Maybe you imagine yourself cruising past wildflower meadows, pulling up beside waterside pubs, or exploring hidden corners of the Fens. But then the questions creep in…

What if I’ve never handled a boat before? What do I need to pack? What’s actually fun to do on a canal boat holiday?

You’re not alone. And you’re exactly who this blog is written for. So let us share, why the most savvy boaters subscribe to this blog before booking a holiday.

Discover the Fun of Canal Boating: One Post at a Time

At Fox Narrowboats, we don’t just hire boats; we live and breathe boating life. This blog is where we share the little gems that don’t always make it into the brochures. Think:

• Quirky canal slang (Want to know your windlass from your weed hatch?)
• Local recommendations (Like where to moor up for the best fish and chips!)
• Packing tips, pub guides and peaceful routes
• Real stories from people who’ve tried boating for the first time, and loved it

Whether you’re planning your very first trip or returning for another go, our blog is like having a friendly boater in your pocket, giving you tips and ideas with each new post.

Who Writes It?

Peggy Melmoth is a freelance writer specialising in narrowboat life. She lived on canal boats for 13 years, has written for Towpath Talk and Waterways World, and blogged for many canal-based businesses. She has been writing for Fox Narrowboats since 2014. Her personal blog, The Real Life of a Narrowboat Wife, describes three years of living aboard a narrowboat with her young family.

Alice Elgie is a wandering writer with an appreciation for time spent in nature. She writes with a focus on nature, yoga, slow living and travel. She also writes the monthly column “Characters of the Cut” for Towpath Talk. She travels between a narrowboat on the canals of England, a cottage in rural France, and a tiny camper on the open road.

alice elgie family narrowboater

Follow her musings at Slow into the Seasons.

There are also guest post articles on this blog, from local historians, authors, waterways experts, narrowboat bloggers, Fox boat owners and holiday customers.

Chris Howes

Chris Howes was a mooring customer here at Fox Narrowboats and has written a few articles for our blog. He was a waterways campaigner who held several roles in the Inland Waterways Association. He wrote about literature, Fenland history and the Fenland Waterways and is author of the Imray guides, The River Great Ouse and its Tributaries, and Fenland Waterways. His list of the “Seven Most Wonderful Places to Boat” is an updated alternative to Robert Aickman’s “Seven Wonders of the Waterways”, written in 1955. (Robert Aickman was a co-founder of the Inland Waterways Association.)

John Revell is a boater, waterways campaigner and IWA member who writes about his personal boating journey, which began in 1984. He is a mooring customer at Fox Boat’s marina and has shared, on our blog, excerpts of articles he wrote for Hereward, the magazine of the Peterborough Branch of the Inland Waterways Association. He also shares some first-hand experiences of visiting derelict canals, such as the Kennet and Avon, before its restoration.

John Revell on his boat Olive Emily

There are also guest posts introducing the Fox Boats family and team: Paula and Tracey are the daughters of renowned boat builder Charlie Fox. It was in 1973 that Charlie built his first canal boat, and in 1980 he built our marina, to the west of March.

Paula & Gerald

What You’ll Get When You Subscribe

When you sign up to follow the blog by email, you’ll receive:

• New blog posts delivered straight to your inbox (no need to remember to check the site)
• Seasonal highlights and planning ideas
• Inspiring photos and stories to fuel your holiday daydreams
• No spam. No pressure. Just good old-fashioned boating inspiration.

Ready to Cruise Into Holiday Mode?

If you’re even thinking about a canal boat holiday, subscribing to this blog is the best place to start. It’s free, it’s friendly, and it’s written with you in mind.

Subscribe to the blog using the sign-up box in the sidebar; then pop the kettle on – we’ll send your first post soon.

Alice Elgie is a nature-loving writer who shares words about her wandering lifestyle through hold-in-the-hand letters and recorded reflections. aliceelgie.com

The post Don’t Book a Narrowboat Holiday – Before Trying this One-Minute Hack appeared first on Fox Narrowboats.

river wissey hilgay

Is there anymore a relaxing and restorative holiday than on a narrowboat?

Is there any better way to immerse yourself in the natural world?

I’m that person with the lifestyle many of you envy. I’m semi-retired and live on a Fox narrowboat! So what does the person whose life can appear ‘one long holiday’ do for a holiday? I often stock up on provisions and cruise the tributaries of the River Great Ouse, the rivers Lark, Little Ouse and Wissey.

quiet waterways

The days of traffic jams, congestion charging, ‘held up by roadworks’ and road rage are but a distant memory to me ! I never go anywhere fast in my boat, and occasionally marvel at the small minority of hirers who appear to feel the need to go as fast as possible, seemingly in an attempt to achieve the maximum possible mileage. My mantra is “if I was in a hurry I shouldn’t have bought a boat”. My formula for stress free living – relax and drink in the narrowboat experience.

prickwillow engine museum

On the river Lark visit the brilliant Prickwillow Drainage Museum Open mainly Saturdays, Sundays & Mondays, April through September.

And explore upstream as far as Judes Ferry and reward yourself with good pub grub in the hostelry! It is a long standing boating tradition that you can’t turn around outside a pub without first sampling its wares. (Perhaps a less well known tradition, but one I strive to try and keep alive!)

The entrance to the Little Ouse is marked by The Ship at Brandon Creek PH. With both pub and EA visitor moorings the Ship also has a long tradition of feeding and watering the hungry boater.

little ouse narrowboat approach lock sluice gate

The river Little Ouse features the breathtaking lovely Hockwold Fen part of an RSPB nature reserve. One evening my wife and I moored there on the GOBA mooring and were entertained all evening by nightingale song. Priceless!

