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by Tim MarrowPosted on Posted in Canal Blog, Fayres & local events, Featured articles

halloween-cc-wiki-toby-ord

Whether you’re one of our current mooring customers or planning a boating visit to the Fenlands next year, these upcoming Halloween events will show you just how much there is to see and do around the Fenland Waterways.

1) Ely: Hallowe’en Ghost Tours

From the 27th to 30th October you can discover the dark side of Ely on an evening ghost tour of spooky passageways and eerie streets to hear the tales of scandal and death. It’s guaranteed to be so scary that it’s only suitable for children aged 8 and older; and is claimed to be one of England’s spookiest cities. If you travel by Fox narrowboat the cruise from March to Ely takes in ancient inns and the murdered ghosts of Southery, plus legends of violence and death surround the Fenland isle of Littleport: Read more in The Spooky Truth About Cruising to Ely.

2) The Cromwell Terror Tour at Oliver Cromwell’s House

Oliver Cromwell’s former home is now a museum and tourist information centre; great to visit at any time of year. But from 26th to 29th October 2015 they offer The Cromwell Terror Tour – including a glass of Cromwell’s hot cider punch or apple juice to steady your nerves! There is also an additional one-off Extra Terrifying Tour! on Friday 30th October 9.30 pm for adults only – if you dare!

3) Fossils Galore Halloween Fun Day

Fossils Galore Educational Activity Centre in March is holding a Halloween Fun Day on Saturday 25th October. They are offering reptile handling, haunted museum, creepy colouring, hook a scary duck and more! When it isn’t Halloween you can still enjoy fossil hunting in a prehistoric sand pit, an arts and crafts shop, tea shop, geode breaking and lots more.

4) Pumpkin Rescue Festival

From Friday 23rd October to Saturday 7th November Cambridge’s Pumpkin Festival is a celebration of food, which introduces new skills, carves up Halloween conventions and creatively encourages us to think about the food we throw away. Events include local businesses offering pumpkin themed street food, storytelling, a pumpkin carving competition, a FoodCycle lunch, a pumpkin picnic and a multi-faith pumpkin lantern procession at St Pauls. Many more events are listed on the website. However, you can visit Cambridge at any time as part of your Fox boating holiday.

5) Northampton Boat Club, River Nene

If you’re a local boater, Northampton boat club have a Halloween party on Saturday 31st. They are a small family orientated boating enthusiasts club situated on an island in the river Nene, not far from Northampton town centre. They welcome visitors to the club but are limited to the amount of visitor moorings they have, so please contact the club first, to enquire about available space.

6) Dr Fright’s Halloween Night

Earls Barton White’s Nurseries in Earls Barton host Dr Fright’s Halloween Night in the run up to Halloween. This is a walk-through Halloween experience including special effects, lighting effects, sound effects and live actors to make you jump, scream and laugh. Have we scared you off? Cambridgeshire is alive with history and culture at all times of the year; if you like the idea of exploring the Fenland waterways by boat check availability for next year now.

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by Tim MarrowPosted on Posted in Canal Blog, Featured articles

swans-cambridge-waterways

Once upon a time, when my family lived on a narrowboat, in a village in Hertfordshire, we gradually got to know the local swans, Bonnie and Clyde.

I don’t know why I called them that: Perhaps it was their slightly aggressive attitude. They visited us regularly for bread, throughout the Autumn and Winter. My two young daughters, aged three and five, would sit on the front deck and call down the canal,

“Swan ATTENTION!”

For some reason they felt this was the appropriate call that should be used to summon the swans: And the swans came. Then the ducks came to try to fight for a bit of bread too. If there was any left over the big fat carp jumped up and had a bite as well. It was one of the loveliest luxuries of living on a boat to be friends with the swans; although it could be a demanding friendship at times. Clyde became bold enough to knock on the galley window with his beak if we were not on deck at a time when he wanted feeding. Once when I sat chatting with friends on the front deck he actually pecked me in the small of my back to let me know that he was there; ready and waiting for his bread.

