Going further

IT WAS around eight years ago I had my first taste of the Nene, but only to try one guillotine lock, and since then I've had the itch to go further.

And it came to pass. But first it was the Soar, and a new kind of weed, a seemingly virulent vine type of growth, encroaching from both sides, that certainly wasn't there the last time we cruised though Leicester four years ago.

Weed encroaching on both sides of the river

Another difference was the lack of unlicenced boats. So our masters are certainly doing their job along here, mind you, there had to be a couple of unlicenced ones, moored this time above Barrow Lock and another one with the obligatory 'for sale' notice well ensconced on the 48 hours visitor moorings.

Before this however, my first sight of the new Pillings Marina, with lots of spaces as yet, possibly to take those linear moorers...

Now I always slow down passing moored boats, but She Who etc etc drops it down to tickover, so we were both amazed at passing the Hope & Anchor at Syston seeing this mad fella gesticulating to us to slow down even more then yelling at us as we passed, to which I admit, for the first time ever, I was prompted to shout back that if we slowed down any more we would be in reverse!

Then I saw his mooring rope. God! A passing swan would have made his boat rock. The silly sod.

How not to moor to stop a boat moving

In common with most boaters these days who venture through Leicester, we moored by the extensive Watermead Park then it was a dash through the city to Kilby Bridge.

This time it was somewhat easier as we had our Principal Reporter Alan Tilbury join us for the day. So with an early start and the kids back at school there were no problems. But the development! Those open fields alas, have gone forever.

Our Principal Reporter helping through Leicester

Did I mention easier? Not when She Who etc etc decreed that we would have more time on the Nene if we did seven more locks!

Foxton

THEN on to Foxton and a two and half hour wait, which during the summer, locky Terry Townsend told me, often stretches into five hours. This really is congestion.

007 lives! Terry—the man with the golden windlass!

Mentioning the Canaltime base at nearby Market Harborough he shocked me by saying he wouldn't hear a bad word said against them!

When the company first started its base, such was the lack of knowledge of its sharers that it prompted a letter of complaint. Which did the trick, for Terry tells that after this the Canaltimers arrive at the locks knowing exactly what is required of them!

But not so Ownerships boaters he complains, as does the Watford locky, both finding them overbearing and refusing to listen to instruction, believing they know it all.

There are two lockies at Foxton, Terry and Mike, and if you are wondering which one of the lockies is Terry, he's the one with the gold plated windlass!

One little worry about the two and half hours wait was that we had to keep a wary eye on Red, our Ridgeback, as this is where the trigger happy farmer lurks, who regular readers may remember shot and killed a dog even though its owner was only a few yards away.

Can't always get to the paddles at Foxton...

Altogether it took just over three hours to get through Foxton yet arriving early at Watford, we were down in three quarters of an hour.

A bit of a pain at Buckby Flight, first with the Rose hire boat firmly tied in the middle of the lock moorings, then the exceptional heavy gates and some with no gate paddles and some with, which caused bottlenecks, exacerbated with one fella at the front getting absolutely no help from his crew.

It was at the top lock that I saw one of those British Waterways inspectors. Well at least, that is what I thought he was, having a clipboard in his hand and obviously ticking-off the boxes, but actually inspecting bugger all, as he didn't go within ten feet of that particular lock. If he was an inspector, I wonder if he noticed the paddle post coming off the beam on one lock, a gate paddle that would not close on another and one gate that (shades of Aston) that needed two people to close?

A lock examiner or what?

All in all it took over two hours to drop down the seven locks. Not good. Okay, okay, I've often heard that ridiculous statement that if you are on the waterways you shouldn't be in a hurry, but for many, who are not continuous cruisers, time is not limitless, and particularly hirers, have a timetable to keep.

For us too, we wanted a Nene licence and key from Gayton Marina, and with She Who, etc. etc. continuous slowing right down past moored boats, would you believe we made it with just three minutes to spare—honest.

Always knew he would come in handy...

But really a pain was the miles and miles of linear moorers, and many boaters I spoke too were very much in favour of the new policy of taking out 10 linear for every 100 new marina berths. The sooner the powers that be can stop changing their minds and get the software sorted to handle the system, the better.

The big Heyford Fields Marina in the making

Many believe that the quicker the big Heyford Fields Marina is up and running, to take these linear moored boats the better.

Nene

THEN it was down the Northampton Flight with those oh-so-easy narrow locks, then amongst the weeds at the bottom, passing more refugees from the 'National', this time a couple of the Waterway Recovery Group on Sanity homeward bound, but for us it was the Nene.

Two refugees from the National

Then onto the Nene, and first of course the very handy Morrisons, just off the river with adjacent moorings, and permission to take the loaded trolley right to the boat—and we took it back!

It is a different world on the Nene to those of us more used to British Waterways. All the locks are entirely metal. The paddles on the mitre gates need 75 turns to operate, but put well in the shade by the unelectrified guillotine gates, with a wheel, I was told, needed 300 turns to both lift and lower the gate.

Yet though the gates were heavy, they were correctly hung and moved fairly easily, with none needing the brute force of so many of those on British Waterways waters. And none swung open of their own accord. Perhaps a lesson to be learned...

Awkward lock moorings for narrowboats

Lock moorings with frequently spaced bollards and anti-slip surfaces at every single lock, were superior to the hit-and-miss ones of the canals, but were not only rather short but at awkward angles, possibly having been designed for our plastic brethren.

Services were also superior, being very frequent, but more important the Elsan disposals were in working order and even rubbish skips at quite a few rural locks, but what impressed most was free pump-outs all along the waterway.