Little Ouse GOBA Mooring

Another star of the Little Ouse is the eye catching remains of the long abandoned Waterman’s Arms. How the ruins of this former pub defy gravity and remain standing defies belief!

derelict watermans arms

The last of these three tributaries is the River Wissey. The lower reaches feel so remote as you squeeze through its tight reeds that it often reminds me of the film classic, the ‘African Queen’. My wife plays Katherine Hepburn to my Humphrey Bogart !

Marvel at the alien landscape as you briefly pass next to the country’s largest beet factory at Wissington. Both the Wissey and the Little Ouse feature strange water management feature.

The Head of Navigation on the Wissey is a charming flint built Suffolk town called Brandon. 5 miles north east of Brandon is Grime’s Graves, the only Neolithic flint mine open to visitors in Britain. Both worth visiting !

grimes graves map

In this blog I’ve only scratched the surface of the many interesting features and quirks of these rivers. In my printed 260 page guide “The Great Ouse and its Tributaries’ published by Imray. I describe, for example, both how the river Lark demonstrates all the different historical stages in pumping the Fens dry, and how the same river was used for mass, total immersion baptism, right up until the 1970s, only stopping after complaints that the recently ‘dunked’ were too smelly! And many, many other strange and little known facts. The guide is available from Fox’s. Chris Howes.

View this Fox Route 1 & points of interest on the Fox Narrowboats Interactive Google Map

If you are interested in exploring the Fenland Waterways, Fox have day hire narrowboats and holiday boats available.

Hey! Are you new here? Subscribe on the right to receive more secrets of the undiscovered Fenland waterways, by email. (We never share or sell email addresses, we’ll only be sending you our local, insider knowledge, every two weeks)

Image credit: river wissey hilgay (top) – wiki martin pearman, grimes graves map – public domain (bottom), all inline photos – chris howes

The post A Nightingale Sang On Hockwold Fen – Ouse Tributaries appeared first on Fox Narrowboats.

Jesus Green Lock

More than half a century ago, one of the founding fathers of the Inland Waterways Association, Robert Aickman wrote about the “Seven Wonders of the Waterways”. I’ve boated each of these Wonders and ticked them off my ‘to visit’ list. Although such structures as the Pontycysyllte Aqueduct obviously deserve every accolade available, while I marveled at Stanedge Tunnel, half way through I did ‘wonder’ just how much I was enjoying it. When we started up Caen Hill in tandem with another narrowboat, (who decided without warning to turn back after the lower 7 locks!), I ‘wondered’ how much I was enjoying the experience when halfway up the remaining 22 locks a descending hire boat decided to fully open the sluices of the empty lock I was in, without either asking, or warning, me !

I have another, personal, list – the “Seven Most Wonderful Places to Boat”. There are some occasions on which I have had to pinch myself because I can’t believe that I’m lucky enough to be boating in such a breathtakingly wonderful place. Clearly, crossing the Pontycysyllte comes high up on the list. But add to that list, mooring in the historic Royal Albert Dock in Liverpool- oozing history from every piece of stone and iron column, or visiting Bristol floating harbour and steaming past the S.S. Great Britain to visit the Harbour Master. Mooring in the heart of Bath with the gorgeous Georgian terraces rolling down the hill in front of you. The breathtaking beauty of crossing the Pennines on the Leeds & Liverpool, or mooring on the Thames in front of Hampton Court Palace with the evening sunlight bathing Jean Tijou’s magnificent wrought iron gates in its golden glow. Travelling up the truly beautiful River Nene in spring when the may blossom fills the valley of the clear flowing river, populated with historic watermills and beautiful stone villages each crowned by a picturesque church. These are just some of my favourite things !

And on a roasting, shirtsleeved February day (the warmest since records began) in bright sunshine we experienced a new ‘drop-dead gorgeous’, not to be missed, special boating location – the Cambridge Backs.  This is probably the most beautiful area of the River Cam, above Jesus Green Lock. It flows past some of Cambridge’s finest buildings (including King’s College Chapel) and provides that world-famous view of Cambridge.

Navigation is prohibited to powered craft during the summer. This is probably just as well because in high season this part of the river becomes a confused mass of hundreds of punts, bobbing haphazardly across the river like a confused giant children’s game of ‘Pick-Up Sticks’. But between 1st October and 31 March access is permitted, so long as you give the river manager 48 hours notice.

The idea of taking up this seasonal opportunity to boat this famous stretch of water was put into our minds by Simon Judge, doyen of St Pancras Cruising Club, in a Facebook entry inviting interested parties to join him on a cruise on the last Saturday of February. We jumped at the opportunity to accompany Simon in our 45 narrowboat ‘Lily May’, bought the necessary Cam Licence (an addition to the EA licence required to get as far up the Cam as Bottisham Lock).

We boated up to Cambridge on the Friday, easily finding space on the visitor moorings below Jesus Green Lock. Being permitted to take your home (snail like) and moor it in the middle of one of our great cities is to me one of the true marvels on boating the Inland Waterways. We over-nighted in Cambridge (where the cost of an hotel is eye watering) for absolutely nothing !

As the sun struggled to burn through the morning mist we assembled at the lock, where Simon joined us in ‘Scholar Gypsy’ (title of a poem by Matthew Arnold, son of that other great University City, Oxford). Jesus Green Lock is one of those logic defying locks with the only means of crossing from one side of the lock to the other, by swing bridge which spans the lock and has to be removed before you can fill the lock, a seeming impossibility for the single-handed boater. Fortunately between the two boats we were well crewed.

The short journey requires passing under 10 bridges. By the time we had reached the first, Magdalen, the sun had conquered its battle with the morning mist, and we were bathed in glorious sunshine !