But where was Bonnie? When the winter was over and daffodils grew beside our boat Bonnie was nowhere to be seen. Eventually we discovered their nest beside the next canal bridge; safely on the offside, undisturbed by towpath walkers. There Bonnie sat and waited, guarding her eggs. Clyde glided protectively around her, on the surface of the water, with his head held high and aloof, surveying the area.

When we returned from the school-run each day the would girls say,

“Can we check the swans?”

If it was cold and raining I would grumpily say, “No,” and drag the girls back to the boat for mugs of cocoa. But mostly I would smile and say, “Yes,” and we would sit on the canal bank opposite the nest and watch, and talk about the swans.

Then one Spring morning Clyde knocked on the bedroom window; Bonnie in tow, with three gorgeous grey fluffy cygnets too! I grabbed some bread and headed for the front deck calling for the girls as I went.

“Girls! The swans have had cygnets!”

Just one day earlier she had still been on her nest, so they must have been born that day and were straight in the water already!

“This must be their first outing,” said my husband.

“Those proud parents,” I mused. “I expect they said to themselves this morning, Let’s take the little ones down to The Bread Boat.”

“Yes,” laughed my five year old, “To the café!”

So the girls threw bread, I took photos, my husband took a video and we gleefully announced the news of the birth to other passing boaters and walkers on the towpath.

Spring is a beautiful time for boating on the Cambridgeshire waterways. Get closer to nature and book your boat holiday for next Spring. Bring a camera. (And some stale bread!)

Swans at Welney near Wisbech Cambrideshire

Find Swans and explore stunning wetlands, where incredible wildlife encounters take place everyday, set in the heart of the Fens.
Welney wetland centre

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by Tim MarrowPosted on Posted in Amazing things to do, Canal Blog, Featured articles
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cambridge riverside ghost

shutterstock

Cruising along through the countryside on a narrowboat, away from the sights and sounds of modern life, it’s easy to imagine that you might have travelled back into the past. For some, the attraction of a narrowboat holiday is a taste of a simpler life, reminiscent of times gone by.

Will you be one of the mooring customers who will be taking to the waterways this Halloween?

Our hire boat base and mooring basin in March is the ideal starting point for those who enjoy exploring old market towns and the romance of England’s “olden days”. But with Halloween fast approaching it’s possible that the past will soon be catching up with us in the form of ghostly hauntings!

A narrowboat is the stealthiest way to travel if you are planning a paranormal investigation in Cambridgeshire.

March

Before leaving the hire boat base in March beware that the local Ambulance Station is said to be haunted by a former supervisor. He is dressed in an old uniform with peaked cap, and his disembodied footsteps can be heard as he opens and closes doors.

You will notice the church is south of the river but it is said that the villagers of March had planned to build a church in the village. The Devil relocated the construction materials to across the river, where the church is now.

And finally, out on the Fens west of March a ghostly light has been reported, eerily drifting in an attempt to lure the unwary to their doom.

For further ghostly activity follow the Foxboats route from March to Cambridge, which harbours plenty of strange legends and eerie anecdotes. As you cruise down the Ouse from Salter’s Lode you will discover long lost rivers, ancient inns and the murdered ghosts of Southery. The charming Fenland isle of Littleport also has its own gruesome history of violence and death: Read more in The Spooky Truth About Cruising to Ely.

Cambridge

The Old Ferryboat Inn in Cambridge was built in 1050 and dates from the Anglo-Saxon age. 17 year old Juliet Tewsley tragically hung herself from a tree outside of the Inn after being rejected by her lover. She now returns to the inn on the anniversary of her death to look for her lost love. Her body is buried under the floor of the Inn.

The ghost of a nun haunts Abbey House, a sixteenth century house in Abbey Road, built on the site of Barnwell Priory, which was established in 1112. The otherworldly nun wanders into bedrooms around Spring time and stands at the end of beds before disappearing into the curtains. Other supernatural incidents include loud banging on bedroom doors, footsteps on the staircase and an apparition rattling chains around the room.

