avenue of poplar trees. It looked very impressive. It was nice to find it open but unattended - obviously the locals feel theirs is a safe village.


















We set off again late afternoon for another couple of hours, rejoining the Great Ouse and are now moored at the mouth of the River Little Ouse - the mooring just happens to be a pub garden! Needless to say we had to be polite and sample the brew.

Saturday 28th June

Another fine day today, although still very blustery. We decided to cycle back to the windmill and to Denver village. We must have looked true professionals as two young boys asked us to do a wheelie as we rode by! The village was much prettier than anticipated, as the lock area had been quite plain. At the windmill they were just finishing baking the bread, so we had a cup of coffee before collecting our loaf and heading back for the boat.

We set off about 1pm to explore the River Wissey, a tributary of the River Great Ouse. Parts of it are flat fenland but parts reminded us both of the Nene. It was very narrow initially but widened to a lake by the sugar beet factory and eventually narrowed again as we reached the end of the navigation at Stoke Ferry.

There were mainly cruisers on this part of the river and as it is the weekend there were lots of boaters tinkering although very few were actually using the river. One poor chap was out in a rowing boat and hadn't heard us approach. I had to hoot him as he was right in our path and he looked terrified to see us advancing on him and scuttled out of the way.

There was a very large willow tree overhanging the river and in trying to avoid it I managed to hit the boat moored on the opposite bank. Luckily it was empty and no damage but Tom took over at this point - he didn't say a word but the look said it all!!

The only place to moor was a busy caravan site which didn't appeal, so we turned and found a good mooring on the river bank, adjoining a farmer's field.

We then had a quiet evening enjoying the wildlife without a building in sight.

Friday 27th June

We woke up to a bright sunny morning and set off for Downham Market. We knew the market was on today but as an extra bonus we found a Somerfield and stocked up on food. It was back to the boat, a quick bite to eat and we set off to retrace our steps to Denver Lock. We moored up for the day on the other side of the lock and had a quiet afternoon.

At about 5pm we decided to go for a walk to find the famous windmill. It was a bit cloudy but we thought we would take a chance. We did eventually find it after about half an hour in a fairly
isolated spot. It has been restored to full working order and they are baking bread tomorrow so we might go back to get some fresh bread. Unfortunately it is not a very picturesque area so there was very little to see on the walk.

Just as we got back, the heavens opened and it rained for the next couple of hours. So far we have been very lucky with the weather but can it last?

















NB Lottie on the Denver Vistors Mooring

Thursday 26th June

Denver Sluice

Now on the Great Ouse

We had a leisurely morning doing a few domestic chores, whilst waiting for the tide to rise. Christine even made a cake!!!!! At approximately 11am the lock keeper signalled that we could enter the lock. It was like entering a crypt, dark and damp. He closed the gates behind us and went to raise the guillotine gate only to find that the tide wasn't high enough and we had to wait in the lock chamber for a further 15 minutes until the water reached the correct level.

Having been apprehensive about the transit through tidal waters, it proved to be very straightforward and only took an hour to come out onto the Ouse unscathed

Field of Wild Flowers at Salter's Lode

We stopped on the EA mooring for a cup of tea then replenished the water etc. We had decided to visit Downham Market, which was situated on the Great Ouse relief channel which meant going through another lock at this point.

Having got the boat into the lock, Christine manually half closed one of the V gates which was very stiff and required lots of effort. At this point she decided to read the instructions, only to find that the gates were electrically operated!! The men mowing the lawn nearby looked on astounded.

The relief channel is very wide and straight with no real views, so we decided to up the revs on the engine and put the washing machine into action.

With the washing done, we moored up at Downham Market and set off to explore the village. We bought some English strawberries for tea and found out there is a market tomorrow, so will be returning to replenish food stocks.

It started to rain about 6pm - the first rain we have had so far - but luckily we are tucked up for the night and hope it will blow over by tomorrow.

