Thursday 17th July

Woke up and it was raining and so it continued throughout the day. We set off with our neighbour to Cambridge City Centre. We had one lock to go through and arrived one and a half hours later. We were really lucky as there were just two mooring places left - probably the weather had put people off.
We went to the market and to the information centre but spent the rest of the day on the boat, so no pictures today. It feels very safe at this mooring - there are lots of students and tourists but no sign of any trouble. (apart from the police helicopter flying round the park and police cars with sirens going, hurtling round in ever decreasing circles!!! back to civilisation.)
We are going to stay at this mooring for 48 hours and are hoping that it will be dry tomorrow when we will spend the day exploring the city.

Wednesday 16th July

We managed to get away at 0945hrs this morning - our earliest yet. We retraced our way back down the Burwell Lode and joined the Cam. We had already decided where we wanted to moor and luckily there was a space waiting for us. We had had to pass through 2 locks on the way - quite a shock as there have been so few locks to date.





Another Black Swan (not so rare)





The Cam becomes much more interesting as you progress down it - we were both surprised how wide it is, although I don't know why.


It was still only 1.30pm and we knew we were only about 6 miles from Cambridge city centre. The towpath doubles up as a cycle track, so we set off on the bikes to see how far we could go. We actually arrived in the city about 45 minutes later. We padlocked the bikes - two of thousands - and set off by foot to have a quick look around.

The River Cam as you enter Cambridge

We saw the public moorings and will try to get one tomorrow morning. There are a lot of residential boats on the river which means there is limited mooring for visitors.

We cycled back to the boat against a fairly stiff breeze - feel we should be getting fitter but we were both exhausted

d.

Boat Crews in training past our mooring

The lady in the boat next to us is widowed and has been travelling on her narrowboat by herself for two years managing all the locks, mooring etc by herself!! Puts me to shame!!

Tuesday 15th July

We decided to stay in Burwell today. Our next river was to be Reach Lode but the books differed in their advice and one said it was unable to be navigated. We therefore thought we would go to it by road and see for ourselves
First of all this morning we had a walk into Burwell Village. It is in fact quite large and has lots of new building in progress. It had 3 pubs and quite a few shops too.

The Village Green at Reach

The narrow Reach Lode

After lunch we set off on our bikes to find the village of Reach. By this time it was really hot and sunny and it probably took about half an hour by bike. This was a very small picturesque village with a large village green, one pub and no shops. We went in search of the river and found that it had very high banks and there was no mooring at the end of it. We would have been able to turn the boat but it would not have been worth the effort, so it will be down the River Cam tomorow making our way to Cambridge.

Saint Etheldrida and the Holy Trinity Church at Reach

We sat in the pub garden and had a drink before cycling back to Burwell where we had a doze on the travelling rug by the side of the boat. Lots of interruptions from some exhuberant dogs going for their afternoon walk, but we didn't mind - although Tom wasn't too pleased when a Labrador puppy came charging after his piece of cake.

Tommy's Home Made Lemon Cake that the Lab fancied

Some Evening visitors

Monday 14th July

Catching up with Jennie

Lifting Bridge

Weed on the Burwell lode slowed progress

Turn following the boat for a turned up fish?

We had a surprise visitor this morning. Jennie (our Great Ormond Street nurse) came for morning coffee. She lives in Histon, near Cambridge and caught a train as we were so near. We hadn't seen her for 8 years and it was wonderful to catch up again. Needless to say we had to mark the occasion with cream cakes.
We have arranged to meet again with her boys and Lottie and Lee in 3 weeks time to spend the day together - we are really looking forward to it.
We set off about 1pm to go down Burwell Lode which is off the River Cam. Although this river is wider than Wicken Fen, it is obviously not used much and was covered in thick green weed. At times it was quite hard going but the river wasn't wide enough to turn round, so we just kept going.
The turn in the picture kept us amused for nearly the whole journey. he followed the boat swooping down to catch his dinner. We only saw him catch one fish, which he managed to drop back into the river. It looked like a lot of effort for very little reward.
Luckily the lift bridge in the picture was in the up position as we have never encountered one before.
We arrived at Burwell at 4.30pm and were relieved to find that we could turn the boat. The EA had provided just one mooring space but luck was with us again as it was free.
There was a local fisherman at the landing stage who managed to catch an 8lb pike and filled us in on some of the local history.
We decided to explore the village and surrounding area tomorrow, as it looks interesting enough to spend some time here.

