Sunday 31st August

We now have the pictures of the church ceiling that was so spectacular. The church is at least a mile out of town but well worth a visit.

Truly remarkabe hand carved ceiling

Inside St Wendrida's Church

St Wendreda's Church March Cambridgeshire

I have spent some time today picking blackberries and windfall apples. They are both in abundance in this marina. We stayed here as the weather forecast was indicating rain and stormy weather but in the event it turned out to be a nice day. Tonight however, there is rain in the air and it feels like autumn.

Gazebo in March High Street erected to

commemorate the coronation of George V IN 1911

"Lottie" berthed in Fox's Marina

We are on the move again tomorrow- the last few days of our journey.

30th August 2008

This reminded me of the three Vultures in Disney's version of The Jungle Book

Well it's been a week since we have written on the blog. It is now Saturday and we are in Fox Narrowboats marina, which is just outside March. We have been to the town and today we are going to find St Wendreda's Church which is a 14th Century church famous for it's hammerbeam roof which is decorated with four tiers of 118 angels with outstretched wings. Hopfully will be able to get some photos.

Thought we could get one of these, tow it behind us and call it "The Dog-house"

We have had an uneventful week and it has been good to travel back over previously visited territory. It gives us a much better idea of distances and suitable places to moor - mostly different to our outward journey.

The church at Outwell stuated on a very severe bend with a bridge which Christine navigated very well

We had a bit of a job going through Salter's Lode Lock. We were on the ebb of the tide and there was a brisk wind blowing. I wanted to try but managed to get the boat in completely the wrong position, so Tom had a bit of a disadvantage by taking over at the last minute. It is a really acute turn to get in and I wish we could do it all over again as I feel I would make a better job of it. (I don't think Tom shares my confidence).



Getting readyto set off for the tidal passage between Denver Sluice and Salters Lode

After Salter's Lode we moored up at one of the Well Creek Trust moorings about a mile outside of Outwell. Tom wanted to clean the boat and I walked into the village to get a paper etc. When I got back the boat was gleaming. However later that day, two combine harvesters mowed the field opposite, completely covering the boat inside and out with a fine layer of brown dust. We stayed on the mooring another day to clean up the aftermath.

And to think we were moaning about a bit of dust!!

We have been here two days, and in that time have had our batteries checked yet again, and have replaced four which hopefully will cure our lack of power problem. We plan to move on tomorrow but the weather forecast is terrible so could mean an extra night.
We have got plenty of time to get to Peterborough for Friday. I spent a lot of time yesterday on the laptop, especially as we are hooked up to electricity. We have now got our flights booked to Tenerife for 7th October - you can guarantee that we will have an scorching October now.

Thursday 21st August

We spent the morning at the mooring - Linda and Ebony moved on to St Neots - we caught up with jobs etc.

This afternoon, although the forecast wasn't too good, we decided to go for a long walk to explore the surrounding villages which we hadn't visited so far.

The first one was Hemingford Grey, which has a spectacular church on the waterfront and some very commanding properties

Not so much a commanding property

more a" lean too"
We wanted to visit Houghton with Wyton but realised we had to cross the river at some point in order to do this. We ended up walking through a riverside meadow to St Ives which was about 2 miles away but was the first crossing point.

Luckily for us, "Sunrise" and "Mio Amore" were moored there and as we had met them earlier, they invited us on board for a cup of tea.

"Sunrise" and "Mio Amore" awaiting our arrival

for a well earned cup of tea

An hour later and fully refreshed we set off again and finally came to Houghton - a really lovely village and Wyton which adjoins it

Chocolate Box or what!

On our way back we came upon our ideal retirement location.It is called "The Boathouse" and is situated on a backwater off the Ouse with a mooring big enough for "Lottie" electricity for hook up and water. The trouble is it has only just been sold.

The Boathouse

We were so lucky with the weather as it just started to rain as we got back to the boat.

We got ourselves ready and then it was back to Hemingford Abbots to the pub for our evening meal.

The pub was the Axe and Compass and they were offering Cod in a beer batter with crispy chips and mushy peas which we had seen advertised yesterday on our walk. I made the mistake of ordering two portions of fish and chips as I thought that was what we had decided upon. Christine however wanted to see the menu which we were duly given then the waitress read out all the specials on the chalk board and after much deliberation Christine eventually plumped for the (yes you've guessed it) FISH AND CHIPS!!! It has been a bit of a trial on occasions, for the both of us I am sure. It was the right choice and lived up to our expectations so much so that there was no room left for puddings

This will probably be the last blog for a while (who said Hooray! take their names) as we will be going back over old ground as from tomorrow but will update now and again so watch this space.