There are two considerations that the intrepid boater of Cambridge Backs ignores at their peril. Bridges and punts ! The height of the bridges requires careful attention. The third one you pass under, St. John’s Kitchen Bridge is the lowest, with a published air clearance of six foot nine inches. However one is well advised to remember that:-

a)    like any river the water levels in the Cam rise after rain, and clearances quickly reduce,

b)    the published height is to the centre of an arc, and will be lower where the corners of your boat pass under,

c)    the computation of air clearance assumes that your boat is passing under at right angles to the line of the bridge, and on a narrow and bendy river the effects of wind and other boaters can combine to make it harder to ‘shoot the bridge‘ in a perpendicular line.

A punt is a flat-bottomed boat with a square-cut bow and stern, about 24 feet long and 3 feet wide, designed for use in small rivers and shallow water. The punter propels the punt by pushing against the river bed with a 12 – 16 foot long pole. Pleasure punting developed on the river Thames in the 1860s and arrived in Cambridge about 1902. The bows of a punt features a flat raised deck known as the ‘trill’ and the stern called the ‘huff’, which features cross plans (a.k.a. treads). The punter (propelling the boat) stands at one of the ends and pushes the boat away from him (or her). In Oxford the punter stands with a secure foot hold in the stern and proceeds bow first. However in Cambridge the punter stands on the flat raised bow or deck (with little secure foot grip) and propels the boat stern first. This less stable practice is said to have arisen in the Edwardian era when the lady undergraduates of Girton College felt it better showed off their ankles.

There is no towpath along this section of the Cam. In the 18th and 19th Centuries when deliveries were made to the Colleges it was by horse drawn barge. The Cam isn’t deep, and old prints show the horses wading chest-deep through the water, pulling barges and lighters. To facilitate this a cobbled causeway was laid down the centre of the river.

There are two kinds of punts in Cambridge, single width boats hired by the hour, generally to absolute novices, who laugh and splash and pose for selfies as they career haphazardly along the river, often crashing from side to side, sometimes assisted by the occasional alcoholic libation. There are also double width boats with ‘professional’ chauffeurs, propelling the boat, seemingly effortlessly, in a straight line (while dodging the beginners) straight up the middle of the river. These seasoned punters are following the hidden causeway along the centre of the river because it is far easier to propel their heavily laden boat by pushing off against solid cobbles than to allow the pole to sink into the clinging mud either side of this causeway.

The ‘middle of the river’ punt chauffeurs certainly aren’t prepared to surrender the precious centre of the bridges to narrowboats, pinball punting novices, or even other chauffeur punts. There is a famous annual 420 rowing boats race on the Thames in London where every cox has been told to ‘aim for the second lamp post on the right’ on Hammersmith Bridge, and the onlooker can revel in the chaos as all the boats steer for the same point, seemingly regardless of other boats. Similarly on the Cam, everyone heads for the centre of the bridges, with little or no consideration for other boats eyeing up the same destination !

The universal rule ‘steam gives way to sail’ clearly still applies, even if it has been transcribed to ‘beta 43 marine engine gives way to madly waving pole’ ! Of course it hasn’t crossed the punters’ minds that our boat may weigh 15 tons and doesn’t have brakes. Picking your way through, often on no more than tick-over, can feel like you are dancing around delicate china in hob nailed boots !

The custodians of the river, the Cam Conservators recommend positioning a look out in the bows, just to watch for wayward punts. By the first bridge punts were coming, from seemingly every direction, thick and fast. After the rather stodgy cast iron Victorian Magdalen Bridge, the next one is the Grade 1 listed Bridge of Sighs. There are a number of similarly named bridges around the world, but the inspirational original was constructed in 1600 in Venice and given the nick-name (which stuck) by Lord Byron. Cambridge’s was built in 1831, and bathed in the strong spring sunlight was breathtaking !

The next bridge, St John’s Kitchen Bridge, is a pleasant stone bridge. The Conservators ‘guide to navigating the … backs’ advises caution:

“this is the lowest and most challenging of all the bridges. Headroom at the apex of the largest middle arch is 2.08m / 6’9”. the curvature of the arch constrains the width available. You must ensure that your vessel is aligned dead-centre before proceeding. On the return passage, the entrance to the bridge is blind. Take especial care.”

Trinity Bridge, next, is another stone built bridge and is the second lowest bridge that we passed under. However, as we’d just squeezed under St John’s Kitchen Bridge, it wasn’t a problem. After a nondescript modern pedestrian bridge (Garret Hostel bridge) we arrived at Cambridge’s oldest, Clare Bridge. This is the only bridge to survive the English Civil War. Its considerable antiquity can be seen in its higgledy piggledy appearance.

After another stone bridge (King’s) we came to probably Cambridge’s most famous, the Mathematical Bridge. There is a popular myth that this bridge was designed and built by Sir Isaac Newton without the use of nuts or bolts, and that in the past students dismantled it, but couldn’t work out how to reassemble it again without using bolts. In fact mechanical fixings were always part of the design, it’s just that originally it employed spikes driven through the joints from outside (where they could not be seen from the inside of the parapets), whereas when it was rebuilt, big hand cut square bolts were used which are still highly visible. The bridge was originally constructed in 1749. Newton had already died in 1727 so his direct involvement in the bridge’s construction appears unlikely.

The last bridge is Silver Street. It’s a single span bridge, clad in Portland Stone, designed by Sr Edward Lutyens, and built in the late 1950s. In the middle it has a generous 8’7” air draft, but immediately upstream (to the left as we were travelling) is Mill Lane punting station with rafts of moored punts. We had to turn 90 degrees right immediately as we emerged from under the bridge, a manoeuvre made harder by extremely slow speed and punts absolutely everywhere.

We had reached Head of Navigation. There is a small weir, and the only boats that could access the river above the weir (here called Granta, despite remaining the Cam) were either boats that could be lifted by hand, or punts which are dragged across rollers. We winded in the mill pond, known as the Mill Pit. The Conservator’s navigation guide advises: “allow the water coming over the weir to carry the bows around”.

