Thursday 4th September

We weren't due to go through Stanground Lock until 4pm yesterday, so set off on foot to have a browse in Whittlesey. This town had a reasonable selection of shops and a large leisure centre with a good sized pool. We were lucky as the rain held off and we had a really lovely morning, stopping for the obligatory belgian bun and coffee.

Pictures show the 90 degree bend upriver from Whittlesy
( Christine did very well and negotiated it perfectly)

When we got back to the boat, we set off for the lock. It was really windy and just before we got to Stanground, there was a tree that had obviously fallen during the storm the previous night and was lying across the river. We just about managed to squeeze by and the lock keeper notified the EA and they arrived to remove it before we had even got through the lock.

We moored at Peterborough embankment overnight and after a quick visit to the shops, bank etc we made our way to the Peterborough Yacht Club arriving about 5pm, the end of our journey.



We have been on the river for 11 weeks and it has been a great experience. We are already planning our trip for next year but the sunshine in Tenerife is calling us for the winter.

Monday 1st September

Today we moved on, leaving Fox Marina about 10am. The wind was really blowing and it was against us all the way but we battled on. We retraced our steps until we got to Floods Ferry and then branched off on River Nene Old Course towards Ramsey.
We seemed to be going for such a long time that we doubted we were on the right course but finally another narrowboat passed us, which was reassuring. There was very little scenery en route but lots of very low bridges!
The chap at the marina had said we might have trouble turning the boat at Ramsey, which is the end of navigation so we turned into Bill Fen Marina, topped up with diesel and booked a mooring for the night.

Peacock at Bill fen Marina

We then walked into Ramsey and one of the bankside boaters said that the turning point is big enough for a 60 foot boat, but we were settled by then and the weather was deteriorating.

Turning Point at Ramsey (would have been very tight)

Ramsey was a pleasant surprise as it had more history than we expected and we spent a pleasant couple of hours looking around the town, church, abbey remains etc.

The Church of St Thomas a' Becket with some of the houses in the old part

On our way back we couldn't resist picking more blackberries and windfall apples - more pies to make! By now it had just started to rain and the wind was really fierce. We settled in for the night, very happy to be secure on our mooring with the heating on.