Progress on the Old Bedford river

Non tidal access to the historic Old Bedford River was lost in 2006 when the E.A. closed Welches Dam Lock, thus stopping access to a waterway that had been navigated for over 350 years. Since the closure various attempts have been made to access the Old Bedford from its outfall into the tidal Great Ouse. In 2009 an enterprising couple, Lois and Roy Parker, succeeded in getting onto the river and through to Welches Dam in their shallow drafted cruiser, but no narrowboat is known to have managed it.

On 4th April 2017 veteran of several previous tries, John Revell, lead another attempt in his 41ft narrowboat ‘Olive Emily’. He was joined by Chris Howes in his 45ft narrowboat ‘Lily May’ and Jeff Walters in his 50ft narrowboat ‘ever after’. The boats marshaled at Salter’s Lode lock on the Well Creek.

Currently access to the Old Bedford river can only be gained at low water on a ‘neap tide’ (which is the highest low tide, occurring only fortnightly). However because of silt build up at the mouth of the river to the Great Ouse, there is only a few inches of water and the passage can be described as between ‘very difficult’ and ‘damn near impossible’ ! However after much writhing about in the mud, and over an hour of trying, all three boats scraped through.

The E.A. had kindly raised the water level in the river sufficient for comfortable passage to be made, and previous problems of cot weed and ‘bottoming out’ were avoided, The E.A. had also lifted the guillotine gate at Welney, which is generally an obstacle to navigation.

Guillotine gate Welney

In the morning the three returned to Salter’s Lode for low tide. Again it was very difficult to get through the sluice gates onto the Great Ouse, but after two hours of trying the happy trio and their mud splattered boats finally made it !

An emotional John Revell observed “I was one of the last boaters to use Welches Dam lock from Horseway Channel before EA suddenly piled across the lock entrance in 2006. I never thought it would take another 11 years to reach it from Salters Lode. I’d like to give a big ‘thank you’ to the E.A. for their support this time, without which the trip would have failed. I’d also like to pay tribute to the late, great, inspirational Charlie Fox, it can be no coincidence that 2 out of 3 of the boats that made the difficult passage were Fox boats !”

Welches Dam lock

Chris Howes added “after the great difficulties getting onto the Old Bedford through the silted up estuary entrance, the journey itself was lovely. The huge frustration was that when we eventually made it to Welches Dam Lock we were only one closed lock and approximately 2 miles of de-watered channel away from the navigable network.”

Jeff Walters also added “I’d like to join in the thanks to the E.A. for their fantastic co-operation. As a member of the Project Hereward restoration team, can I make a heartfelt plea that the E.A. continue this invigorating, fresh spirit of working together by now facilitating the entry of the IWA’S highly qualified engineers into Welches Dam Lock to assess the true extent of necessary restoration?”

Chris Howes.

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Here are six secrets about Project Hereward that every Fenland boater should know.

1) This 2 ½ mile channel of 40 foot drain was navigable as recently as 1995, but is now neglected and overgrown with vegetation: Not a fish or a boat in sight.

2) Historical importance: As it was constructed around 1649 it actually pre-dates the Duke of Bridgewater’s first canal by over 100 years!

3) The Forty Foot River is midway between March and Ely and is the broken link in a chain of waterways from the Great Fen in the West to Wicken Fen in the East. When restored it would link the rest of the UK canal network through the Middle Level to the Great Ouse system.

4) It could be a key part of the future Fenland Waterways Link because it will make it possible for boats to travel from the Middle Level to the Great Ouse System without crossing the tidal river at Salter’s Lode.

5) Although there are already over 600 boats on the Middle Level Navigations this new waterway would draw more leisure craft to the waterways and holiday and day-boat hire would increase. Because this will be an easier and more convenient route from the River Nene to the Great Ouse, more boats will be expected to travel through the Middle Levels benefitting many local businesses and attractions.

6) Phases 1 and 2 are already underway! Phase 1 is to evaluate existing problems on the forty foot drain between the locks. Phase 2 is to create a detailed plan of action for a revitalised Waterway For All, and negotiate with the Environment Agency and riparian landowners.

What Next?

The Project Hereward team meets formally every month: Phase 3 is to cost the plan!

The waterways that make up the Middle Level system are a mixture of natural rivers and man-made channels that were started early in the 17th century. Our hire boat base in March is at the heart of the Middle Levels. Browse possible holiday routes here and explore the Middle Levels for yourself this summer!

You may also like: Fox Boats Mooring Customer is First Narrowboat in Old Bedford in 2015.

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