Wednesday 20th August

We were awake very early this morning and as it was dry, we decided to cycle to Hartford, a village just outside Huntingdon.

All Saints Church Hartford

It was very pretty and the church above is right on the river front. We had just got back, when it started to pour with rain but luckily we didn't get too wet.
We waited until the skies looked a bit better, but decided to set off on the boat and take a chance. We stopped off at Hartford Marina again to refuel and fill up with water and then made our way to Hemingford Abbots, where we had arranged to meet "Kanbedun Again".


We only had one lock to negotiate but the wind had got up again and the cruiser in front of us had a real problem getting in and tying up. It didn't help that his daughter who was meant to be holding the rope, let go as she had seen a spider. This meant the boat was sideways on in the lock with no one on board and no one able to get the bow rope.
In the meantime we were just outside the lock waiting to go in but the wind took us towards the weir, so we had to re manouvre with great difficulty to get back in position. By this time a crowd had gathered on the bridge of the lock to see the antics - it all ended well and we were on our way again.

We met up with Linda and Ebony and are now rafted against her boat for the night. We all set off for a long walk around the village - and as you can see from the pictures above it is very upmarket with some real picture postcard properties.




Christine enjoyed having a dog to walk again

Drinks at The Axe and Compass

(Home cooked fish and chips night tomorrow will probably eat there)

We stopped off at the pub on our way home and got back just in time before it started to rain again.

Tuesday 19th August

It was cold this morning and we had no sooner finished breakfast than it started to rain. There was plenty to do on the boat while we waited for it to stop and we finally set off about 11am.
It was very windy and we knew it would be difficult but as we were only planning to travel a short distance, we decided to take a chance.



Leaving Godmanchester this morning

Almost immediately we had the first and only lock, but that went very smoothly. We then travelled for about an hour without meeting any other craft and finally reached Huntingdon.
There were no mooring places initially but as we were passing, a cruiser decided to leave, and we quickly turned round and took his place.

The A14 Crossing the Great Ouse this is what we look down on when going to the boat at our mooring

Town Bridge at Huntingdon
( 2 bed ground floor apartment in old mill block on left going for £150k)

Huntingdon Church ( unusual style )

The mooring is set in a park and is only 5 minutes from the centre of town. We walked in this afternoon between showers but it is quite small and we are a bit "shopped out" at the moment.
We came back and spent the evening watching the sculling teams out on an evening exercise.

Monday 18th August

It was pouring with rain again this morning when we woke up. Luckily by the time we had got ourselves ready, it had brightened up and we decided to set off. There was a really stiff breeze but we knew we were only travelling for about 4 hours and only 3 locks.


Christine on the helm and managing the locks (busy girl)

We were very lucky as the river was deserted but each time we came to a lock, a boat was leaving it, which meant we could go straight in with minimum work. The river was very wide for most of the journey but quite attractive with willows and other trees at the water's edge.


We finally arrived in Godmanchester at approx 2pm. We had managed to miss it completely on our outward journey as it is down a little backwater by the lock. This time we found it easily and were lucky enough to get a central mooring.

The Waterfront at Godmanchester

The town is very pretty when viewed from the river but like most of the towns and villages we have visited, some of the back streets are less appealing.



The famous Chinese Bridge at Godmanchester

We walked around for an hour or two and then the rain was threatening, so returned to the boat.

Christine threatened me with thr RSPB

for making these two walk the plank!

It has now been raining for most of the evening and is quite cold.


We have had the heating on in the mornings and evenings for the last few days as we have felt cold.

Sunday 17th August

It was pouring with rain first thing this morning but soon cleared up into a warm sunny day, although slightly windy.
We had some good news late last night from Lottie and Lee to say that they had become engaged. Lee had been very brave and had a ring made as a surprise - luckily she loved it.
On their way home from Chester they found us in St Neots to show us the ring. It is beautiful and we all had a glass of champagne to celebrate.

The Happy Parents

The Happy Couple

The Fabulous Ring!!!

We will be moving on tomorrow after a lovely weekend in St Neots.