Travelling up the Cam from Jesus Green Lock had taken about an hour. It took at least another hour to retrace our route back to Jesus Green Lock. If possible, progress was even slower on the return journey, as the unseasonably stunning weather had attracted even more punts to the water. I often observe “if I was in a hurry I wouldn’t have bought a boat”. Nowhere does this more apply than to the Cambridge Backs. However the most leisurely cruising speed I can ever remember adopting, gives you more time to enjoy the uniquely special views of Cambridge from the water.

The Backs have become a firm entry into my “Seven Most Wonderful Places to Boat” list of uniquely special locations, but I doubt, however many times we might boat the Backs again in the future, that the weather will ever be so kind to us as on this trip !

Please be aware that a trip on the backs cannot be done during the hire boat season.  You can however take a punt from Scudamores to recreate this journey on a weeks boating holiday from our March base..

To get more tips and advice about exploring Cambridgeshire and the Fens sign up now to receive regular articles by email. (See ‘Follow Blog’ to the right of this article.)

The post Boating the Cambridge Backs with Chris Howes appeared first on Fox Narrowboats.

When Inland Waterways Association Region Chair Chris Howes sent me this book review. I immediately went to a well-known online book seller who offers prime delivery and placed an order.  As someone who had met Herb Everitt and Lou Doubleday as a child I have enjoyed reading John Seymour’s account of his travels around the network.

Paula

Book Review – Voyage into England, by John Seymour.

On a recent crisp winter morning I was browsing through a second hand book stall on Ely Market, when I found a fascinating account of a pioneering boat journey through the canals and rivers of England, undertaken in 1963. This entertaining and well written book paints a vivid picture of those early days of the boating renaissance when hardy adventurers strove to reclaim forgotten and ill used waters previously navigable.

The book chronicles a past, barely more than 50 years ago, that is almost forgotten. To give a ‘flavour’ we’ve reproduced short sections from chapters on the Nene, Middle Level, and crossing onto the Great Ouse. If I’ve whetted your appetite, copies are available on the interweb, or why not keep your eyes peeled when browsing second hand book stalls and charity shops ? described as ‘lock on the Nene – no need to draw paddles’ weed on the Middle Level Chapter 18 The Gracious River Nene.

At Peterborough, where we tied up alongside the town quay, many people came aboard us, two of them being Mr and Mrs Lou Doubleday, who live at Outwell in the Fens… Lou has a consuming passion for the Fen waterways.

His grandfather was a Fen lighterman, and captain of a steam-tug on the Fenland rivers. The Fen waters are in Lou’s blood. He wants to open up the Fenland rivers and drains again for traffic… They were terribly weeded up but, he said, its just a matter of determination. If necessary, we could bow-haul our boat. The locks were ancient and strange, and you had to know where to go to get the keys. Other people came aboard and there was a great discussion. the Fenland waterways must be opened again. the Great Ouse was booming, from Denver to St Neots, and a move was afoot to open the navigation as far as Bedford. (Ed’s note:- completed 1978). The Nene was getting full of boats. The network of water-ways in between, the Middle Level, was weeded up and silted, and there had been talk of closing it completely to navigation.

In Lou’s grandfather’s time, Fen lighters had traded to every corner of the Fen’s, carrying produce. Then the drainage people had lowered the water in the drains, and put ‘lighters on the bottom’. Low bridges had been built, and fixed sluices erected across the rivers. The commercial traffic was dead; no one then had ever dreamed that one day there would be a pleasure-boat traffic.

Lou Doubleday had just founded a new club: the Fen Watermen’s Association. I thought, what a nice name for it; how much better, and more apt, than ‘Yacht Club’. The headquarters were at March.

I asked, ‘What about a rally of boats at March? From all over the country?’ It would do Fenlanders good suddenly to see scores of boats sailing along dikes on which they had never seen boats before, nor realised that boats could get. They would suddenly realize that here was the possibility of turning an honest penny, as people who live along the Broads have done.

On that stirring note, the party broke up. We drank a toast to: ‘Speed Navigation!’, as the old canal speculators used to do, cast off, and sailed across the river to Stanground Creek.

Chapter 19 Peterborough to Salter’s Lode

Stanground Creek is a rum place; it would make a good lair for a tribe of river pirates. You drive under a railway bridge, into a wide creek just under half a mile long, with a couple of very cluttered-looking boat yards along it… It all smacks somehow of a junk- filled creek near Shanghai.

The passage of the Middle Level Stanground Lock proved easy but slow. There was no three-minutes-through-a-lock nonsense here. Half an hour discussion with the lock-keeper, searching for the ancient key that fitted the ancient paddle spindle, waiting a long time for the water to attain a level, then a pushing and shoving at the ancient gates, which one expected to fall to pieces at any moment.

This took us into Knut’s Dyke. This ditch was dug by King Canute, or at least by his order, so that His Majesty should not have to brave the crossing of Whittle Mere, a large and terrible body of water between Peterborough and Ramsey Abbey… We went from Knut’s Dyke to King’s Dyke, from King’s to Whittlesey Dyke (Whittlesey is where they make half the bricks in England, and the place is thick with tall ‘shafts’ or chimneys from the kilns. If this was a sensible country the bricks would be shipped down the Nene to London and other places. Instead they clutter up the roads). We hit the Old Course of the Nene, a winding river between high banks, and so we reached March.

Next day, we kept along the Old Nene, and turned right along Popham’s Eau until we struck the Sixteen Foot. We turned left along this and went as far as we could; to the aqueduct at Outwell. This aqueduct carries the Well Creek over the sixteen Foot, but you can’t get under it because there is a fixed sluice. The proper passage from the Nene to the Great Ouse is right along the Old Nene into Well Creek (over the aqueduct) to the Ouse. But this is now silted up. It is one of the main aims of the Fens Watermen’s Association to open this up again. Thanks to the Well Creek Trust since the book was written this waterway is now re opened to navigation.