#Lottie waiting to enter Salter's Lode Lock

Wednesday 25th June

We stayed in Upwell for the morning and went for a tour of the local church before leaving at lunchtime. The villagers are really friendly and were keen to fill us in on the local history.

Our next lock is Salter's Lode and you can only go through it once a day as we are leaving Well Creek and joining the River Ouse which is tidal at this point. We phoned the lock keeper and we should be able to go through at 11am tomorrow.

It was very windy but bright and sunny so we set off at a leisurely pace. The river is quite narrow in parts and we passed through the village of Outwell before hitting the Fens again and a large expanse of countryside. It is quite disconcerting as the road runs alongside the river for most of the way although the cars seemed to be travelling faster than us!!

We passed through another small village called Nordelph before reaching the lock at about 3 pm. We went for a walk and familiarised ourselves with the layout of the lock and Denver Sluice, which we have to negotiate before joining the non tidal Ouse.

Our trip through the Middle Level and Well Creek has been a pleasant surprise and not as boring as we had been led to believe. We think this is because we have taken our time and spoken to a few characters along the way.

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.

Monday 23rd June

We set off at 9am to meet our 10am deadline to get through Stanground Lock. We were now on new territory and were disappointed that the lock was so unattractive and hoped it wasn't a sign of things to come.

Tom went to find the lock keeper and left Christine in charge of the boat. It was still fairly blustery and it wasn't long before we saw our map go floating past the boat. Luckily the fishing net was handy and we had our first catch of the day.

We had a lunch break in Whittlesey before venturing through the lock, using our new windlass purchased from the lock keeper, to cope with the different mechanism. As it happened it was very straightforward.

We then carried on through the middle level surrounded by huge expanses of flat fenland for miles. It had warmed up and was very pleasant poodling along with the sun on our backs for the next couple of hours.

We arrived in March at tea time but there were no mooring spaces available. I think we are going to learn the hard way that you need to find your overnight mooring earlier in the day. As a result we had no choice but to pass through the town and are now moored in an isolated spot on the river bank.

We had an hour in the sunshine with a glass of wine and not a soul in sight. It was a good way to end the day.

We have decided to turn back tomorrow and try to get a mooring in town so that we can explore. Hopefully as they are 36 hour moorings, one will have become available!!

Sunday 22nd June

We didn't get to bed until 1am this morning so decided on a lunchtime start to Peterborough. It was very blustery but at least it was dry.

Terry, Carol, Alan and Pam saw us off at Yarwell Lock which was a bit of a tearjerker - can't believe we are really on our way.

Despite the strong winds, we had a fairly uneventful trip through the four locks to Peterborough Yacht Club in approximately 4 hours of gentle cruising. One slight hiccup was when a teenager doing the Duke of Edinburgh Award fell in the river in front of us while attempting to get on her canoe. She was rescued by her fellow team members but not before Chris had a little panic!!

We spent a quiet evening at PYC after taking on diesel, water etc in preparation for the uncharted territory tomorrow.

Have got some pictures to post but will have to add them at a later date as our download speed is not good here.

Saturday 21st June

We were meant to be setting off today on our big trip but we woke up to pouring rain and the weather forecast is fairly bleak for the rest of the day. The river is very quiet considering it is Saturday and we have only seen one boat go past our mooring and they looked fairly miserable.

We have therefore decided it will be better to postpone our departure until tomorrow. We have booked to go through Stanground lock, near Peterborough at 10am on Monday morning, so regardless of the weather we will have to get going by tomorrow lunchtime.

Terry and Carol are on their way up as they intended to travel through the first couple of locks with us to see us on our way. We have booked to eat at The Kings Head in Apethorpe with them instead, which sounds equally appealing. Apethorpe is one of my favourite villages in this area and I will be interested to see if the pub comes up to my expectations.

We are still excited and the weather hasn't dampened our enthusiasm ------ YET!