It's Ouse Tidal Day as we cruise to Salters Lode

Upwell to Silt Fen (Denver), Middle Levels and Gt Ouse, 7.5 miles 2 locks

We pulled the pins early this morning, well early for me.. but not before popping over the road from the visitor moorings to visit the butchers and the super veg shop where local produce is sold at really good prices.. they even had some broad beans this morning yummy..

Well Creek, which is part of the Middle Levels that runs through the centre of Upwell and Outwell, was Well Shallow.. and we skimmed the bottom as we pushed our way through.. “One and a half million to do it” shouted an Environment Agency chappie when I shouted across to him while he was doing a bit of mowing, “This bit needs dredging!”

I wonder if they ever will.. and I wonder if it will become impassable if they don’t?

From Upwell the fenlands really do appear as we cruise more and more into East Anglia and the county of Norfolk.. The land on each side of the ‘ditch’ is much lower.. you can see that from time to time…

Just the odd ‘oasis’ of trees being planted as windbreaks for any remote houses and farms.  At Nordelph we meet the lowest bridge on the Middle Levels at about 1.8 meters.. and our steel post that holds the satellite dish only just went under this one.. the dish by this stage is inside No Problem for safety..

Nordelph also has what must be the remotest Post Office in the country..

Yep, that is it, you can see the sign on the bent post (No that is not me with a wobbly camera!).  Once again this shows you how low the land is the other side of the bank of the channel.  The main village of Nordelph happens to be on the other bank, which means everyone has to get in their cars and drive round to the bridge to cross over to use the Post Office!!

Just a bit further back from this pic, the grass has been cut somewhat, so a boat could easily ‘visit’ to buy stamps!

We were not too long moored at Salters Lode ‘till the lockie came to see us and we signed the forms to exit the Levels.. I had booked to go through today, but THIS lock keeper was a replacement and didn’t know he had an oversized boat to deal with.

The lock is only 62ft long you see, and No Problem is 67ft which does cause him a Problem!

We have to go through when the tide on the Great Ouse is the same height as the water in the Middle Levels, so the lock gates can be opened to make a channel… Here we are waiting with the ‘little doors’ shut behind us.. this allows for just a few inches of difference..

The other boats will wait an hour before coming through.. waiting, waiting, waiting…

That’s it…. Level waters…go, go, go…

“The tide is coming in” ie left to right as you look at the pic “So it will take your bow round… don’t go near the bank on the far side or you will stick”.. Oh he was so wrong, so very wrong… more to follow in pics.. but we are moored safely on the River Great Ouse not far from Denver tonight.. so we did make it!!

There is no flow on the river at all here, yet upstream the River Great Ouse was shut yesterday due to strong streams… I didn’t hear about today.. and not yet had a chance to look at the two ‘Ds’ blog to see how they are getting on upstream above Earith on the Gt Ouse.  A couple of days ago they were fighting with the rapids.

Out walking the girls Meg and Lucy this evening, I spied a fox, some fallow deer, muntjac deer, and cuckoo along with hares, rabbits and the usual wildlife for this area, grebe, herons and the like.. Hey it’s great to be back over here.. Ya can’t beat it, you know..