We turned around and headed back; we had to go the full length of the Sixteen Foot. We ‘came fast’ under a bridge that some people had been repairing. it was Sunday, and they were away. They had built a low scaffolding, which was holding up shuttering for concrete. I had to strip the boat of various fittings to get through… I left a note pinned on the bridge telling the contractors, that they had no right to obstruct the navigation. (By law, there should be 8ft briggage along the Middle Levels; in fact you are lucky to find six.) We struck the Forty Foot drain; and then our troubles began, for we came into weed such as we had never encountered before. We revved and we went astern, we slashed and we hacked, we bow-hauled, and in the end we made it. To Welches Dam Lock, which must be one of the most ancient and antediluvian locks in England; the whole thing should be moved, lock, stock and barrel, into a museum. But Lou Doubleday was up to it; he walked half a mile to find the weird spanner which operates it, wound up the creaking paddles, and we got through. We turned sharp left at Welches Dam into the Old Bedford River (a dead straight canal many miles long).

…We plodded on, along that dead straight Old Bedford River, with a nip ashore at Welney (ed – Welney then had two pubs and the sluice hadn’t been installed). What a lost and forgotten world all that fen country is. Tiny homesteads standing about, miles from a hard road, like ships at sea on the dead flat fen. Every inch fertile, and every inch under the plough. Wonderful corn everywhere, ripe for the combine, hundred-acre fields of sugar beet, huge acreages of carrots. Some men pulling carrots told us that the trade was slow for them this year because it was a good fruit year. I asked them what the connection was. ‘What!’ they said. ‘Three-quarters of the carrot crop goes straight to the jam factories. If fruit’s cheap, they use more fruit and less carrots. If it’s dear, they take more carrots.’

We came to the End of the Old Bedford at Salter’s Lode, which is the gate that lets you through into the tidal waters of the Great Ouse. We had traversed the Middle Level. We were through the Fens.

Chapter 20 – Salter’s Lode

Salter’s Lode is not a lock, but a single sluice-gate. (Ed – the Author is here referring to the sluice junction with the Old Bedford, not the lock between Well Creek and the tidal Great Ouse) You wait until the outside makes ‘a level’, the gate is wound open by the sluice-keeper, and out you go. A boat was coming in on the tide we took out. She laid tied up outside, we in. We respective crews leant on the railing looking at the ebbing muddy waters of the wide Great Ouse, saying: ‘It’ll be another half-hour yet!’ and shaking our heads.

Then the sluice-keeper, Mr Everitt, got to work. By heaving on a big windlass, he was able to pull the huge wooden door back against the tide; which was higher outside than in. As a general rule, the Fenland Waters are much higher than the land they drain; the water has to be pumped into them by diesel or electric pumps.

I went aboard and started the engine. The great door opened a chink, and water surged through. Gradually the door was wound back against a foot of water. The surge became a tide, and our boat strained at her ropes. Then Lou Doubleday-who was aboard the incoming boat and was to pilot her through the Middle Level as he had one us-shouted ‘Let her go!’ Her skipper did so, and she surged forward on the water, caught the gate a resounding thud, and shot past us like a scalded cat.

We let go, and started forward against the flood. Gradually we began to gain headway. Half the boat got through the gate. Then-wham!-the gate swung back and hit us amidships! The worn pall had slipped of the ratchet of the windlass on the bank and let the gate go, and the tidal pressure had slammed it on to us. Fortunately, we were of steel, and strong, and sustained no damage at all.

It was essential, though, to get free. The tide outside was sinking rapidly, and when it had sank below the level of the Old Bedford it would have been impossible to shut the sluice gate again. Mr Everitt and some passers-by sweated at the windlass on the bank, while we aboard shoved and levered at the gate. Slowly it yielded, and our good engine stemmed the tide. Inch by inch we slid out, into the little channel between the high mud banks which leads into the tidal Great Ouse… We slipped into the tideway, ran across the mouth of the New Bedford River (which is tidal) and reached Denver Sluice where we locked through into the non-tidal reaches of the Great Ouse.

It is now the Old Bedford river that is currently un-navigable see some of the recent campaign cruises

Old Bedford Campaign cruise

Old Bedford River Campaign and the Three Tuns pub

The post Book Review – Voyage into England, by John Seymour appeared first on Fox Narrowboats.

gathering at Salter’s Lode prior to the cruise. Photo Mike Daines

Following on from the IWA Campaign cruise on the Old Bedford river on 19th and 20th August 2018 prior to the IWA Festival at water at St Neots we can update you on the progress.

Only one narrow boat made it through the Old Bedford Sluice at Salter’s Lode, which demonstrates the difficulties in accessing the Old Bedford River from the tidal Ouse.  Two other narrow boats and a 22ft sailing yacht, which had crossed The Wash to take part, also attempted to get through the sluice gate, but failed despite valiant efforts by all concerned.  These attempts took place over three different tidal windows when a level was reached, to allow passage through the single guillotine gate, but the tidal entrance was too shallow and silted to allow any but the shallowest boat through.

Three portable craft were put directly into the Old Bedford River by the sluice gate at Salter’s Lode, and so a flotilla of 4 boats set off and reached Welney, about half way along the waterway, by the Sunday evening.

On the Monday morning the four boats continued their journey along the river, encountering much more weed along this section which made the passage slower, and

Old Bedford River Campaign Cruise photo by Mike Daines

arrived at the closed lock at Welches Dam soon after midday.  Those supporters viewing the flotilla from the bank included some of the boaters who had been unsuccessful in getting through the sluice, the crew of a boat who had arrived at the other end of the Horseway Channel (who had walked the short distance to Welches Dam lock along the towpath of the derelict Horseway channel), and a TV news reporter with camera and drone.  After photos and interviews had taken place, the flotilla set off to return to Salter’s Lode, and the narrow boat successfully passed back through the Old Bedford Sluice on the ebbing tide on the Monday evening.