Sunday 13th July

We all woke up at about 8 am and had a leisurely breakfast. Tom and I had a walk around the village nearby and Ted tried his hand at fishing again.
We set off about 11am and made our way back to Ely. The weather was improving all the time and by the time we arrived, the sun was shining.

Wild horses on Wicken Fen

We had time to have a walk around Ely and show Pat and Ted some of the sights. They were all a lot more appealing in the sunny weather.

Pat and Ted Navigate The Wicken Lode

We had booked lunch in a river front pub called The Cutter and had got a window table. It was a relaxing afternoon watching the boats go by while we had lunch. All too soon it was time for Pat and Ted to leave, as they had a 2 hour drive back to Essex and Pat is working tomorrow!!! I think we were all shattered but it had been a lovely weekend and was great to see them both again.
Tom and I had a very quiet evening - time to move on tomorrow but we have really enjoyed our time in Ely

A visit to Oliver Cromwell's House

The end of a lovely weekend

Saturday 12th July

Pat and Ted arrived about 11am and after a coffee and a quick catch up of news, we decided to set off for the day. The weather was a bit changeable so it had been difficult to decide the best option. We settled for a trip up the River Cam and then branched off to Wicken Lode. All the books had said that this was a narrow stretch of river but was navigable. Well it was so narrow, that initially we went straight past it, not believing that it could possibly get a narrowboat up it.

However safety in numbers, so we set off. Thank goodness we didn't meet another boat and it was such a pretty journey and even included one lock. When we got to the end, there was ample room to moor for the night and we were in the middle of the National Trust nature reserve called Wicken Fen.




Wicken Fen Lode ( approx 10ft wide)

The boys immediately decided it was time for a spot of fishing and Pat and I set off for a long walk to enjoy the late afternoon sunshine. We met a group of 30-40 wild horses and a few were very interested in us and decided to have a little nuzzle.

Gone Fishing

Water Lilies on Wicken Lode(not the usual MarshMarigold )

We were in a very isolated spot and no other boats were there, so we enjoyed an evening meal on the boat and caught up with all the news since we had all been together in Australia.

Friday 11th July

Woke up this morning with the sun streaming through the porthole, so decided to make haste and crack on with the last bit of touch up painting on the boat after a quick breakfast. We then went off to Tescos to top up on food etc (yes even in this wonderfully laid back life you still have to do Tescos!) Having deposited our shopping on the boat we decided to go off to the local museum and finish our education on this interesting city. On the way we called into the local chandlers and spend some of the hard earned on some new fenders as we seemed to have lost one and damaged a couple somewhere en route. A length of 2mtr chain was also purchased as we have been told that it is adviseable to padlock and chain the boat to the mooring bollard as it has been known for boats to be set adrift at night around the St Neots area and beyond.

Not sure if the Cambridge Boat Race Committee will appreciate having a boat painted in Oxford Blue moored outside their boathouse!!!

The museum was very well laid out and very informative. We both felt it was well worth the time and effort and answered a few of the questions that hadn't been covered by our other expeditions. On the way back to the boat we made yet another purchase (I think Christine will be using the chain to wrap around her purse) of a coir mat which will fit into the stern area over the engine room and will serve to not only keep the interior of the boat a bit cleaner but also to act as a sound deadener (that's the theory anyway)

My punishment after spending too much money on the boat!

Our friends Pat and Ted are arriving tomorrow for the weekend so fingers crossed the weather will be kind to us, I'm afraid it means another early rise (no really) to get everything shipshape for their arrival but we are both looking forward to it.