Not many days left on the Nene.. onward to Rushden and Diamonds

Thrapston to Irthlingborough, River Nene, 9 miles 5 locks

We seemed to breeze up river today, then engine was sounding sweet after our head gasket was replaced, much better.  A remote part of the river this is, where the river bends and twists round the contours of the land..

We pulled the pins this morning after having a day off yesterday.. I had just nipped into Thrapston this morning to get some milk and to pick up some different food for Lucy to try, she is not eating enough really at the moment.. she is a lazy eater, always has been since a puppy.. hopefully what I bought her will encourage her to eat.. I gave her some when I got back and she ate it straight away, so maybe, just maybe…

So it was goodbye to the Nene (Neen) and hello to the Nene (Nene).  Here at Thrapston bridge the name of the river is pronounced differently..

Sharing the locks with NB Moore2Life makes locking easy, but there was a bit of a wind today, and that can cause trouble on this river, so we had to be very careful when coming out of the locks that we didn’t get blown towards the weirs.. here Moore2Life about to join me in one of the locks…

We have been told that the river is to shut shortly, I hope that is a figure of speech, as this is a navigable waterway.. “Lots of maintenance to do on all the locks” they say.. well to be honest, a lot is going to have to be updated by the Environment Agency for the hoards of boats that will be travelling along the river next year on the way to the IWA Festival at St Ives on the River Gt Ouse… as it is at the moment boats over 63 feet cannot get through Salters Lock at the Gt Ouse end of the Middle Levels.. facilities are diabolical along this river too…

Here work progressing upstream,  with new booms that are being fitted across all of the weirs.. It remains to be seen just how much work will be put into improving this river during the winter months.

In the distance is the Rushden and Diamonds Football stadium, and also in the distance on the visitor moorings is NB Balmaha.. we have caught up again with Mo and Vanessa… Party time!!