Chris Howes, IWA Eastern Region Chairman and skipper of Lily May, the one narrow boat that managed to get on to the river, said “On behalf of IWA and the other boaters taking  part in this event I would like to thank EA and MLC staff for their support in enabling the campaign cruise to take place.  We look forward to working further with EA to come to a resolution regarding the continued closure of Welches Dam and the difficulties in accessing the Old Bedford River, as well as working with them on other initiatives in the Anglian Region.”

Pat Fox wife of our company founder Charlie accompanied Chris Howes on the journey from Salters Lode to Welney on the Sunday.  When Pat and Charlie were running the business Pat says that  in the 1970’s their hire boats regularly used the Old Bedford river to access the Great Ouse at Denver many of these customers used the Ship Inn at Purls Bridge and the Three Tuns at Welney for moorings and refreshment.  On the campaign trip Pat met Peter Cox  a local historian from Tipps End.

Pub sign Three Tuns Welney

Peter visited the marina on Friday 31st August to place the Three Tuns boat register with Fox Narrowboats for safe keeping.  Peter takes up the history of the Three Tuns.

Peter Cox hands over the register to Pat Fox

This old exercise book, referred to as a Boat Register, was kept at the pub and used as a ‘visitors book’ for boaters (mostly on NBs) from May 1968 to Dec 1997 during the time that Mabs and John Waring ran and lived at the old-fashioned Fenland riverside pub. There are some large gaps in recorded visits – I don’t know if that’s an error by the pub, or indicative of navigation problems.

I doubt it was co-incidence that the Register was started shortly after John Waring arrived at the Three Tuns from the Middle East in 1967/68 to join his wife Mabs (Madge) who became licensee in 1966, nor that the first entry was by the then Chairman of the Inland Waterways Association (IWA), Lionel Munk, who arrived in NB ‘Sheerwater II’ on 14th May with other IWA members.

Five NBs at the Three Tuns, 29th March 1997. (details in the Register).
(Photo by Patrick Barry who lived at Welney Hotel, Bedford Bank West.)

Mabs died in 1995 and John took on the licence, and when he died in 2001 the brewery closed the pub with the Register locked inside. Luckily it was salvaged in 2008 just prior to the pub’s demolition and handed to me “to look after” as I’m a local historian and webmaster of the Welney Website. As keeper not owner, I cannot gift the book to anyone, but am happy to offer it to Fox Narrowboats on a long-term loan basis to use as they wish, provided they return to me if requested or make it available to anyone with justified reason for claiming ownership or a better reason for being its keeper.

Peter Cox, Tipps End, Welney, August 2018. (p@whfh.org.uk)

Fox Narrowboats are corporate members of The Inland Waterways Association (IWA). The IWA is the membership charity that works to protect and restore the country’s 6,500 miles of canals and rivers.  IWA is a national organisation with a network of volunteers and branches who deploy their expertise and knowledge to work constructively with navigation authorities, government and other organisations.  The Association also provides practical and technical support to restoration projects through its expert Waterway Recovery Group.

If you enjoyed this article you may wish to read

John Revell’s inspiration ahead of the Old Bedford campaign cruise

John Revell Old Bedford river conquered

#LoveYourWaterways #FabulousFens

The post Old Bedford River Campaign and the Three Tuns pub appeared first on Fox Narrowboats.

When Charlie and Pat Fox set up business in West End March in the 1960’s navigation on the Middle Level was very different from today. Stanground Lock was only 49′ long and Briggate bend at Whittlesey was so sharp that even boats shorter than 49′ struggled to get round. Well Creek through Upwell and Outwell was derelict and unnavigable.

In the mid 1970’s the Well Creek Trust were still restoring Well Creek . There were only two ways to take a boat from the Nene to the Ouse or vice versa, across the Wash from Sutton Bridge to Kings Lynn or take the route created by the Dutchman Cornelius Vermuyden in 1637 along the Old Bedford River.

Guest Log book from Three Tuns Welney showing Fox Narrowboats boat March Rambler using the Old Bedford River 1976

It is now possible for full length narrowboats to use the Nene to Ouse Link route. Well Creek was restored to navigation by an amazing band of volunteers, local contractors and the Middle Level Commissioners but sadly part of Vermuyden’s ancient route is now unnavigable. The entrance to Welches Dam lock was piled by the Environment Agency in 2006 and remains unusable a staggering 12 years later. The two mile stretch of Horseway Channel between Welches Dam lock and Horseway lock is also unnavigable, neglected and clogged up.

Modernising and lengthening a single lock and restoring a short stretch of river to full navigation is not rocket science. If, for example,  we have been able to re-open two derelict canals that cross the Pennines (the Rochdale and the Huddersfield Narrow canal) we must surely be able to re-open this route.

This old photo taken by Alan Faulkner in 1973 shows 16 boats waiting to lock out of the Old Bedford river and Pat Fox recalls over 40 boats using that same route that same year.

Old Bedford Sluice 27 July 1973

Are you interested in joining the campaign cruise?

The mouth of Old Bedford River July 2008

Between 19th & 22nd August 2018 Peterborough Branch  will be undertaking a campaign cruise from the tidal Ouse, along the Old Bedford River, to Welches Dam Lock, ahead of the IWA’s Festival of Water in St Neots, over the August bank holiday weekend. Full details can be found at  IWA Campaign Cruise.