Ref. There is an extensive list of haunted sites of Cambridge on the Paranormal Database website and some of these stories came from http://www.hauntedisland.co.uk/

If Halloween has piqued your interest in ghost stories and local legends then book now for next year’s narrowboat holiday and discover much more of Cambridgeshire’s history, spectacular Fenland skies, and enjoy some leisurely boating on some of the least crowded waterways in Britain.

 

by Paula SyredPosted on Posted in Canal Blog, Guest & customer articles

Waterways campaigner and IWA Peterborough Branch member John Revell talks about his latest campaigning trip on the local navigations.

project hereward

Old Bedford river

Lois and Roy Parker in their cruiser and Alastair and Jonathan Chambers and myself in my Fox narrowboat attempted to enter the Old Bedford river at Salters Lode on Saturday 5th September 2015.

The Parkers were successful and locked through the Old Bedford sluice into the Old Bedford river. They then proceeded along the Old Bedford for about a mile, negotiating their way through dense clumps of floating reeds before being stopped by an impassable mass of cott weed.

project hereward

The Parkers on the fresh water side of the tidal doors

They then turned round and made their way back through the sluice and returned to the Middle Level via the main lock at Salters Lode. Both tidal doors and guillotine gate at the Old Bedford sluice worked well and the Middle Level Commissioners’ relief lock keeper was very helpful.

I had no problems reaching the tidal doors in my narrowboat but was unable to enter the Old Bedford “on the level” on this occasion.

While we were there a canoe was launched and set off for Manea and I was watched by a common seal as I reversed into the main tidal river.

clumps of floating reeds Old Bedford

clumps of floating reeds Old Bedford

Navigating the Old Bedford remains problematical and efforts are being made to restore it as part of the East Anglian Waterways Association (EAWA) “Project Hereward” scheme. It is worth remembering that until the derelict Well Creek was restored to navigation there were only 2 ways to get from the Nene to the Great Ouse; either a sea crossing of the Wash or the route via the Old Bedford, Welches Dam lock, Horseways Channel and Horseways lock. It is not surprising that most boats, including Fox’s Hire Fleet, chose this latter route rather than the Wash.

#ProjectHereward

 

 

Thanks to John Revell mooring customer, for this guest article with photos.

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by Tim MarrowPosted on Posted in Canal Blog, Featured articles, Towns & villages
Corinne Thomsett

I used to run a traditional pair of hotel narrowboats, Snipe and Taurus with my husband. We had a lot of routes that were standard fare – we did them regularly, and knew them really well, but every summer we would plan to go on at least one adventure to explore a new waterway.

Corinne Thomsett
Corinne Thomsett

One summer we decided it was time to venture onto the waterways between Northampton, Ely and Cambridge. As this area of the country was new to us, we asked the Hotelboat Mafia who to talk to. Everybody recommended Fox Narrowboats as being the experts in and on these waterways. They were wonderful, and gave us lots of great tips about which local towns and villages we should visit, and which of the little rivers were worth investigating.

Corinne Thomsett
Corinne Thomsett

We loved our six weeks cruising this area – the waterways are so different to any others we’d travelled.

These were the things we and our guests loved most about cruising from March to Ely:

  1. Super-friendly lock-keepers, who came out to help us work through the locks, sometimes with their whole family!
  1. Surprise seal sightings on the tidal stretch between Denver Sluice and Salters Lode.
  1. Big skies – Canals and rivers tend to follow the contours of the land, meaning lots of lovely rolling hills, but no stunning horizons, not here though!
  1. Upwell and Outwell – the two villages that run either side of the Well Stream, it’s like cruising down the middle of the road, and the names raised a smile too.
  1. Wind farms – there is something very surreal about boating through fields of huge wind turbines.
  1. Kingfishers, kingfishers, c! We recorded over 30 sightings in one day – no photos though, you’ve got to be quick to get a picture of a kingfisher.
  1. The River Nene… pronounced Neen at one end and Nen at the other, obviously.

Without the help of Paula and the team at Fox Narrowboats, we wouldn’t have had nearly such a good time; they helped with the planning, gave us a great mooring and full service for our guest changeovers – they even took in our huge Tesco shop for us, when we were a little bit late arriving – it completely filled their living room!

