River Wissey Delight!

Denver to Whittington, Gt Ouse and River Wissey, 12.5 miles 0 locks

I had already walked some of the River Gt Ouse yesterday evening with Lucy, it was wide, and high banks… nothing to write home about except for the wild life on the river…

Very varied, and more ‘wildlife’ than similar birds in urban areas, tending to fly away rather than begging for scraps.  Anyway, it gave me a good chance to practice with the new camera, although I had to be quick! 

I saw this morning a duck with 15 chicks… thats the most I have ever seen for one clutch!

We decided to do a couple of miles along this rather ordinary part of the Gt Ouse, then branch off to the left to the River Wissey.. glad we did, it was a delight.  Some stretches were narrow.. other places as wide as the river we had just left.  At one point it flowed into a lake, maybe some 100 yards wide.  The water was crystal clear, and the bottom could be seen some 5ft below… pity it is out of season for fishing… still I expect I will be able to persuade Vic to return later in the summer for a couple of days of fishing on this river. 

We turned at the end of the navigable bit disappointed that the GOBA moorings that used to be here have now gone.. Apparently they were closed mid summer last year… I should have checked that they were still there I suppose… they are marked in the Imray guide.. still it didn’t matter. As we turned to return back along the river to find a bank for the evening to moor, a guy was at the bottom of his garden on his boat… I commented about my disappointment that the moorings had gone, and he very kindly offered the rest of his mooring space to us for the night.

There are some lovely GOBA moorings about a half mile in from the Gt Ouse, and we intend to make that our stop tomorrow night… I decided to join GOBA this year so that we could make use of their moorings throughout the Gt Ouse and the tributaries.. looks like my £17 will have its first use then