Along with John Revell IWA Eastern Region Chair Chris Howes will be taking part with his 45 foot narrow boat. They are not only looking for other powered boats to join them – narrowboats and cruisers – but also small (self propelled) boats such as canoes, as well as walkers. It may prove difficult to get boats over 50 foot onto the (OBR) Old Bedford River, and larger boats are being encouraged to meet the flotilla at Horseway Lock, which is at the other end of the ‘blockage’.

Chris says “I was fortunate to make passage (along with two other boats) along the OBR in April 2017. Back in the mid 17th Century digging the OBR was the first stage of Cornelius Vermuden’s Herculean task of draining the Fens. Unlike other navigable Fenland drains, the OBR is not bordered on its west side by a high bank and the views across the Fen are truly rewarding. (Sunsets are particularly magnificent.)

During our 2017 trip I particularly remember the look of curiosity on the faces of a flock of black faced sheep, who had clearly never seen a boat before, and the wit of a couple of teenagers in Welney who observed “You wait all your life to see a barge, and then three come along at once!”

The neighbouring Ouse Washes are a nature reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest. We will be passing Welney Wildlife and Wetlands Centre. Twitchers don’t forget to bring your binoculars !

The post Old Bedford Campaign Cruise Aug 19-22 2018 appeared first on Fox Narrowboats.

Northampton –

Becket’s Well

Becket’s Park is named after Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury notoriously murdered in Canterbury Cathedral. Henry II had summoned Becket to appear before a great council at Northampton Castle in October 1164, to answer allegations of contempt. Becket drank from a well on the edge of the park. Convicted on the charges, Becket stormed out of the trial and fled to the Continent. In 1170 Becket returned to England, and further upset the King causing him to speak the words “will no-one rid me of this turbulent priest”, which resulted in Becket’s murder on 29 December 1170. These days there are water points available and drinking unprocessed water is not recommended !

Fotheringhay – worth a visit

fotheringhay church

This was the site of Fortheringhay Castle which has been very significant in English History. Richard III was born there in 1452 Mary, Queen of Scots, was tried and beheaded in 1587. The castle was razed in 1627, and there is nothing left other than the motte on which it was built which is worth climbing for the excellent views of the river Nene.

Views of the village are dominated by a particularly fine Perpendicular style church, dating in parts to the 15th Century. At the time of writing, the Church is unfortunately masked by scaffolding.

A local farmer charges for mooring.

Lilford Hall

As you pass through Lilford Lock and under the picturesque bridge you are entering Lilford Estate which is crowned by a Grade I listed, 15th Century, stately home. Although not open to the Public, the views through the trees of the grand house remind one of days long gone ! Remember to ‘doff your cap’ or ‘tug your forelock’ if you pass anyone on the bank who might possibly be aristocracy !

Wansford in England

Wansford is beautiful village largely built of mellow Northamptonshire Stone. The old bridge which carried the Great North road (a.k.a. the A1) past the Haycock Inn dates from 1600 and is a scheduled ancient monument.

The Haycock Inn is named from the story of an unfortunate traveller who, wary of sleeping in any Inn because of plague, spent the night in a hayrick. The river rose in the night and the traveller woke to find himself floating down the Nene. He asked a traveller on the riverbank where he was, and upon hearing the reply “Wansford”, asked, “Wansford in England?”. The name stuck, though the local Inns are now, we hope, plague free !

The next bridge carrying the rerouted A1 was constructed in 1929. For those of us who appreciate such odd things as cast concrete, its structure is particularly fine, including the words cast into it “County of Soke of Peterborough”.

The final bridge, which accommodated a second carriage way for the A1 was built in 1975. There has been a river crossing in Wansford since Saxon times, and the three bridges neatly summarise a large part of the history of bridge building.

Wansford Station – worth a visit

Nene Valley Railway, Wansford

The river meanders round a great bend after Wansford, before you come to floating moorings from which you can access Wansford Station (actually in Sibson). This is the headquarters of the Nene Valley Railway. An absolute must to visit ! The home of Thomas the Tank Engine and a host of historic steam engines, you can ride to Peterborough enjoying a line that has, over the years,  been used for filming, amongst many others, Secret Army, a Queen rock video, Middlemarch, Goldeneye, and Murder on the Orient Express.

Peterborough – Flag Fen worth a visit

Flag fen is one of the most important surviving Bronze Age sites in England, and possibly in all Europe ! It is home to a unique ancient wooden monument, a kilometre long wooden causeway and platform, perfectly preserved in the wetland. This was built and used by the Prehistoric fen people 3,500 years ago as a place of worship and ritual. 60,000 upright timbers and 250,000 horizontal planks are buried under the ground along with many swords and personal items given as offerings to the watery fen. These are on display in a visitor centre and give an unique insight into Bronze Age life.

It is a short walk North of the river Nene from the spectacular new Shanks Millenium Foot Bridge East of Peterborough. There are no dedicated moorings but ‘improvised’ mooring shouldn’t be difficult.

Ramsey Rural Museum – worth a visit

Ramsey Dock moorings

This quintessentially English, independent museum, contains an eclectic mix of articles from bygone ages. It evokes glorious memories of a past of village fetes and strawberries and cream.

Open from April through to October, all day on Thursdays, and in the afternoon on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays. Nearest moorings are either on the 40ft navigation near The George P.H. at Ramsey Forty Foot (2 miles away, but down a country road without a footpath) or on Ramsey High Lode, (1.4 miles away, past a 15th century Gothic gatehouse to a former Abbey)

Holme post – point of interest

Holme Post stands on the lowest land point in Great Britain at 9 ft below mean sea level. In 1851 it was decided to drain Whittlesey Mere (a boggy lake), and a 12ft cast iron post was driven vertically into the peat until the top of it was buried with its top level with the ground. The post was probably a reject casting originally intended for the Great Exhibition. As the peat dried the ground shrank and the post gradually emerged. Today all 12ft of the post is exposed, and a six foot extension has been added to the bottom of it.

