Off to the Fens then..

6th May - Stanground Lock to Whittlesey, Middle Levels, 4.5 miles 1 lock I was feeling nervous for sure... just having got used to the Nene, now it was time to learn about the Middle Levels.

An early start by my standards to lock down to the King's Dyke.. called this after King Canute, who allegedly caused it to be cut. The elderly lock keeper Mr Routham (I hope I have got that right) sold us a windlass (lock key) for use on the next lock, and I do believe it also fits one or two of the locks on the River Great Ouse. We also had to purchase a key to open the service doors at March for water, tip-out and rubbish!

These two items cost us £8... Mr Routham told me that today was the anniversary of when he started being a lock keeper at Stanground back on May 6th 1956 and that it was also the anniversary of when his father started as a lock keeper on May 6th 1927! "There has been a lot of change in that time" says he... Phew there sure has. I didn't take the change back from the tenner I gave him feeling guilty later that I only tipped such a dedicated man to the waterways enough to buy a pint of mild on his special day. I think my conscience will perhaps tip him a bit better on the way back!

So within a year we have accumulated and used a Calder & Hebble handspike, a Leeds & Liverpool anti vandal key, a BW key, a normal canal windlasses, a River Nene lock key and now this new windlass and another key for Middle Level service stations! I am wondering how many more items we will collect on our travels!

So this is the fens.. no sooner are you through the lock than the land flattens completely. I thought the banks would have been higher than they were. It wasn't quite boring, there was enough to keep us interested along the way to Whittesley.

There is a very sharp bend here, and boaters had warned us that it is difficult to negotiate. Well I had no problems at all with it, but I can see that on the way back I may well have more difficulty. It is very narrow you see, and enclosed in concrete walls with a 90 degree turn under a bridge. I guess coming back I won’t get the front end round without rapping the wall… umm well that is a long time off yet, will worry about that later in the summer

It was, once again, very windy.. so decided to stop at the lovely moorings on open parkland.

Venturing out in the afternoon, I decided to take a look at the fenland. Wow it certainly was windy out there. The fields all have ditches round them dead straight and wide enough for a boat to go down! Fields are like something out of a mathematics book, very rectangular and all on an island surrounded by these ditches. Miles and miles of them, and mainly growing potatoes!

I do hope the wind eases tomorrow or we shall stay here