If you’ve never been, then you should call and book your trip today, I wonder how many kingfishers you’ll see?

This is a guest post by Corinne Thomsett

http://www.uk-va.com

 

 

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by Tim MarrowPosted on Posted in Amazing things to do, Canal Blog, Featured articles
wiki commons: Dr Paul G Tuli
wiki commons: Dr Paul G Tuli

wiki commons: Dr Paul G Tuli

The Fenland waterways have a wealth of interesting and educational places to visit. When you’re boating with kids in the area, there are loads of ways to make learning fun. Here are our top three!

1. How the Fens were drained

Learn about the history of how the Fens were drained. Fenland water pumping technology started with wind pumps, then steam engines were introduced, followed by diesel engines. There are working examples of all three, and all of them are accessible by boat!

Wicken Fen Nature Reserve

At the National Trust’s Wicken Fen, you can moor up at the end of Wicken Lode, see how the Fens used to look before they were drained, and visit the last working wind pump. There’s also a traditional fenman’s cottage and a chance to explore the natural history of the area with nature walks.

Stretham Old Engine

On the banks of the Great Ouse at Stretham, with handy GOBA moorings nearby stands the majestic steam pumping engine at Stretham. The steam engine is only run on certain days to check the website in advance to avoid disappointment.

The Prickwillow Engine Museum

The museum is located in the village of Prickwillow, on the banks of the river Lark with a convenient mooring nearby. The old diesel pumping engine and a host of others are on display and are run on event days and Bank Holidays. The next event coming up at is the 4th Prickwillow Ploughing Festival on October 3rd and 4th, with heavy horse and vintage tractor ploughing skill displays, classic cars, food stalls and of course the engines will be running!

2. Get out and about in a riverside nature reserve.

Fen Drayton Lakes

Just a short hop on the Guided Busway or walk from the moorings at St Ives takes you to the beautiful RSPB reserve atFen Drayton Lakes. There are events and guided walks held here (see website for details) or just bring binoculars, follow the nature trail and see what you can spot!

Wiki Commons: Sebastian Ballard

Wiki Commons: Sebastian Ballard

Ferry Meadows Park

Just off the River Nene in Peterborough is the fantastic Ferry Meadows Park. You can use the pontoon moorings provided in the lake there and go exploring! Children’s Nature Discovery Packs are available to borrow from the visitor centre, as are orienteering maps. There are also several play areas for younger children.

3. Try Geocaching

Geocaching is something you can do wherever you are, but there are plenty of hidden treasures to be found along the waterways. Simply download the app to your phone and see if there are any caches to be found near you! A great way to explore the area, for kids to learn about map reading and using a compass, and something the whole family can do for free!

Guest Blog by Amy-Alys Tillson

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by Paula SyredPosted on Posted in Canal Blog, Guest & customer articles, Navigation articles
narrowboat festival IWA

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With under a week to go until the IWA Northampton Festival of Water Peterborough Branch member, our mooring customer and local waterways campaigner John Revell reminisces about the Kennet and Avon canal.  An inland waterways restoration success.

Descending the Devizes flight

 I spent some time in my youth visiting parts of the derelict Kennet and Avon canal. Re-opening the canal to boats seemed almost impossible then although I do remember helping clean out one of the locks on the Widcombe flight in Bath one bitterly cold day. But the impossible happened and I attended the formal reopening of the whole canal by the Queen many years later in 1990.

The next year, 1991, I took my boat along the newly restored canal from Reading to Bristol. Use of the Caen Hill locks at Devizes was very restricted because of problems with water supply but I was lucky to be allowed to descend part of the flight with another narrow boat after the annual general meeting of the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust.

As I locked down I noticed an elderly man and his wife looking very intently at my progress. I invited them on board and offered him the tiller. He steered the boat straight as a die into the locks so I thought he must have done some boating at some stage.

We talked a bit and after a while I discovered that this modest, unassuming man was John Gould, who I knew had done as much as anyone to keep alive the dream of a restored Kennet and Avon Canal. I asked him when he had last done the flight. The answer was 1947.