Fen folk say that a drained mere will sink the height of a man, during the life of a man. Judging from the evidence of the now exposed post, the ground has sunk 18ft in 166 years, which rather confirms this old rule of thumb.

Holme Fen is quite a walk from the nearest navigable watercourse, which itself is quite remote from the main link route, which is why we’ve only included it as a ‘point of interest’, but if, like me, you are an anorak for the quirky and unusual historic artifact, then it’s a ‘must’.

Prickwillow Engine museum – well worth a visit

Formerly known as the Prickwillow Drainage Engine Museum, this is 2 miles up the river Lark from the river Great Ouse, and there are hard moorings close by. Drainage and the reclamation of land from the sea is key to the history of the fens. The museum contains a major collection of large diesel pumping engines, all of which have been restored to working order. The museum is generally open Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays & Tuesdays, in the afternoon, from Easter until the end of September, but it is advised to check their website before planning a visit.

The mystery smell – point of interest

During the high summer of 2017 many people reported a strong smell of cannabis, over a wide area between Denver Sluice and Ely.  Eventually it was revealed that there is a legal cannabis farm (for medical use) at a ‘secret location’ that was probably responsible for the odour. If the lower part of the River Great Ouse appears to contain an unusually ‘high’ number of hippy boaters, it is not that the live aboard population of Cambridge has suddenly relocated, but the search for the fabled ‘Mary Jane’ cannabis farm.

Queen Adelaide – point of interest

The first Oxford v Cambridge boat race took place in 1829 at Henley. The next race was held in 1836 on the Thames in London. The tradition has continued ever since, but only once has the race moved from London.

In 1944 London was judged too dangerous because of the V1 flying bombs and the race was held on the Queen Adelaide Straight near Ely.

Cambridge University have recently built a new boat house North East of Ely and you may well come across them practicing on the waters between Ely and Littleport. Although traditionally known as the ‘light blues’ their oars are now more green, allegedly caused by a past university boatman, who suffering from colour blindness, mixed increasing amounts of green into the paint for the oars over the years.

As always, care should be taken to minimise wash when passing rowing boats, but as an ‘Oxford rowing man’ I do condone the odd “boo” if you pass a Cambridge boat !

Ely Cathedral – well worth a visit

narrowboat holiday ely

The Cathderal is known as the ‘ship of the Fens’ because of its dominant position in the landscape, visible from miles away.  Its origins date back to 672 and the present building was started in 1083. It is an outstanding building, both for its size and detail. The entrance, lady chapel and choir have been described as “exuberant Decorated Gothic” and its most notable feature is the central octagonal tower, with lantern above. If you only visit one cathedral a year, this is the one to visit !

Ely has good moorings, and overstaying boats are regularly moved on, so you have a good chance of finding a mooring in this vey city.

Streatham Old Engine – worth a visit

Stretham Old Engine

Stretham Old Engine is a steam-powered engine on the Old West River, about 6 miles up river from Ely. There are decent moorings. The engine was used to pump water from flood-affected areas of The Fens back into the river Great Ouse. It will be open to the public on 18 afternoons in 2018, so it is advisable to check their website for opening dates.

Huntingdon – Hinchingbrooke House – worth a visit

Is an historic house built around an 11th-century Benedictine nunnery. After the Reformation it was owned by Oliver Cromwell, and later the Earls of Sandwich. The house is part of a school, and is also a wedding and conference venue, but is open for tours on Sunday afternoons and some bank holidays.

Huntingdon has limited moorings.

St Ives worth a visit

Fithteenth Century Chapel

The bridge in St Ives, and the chapel on the bridge, have about as varied history as any bridge possibly could ! The bridge is generally Gothic with pointed arches, other than two mismatched rounded arches. Oliver Cromwell ordered the demolition of  part of the bridge and the installation of a draw bridge, to hold back Charles 1st’s troops. When they were later rebuilt, they didn’t match. The building on the bridge was a chapel up until the dissolution of the monasteries, and since then has been a private house, a doctors surgery and a pub, called Little Hell.

There are three different sets of good moorings in St Ives.

You may be interested in our blog post Old River Port St Ives

Health Warning – Huntingdon & St Neots

Huntingdon’s most famous son, Oliver Cromwell, was in part responsible for the death of the only English King to be executed, Charles I. St Neots’ most infamous son, John Bellingham, shot the only English Prime Minister to be murdered in Office, Spencer Percival. The two towns are less than 10 miles apart and it is said that although their residents are generally hard to upset, but if you do, the results can be severe ! I should know, because, dear reader, I married one !

St Neots –

St Neots originally comprised two settlements Eaton Socon and Eynesbury with a Priory between them.  The name changed to St Neots when locals raided St Neot on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall in 980 and relieved them of their relics of the Saint and brought his bones back, as a ‘tourist attraction’.  There is a mosaic set in the Market Square with a depiction of the world famous Alfred Jewel, made in honour of St Neot for King Alfred, and kept at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

Many places have ‘tall stories’ to tell, but St Neots has the genuine case of the James Toller, “The Eynesbury Giant”. Born in 1798, this unfortunate young man was 5ft 5in tall at the age of 10 and by the time of his death, aged 21, he stood over 8 feet tall.  He is commemorated by a plaque in the town and his story is told in the St Neots Museum.

In 1935 St Neots hit the front page of every news paper, with the birth of the Town’s own ‘fab four’ Ann, Ernest, Paul and Michael Miles, the first surviving quads, ever. They instantly became famous world wide and for years were adopted by Cow & Gate to advertise their products.

If you are wanting to visit these locations by hire boat check out our cruising times guide to help plan your trip.

The post Nene, Great Ouse and Middle Level Navigations – Points of interest, Places to visit appeared first on Fox Narrowboats.