Cogenhoe Lock in closed position

On the first day we were very lucky to share the locks with Nene users, so grilled them to get all the local information we could and most important where to moor, with moorings alas rather sparse.

Scenic moorings

We were directed to very scenic moorings at Cogenhoe—if you can call them that—by the edge of a field, supervised most thoroughly by the resident cows!

And very peaceful it was too.

"You can't moor here!"

So it was off to the normal very early start the next morning with all going quite well until we met the first hand operated guillotine lock at Earl's Barton, in the form of an awkward wheel, but luckily it wasn't my turn.

As we left the lock, another boat came in with the boater spinning the wheel round at an hectic rate of knots, using what we later found to be a G clamp with an handle.

Who needs paddles? It fills itself!

At the next lock, we did the decent thing, had coffee and waited for the boat to catch up so we could go down together and stayed with Daphne and Ian on Bluebell for the rest of the day. A lucky choice, as they knew the waterway well, being continuous cruisers who winter at St Ives so once more we were well instructed.

It was lunch and Tesco at Wellingborough, sharing the moorings with the fishermen. With new moorings being constructed, but I just wonder will there be space for boats?

Fishermen firmly ensconced on the moorings

Then it was the 'curved' bottom gate at Dishford Lock, the only one of its kind in the country. This and most of the guillotine gates are now electrically operated, acting as both 'paddle' and gate. The gate lifting a short distance to allow the lock to empty, then after two minutes lifting entirely to allow boats to pass under, with dripping water wetting the steerer in the process!

The curved rolling gate at Dishford Lock

Being told of good moorings, we spent the night by the somewhat famous Ruston Diamonds Football Club at Irthingborough, with the moorings packed solid, though we just managed to get the stern on the last bollard and the bow in the reeds.

Lots of facilities here including showers, waste disposal, Elsan emptying and a pump-out—all of course free.

Then it was an easy day with my old mate Eugene, Emma and their new baby Reuben. A very disillusioned Eugene I might add, resigning his post as British Waterways External Relations Manager, but it is not for me to venture his reasons why.

Eugene and She Who Must etc etc having a spin

But he's still very much in overdrive, and surely that wheel operating another manual guillotine gate has never been spun so fast.

It was a cruise down river and a turn bringing Bounty back to the moorings at Ruston Diamonds Football Club once again, but soon packed with breasted narrowboats, us included, mostly refugees from the National.

Mooring packed with refugees from the National

I have never met so many narrowboatworld readers, on any of our cruises, which seemed to be known to every boater we met. And of course that fella Victor featured very much in their comments!

It was here I learned our Mike, whom I always thought a bit serious, did an outstanding comedy routine at the show, with many boaters singing his praises.

Quite a few secrets too, for I also learnt that our Brian's boat is referred to as the Barbie boat! Yet Brian was right about cowboy hats—saw dozens of 'em being worn by boaters.

Another boater we met told of how he had been helped in advice about powering his Candy washing machine.

Frequent emailer, Jimmy Lockwood, was delighted to meet us and promised more in the future, Asking if we mind him being controversial!

Many of the boaters we met were on their way back from the National, and every one told of it being a very good show with more boats than were expected, and the people of St Ives being very pleasantly surprised.

So an early start heading back the following morning, accompanied by Viator—one of the refugees—sharing locks, and as we boaters tend to do, putting the world to rights. He told that with others he was held up at Gayton for a week whilst the river dropped to allow navigation on the Nene.

Sharing a lock with Viator

It was on this stretch we came across a single-handed share boater in Stella, who openly admitted he had had a few scares navigating to Peterborough and back on his own, so waited for other boats to accompany him through the locks. He agreed with me it wasn't the place for safe single-handed boating. And unintentionally proved it by slipping as he climbed down a ladder onto his boat.

Mind you, he only has the boat for just three weeks a year, so would hardly have the experience of a regular single hander.

Another early start, again in company with Viator and so the last of the guillotine gates and Northampton, taking advantage of a free pump-out.

Plenty of pump-out facilities and all free

Unknown to the normal visitor to the Nene, but gleaned from our association with the locals, instead of turning up onto the Northampton Arm, carrying straight on brings you to pontoon moorings and a B&Q Warehouse, PC World and the rest of 'em just by the river. Very handy. That is if you are good at reversing to get back!

Then it was back up the Northampton Arm for the night's moorings, but not until passing Lock 14 we were told, and could well see the reason why, coupled with bandit reports.

Looking back along the Northampton Flight

An early attack on the flight up to the Grand Union, with a fella on Yaffle calling out he was our sanitary correspondent! So a dash back to meet none other than Peter Hillier, who had entertained readers with his problems with closed Elsan emptying facilities. Insult had been added to injury for after attempting to use the Elsan at Braunston to find—yes you've guessed—that facility too was out of order!

Peter was one of the many boaters we met who winter on the Middle Level, coming onto the British Waterways system in April and back home in September.

Very attractive river

What do I think of the Nene? Not too impressed by the high weeds and twists in places, but as its vista opens out it becomes a very attractive river with some outstandingly scenic water parks.

The wandering Nene near Wellingborough

And the water. Plenty of depth, yet it is so clear the bottom can be seen virtually all the way.

For narrowboaters more used to the canals the awkward placing of the restricted lock moorings can be a problem, especially in windy conditions. And the lack of visitor moorings along the navigation is a disadvantage, though being a river flowing through private land, this can only be expected.

A new experience for us, but all in all, an enjoyable one.

Great weather being enjoyed by She Who etc etc

Not wishing to upset all you boaters who either lost your holidays or were held up by the floods during our 'summer', we had glorious warm sunshine all the way with shorts all round—sorry!

And not a single drop of the wet stuff!