Kenneth Clew’s fascinating book “The Kennet and Avon Canal” notes that it took 4 weeks for John Gould to complete the journey in 1947 from Saltford to Wargrave and that for most of the way to Devizes two canal gangs of 12 or 14 men were used to bow haul the 2 boats. Things were worse above the flight where a canal gang of 12, a platoon of 11 soldiers, the crew and block and tackle double rigged were needed.

John Gould and another pioneer John Knill were the last commercial traders on the canal. He took court action in 1955 and 1956 to try and stop the canal being abandoned. He provided trips in a pleasure launch on the tiny isolated 3 ¾ mile stretch in Newbury and very much more. Without people like him the waterways network we can now use would be very much reduced.

[originally published in “Hereward”, the magazine of the Peterborough Branch of the Inland Waterways Association.]

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by Tim MarrowPosted on Posted in Amazing things to do, Canal Blog, Featured articles
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taking kids on narrowboat holiday

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Packing for a summer holiday is always exciting and you can get the whole family involved. But being prepared for any eventuality will make your holiday even more enjoyable, so check out our top tips of what extras to bring along when you’re boating with kids.

1) Journal or Scrapbook

Children can create a picture diary of their boating experiences including the boats, plants and wildlife they see, plus the historic bridges, buildings, tunnels and locks.

2) Camera

This is a holiday essential, not only to create lasting family memories but also as an activity for children: They may like to take photos to later stick in their journal.

3) Dressing Up Clothes

Younger children may enjoy being pirates and mermaids! Make up new names for yourselves and draw or make pirate flags. Bring cheap jewellery and fake coins to make some pirate treasure and hide it on board the boat somewhere. Think of an adventure story and act it out on board.

4) Activities

Board games and puzzles are good for bringing the family together on a rainy day. You could also bring along craft supplies and make things out of the sticks you find on the towpath. Check out The Stick Book: Loads of things you can make or do with a stick, by Fiona Danks.

5) Boat Related Activities

Try drawing and painting roses and castles, or learn to tie different knots with a simple book about knot tying. At bed time share a boat-related children’s story such as the classic Rosie and Jim books by John Cunliffe. D. H. Clacher has written a colourful series of books called Muddy Waters about a narrowboat that has adventures with his boat friends on various different waterways. My favourite children’s stories are the Bert and Betty books which depict a fictional boating couple who worked and lived on England’s canals in the 19th century.

Now that you know what to bring you can check holiday boat availability here.

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by Tim MarrowPosted on Posted in Canal Blog, Fayres & local events, Featured articles
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narrowboat festival IWA

licenced shutterstock

From Saturday 29th to Monday 31st August the Inland Waterways Association is holding a major waterways event on the river Nene in Northampton.

Northamptonshire is known as the county of ‘squires and spires’ and Northampton is great to visit at any time, offering plenty of cultural heritage and historical architecture. There are ancient churches, impressive buildings and bygone battle sites. You may also visit the shopping centres, parks, museum and art gallery.

But on the August Bank Holiday this year up to 200 boats, including leisure, trade, heritage and working narrowboats will be moored in the marina and along the river front as well as an array of smaller craft, sailboats, windsurfers and ribs. There will also be trip boats and water taxis available for festival visitors.

This year’s Northampton Festival of Water celebrates the 200th Anniversary of the opening of the Northampton Arm in 1815 which connects the Grand Union Canal to the Nene in Northampton, creating a navigable channel to the East Anglian waterways and the Wash. This connecting waterway enabled working boats to transport ironstone, limestone, grain, flour, coal and timber.

iwa-in-mediaThis year’s boating event will promote Northampton’s riverside, to acknowledge the value of the Nene to the town and its people and to encourage more people to use the waterway for boating and leisure. The event will include live music, Morris dancing, a German Shepherd Dog Display Team, children’s fairground rides, face painting and balloon modelling. There are also a variety of talks on waterways topics, a boater’s quiz and an open mic night. (More details on the IWA website.)

Through Northampton boaters on the Grand Union Canal can access Peterborough, Ely, Cambridge, St. Ives, Huntingdon and Bedford using the Nene, Middle Level and Fenland waterways. These less-travelled waterways of the East of England are quiet enough for a relaxing boating holiday or fishing trip. However if you have extra energy to burn off you could also try canoeing, kayaking or countryside cycling. Fox Boats hire boat base is ideally located for exploring these little-known waterways. Check out Fox Route 3 and Fox Route 4 which take you onto the River Nene.

For more tips on events and places to visit in Cambridgeshire sign up to get regular updates from our blog. (We never sell or share email addresses, we’ll just send you helpful articles about boats and boating!)

History of IWA Narrowboat festivals

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by Tim MarrowPosted on Posted in Canal Blog, Featured articles, Navigation articles
denver-crossing-narrowboat-boating

 

Salters Lode to Denver passage, along the tidal Great Ouse, may sound daunting but with the right preparation and precautions, should be straightforward and safe.

Preparation

Call ahead to check locking times as these change with the tides (Fox’s will be able to let you know the locking times for your trip if you are on a holiday hire boat).

Make sure you have plenty of fuel.

Arrive in plenty of time, at least an hour before you are due through the lock. There are two reasons for this, to make sure you don’t miss the tide and so that you have time to speak to the lock keeper.

It’s always a good idea to chat to the lock keeper – he or she can talk you through the crossing, as well as let you know about the conditions which may affect you on the day.

If you have time, a walk along the bank to familiarise yourself with the landmarks will make the crossing easier. If you have time have a look at the river at low water, so you can see where the sandbanks are.

Get your anchor ready. Position it somewhere you can easily drop it overboard, and make sure it’s attached securely to the boat!

The Crossing

All crew members should wear a lifejacket. The water is deep and fast flowing.

Take care with pets and young children. It may be best to keep them inside.

Don’t be afraid to use plenty of power to make the tight turn into or out of Salter’s Lode, especially if you’re turning against the direction of the current. Be aware of the current direction and how it will affect your boat.

Look out for the sandbank marker (cross on a pole) outside Salter’s Lode. Don’t be tempted to cut the corner!

Once in the lock, follow the lock keeper’s instructions carefully.

Boats longer than 61ft are a special case and can only go through the Salter’s Lode lock on the level tide (gates open both ends), and have to wait for the lock at the other end to be ready, either on the tyre wall when coming into Salter’s or the pontoons coming into Denver.

Courtesy to Other River Users

On all waterways, the rule is to travel on the right. There is a stretch near Cambridge where navigation is on the left, but this is signposted. However, mostly, it’s best to stay in the middle where it’s deepest unless another boat is approaching the other way.

Powered boats

You may have to wait at bridges if you see a boat coming the other way. Whilst some are high and wide, there’s not room to pass under many of them, especially on the Middle Level. At bends, sound your horn to warn other boats of the presence as you approach. When passing moored boats, make sure you slow down to a tickover, especially on the shallow Middle Levels.

Manually Powered Craft

Cambridge is well known for its rowers, but you may find small craft anywhere. Rowing boats will often be faster than you, but their visibility may be limited. Keep an eye out behind you as well as in front, and let them know if it is safe for them to overtake. If they do not seem to have seen you, sound your horn to alert them, or call “Take a look” which is the standard rowing terminology for “watch out”. If they’re heading for you at speed, shouting “hold it up!” will get their attention because it means “stop the boat dead”. For small boats which are slower than you, give them plenty of room as you carefully pass by. Ensure that you are not creating a breaking wash. On some of the rivers you may encounter rowing races taking place. There will be marshals on the banks (usually wearing hi-vis jackets) who will give you instructions about whether to wait or pass through safely.

Sailing Boats

The best course of action is generally to maintain a steady, predictable course and they will manoeuvre around you.

Check out our suggested cruise from March to Ely crossing the short length of tidal river between Salter’s Lode and Denver Sluice.

Thanks to Amy Tillson of M.B. Willow, Cambridge, for this guest article with photos.