"Goings On" on the River Nene

Leaving Ferry Meadows we moved on to the village of Elton where there is some permissible mooring amongst the cows!  We stayed there for three days!  The pub in the village, "The Crown" is old and thatched and there is still a post office that stocks essentials.

Sunset at Elton

We had two beautiful days weather-wise and, on one of them, walked to Fotheringhay.  These are views from the remains of the castle mound:-

When we moored up at Fotheringhay the next day along came n/b "Maltilda Rose" with their friends on
n/b "Paxton".  We had first met Jill and Graham on n/b "Matilda Rose" when we were on the Ouse and it was good to be able to chat to them again.  They have decided to put in some long cruising days to get off the Nene as they took a long time going downstream earlier in the year.

The Curse of The Nene:-
There are 37 locks on The Nene and most of them are electronically operated - but not all!  Where they are still manual one is confronted by a dreaded Silver Wheel -

On approaching a lock you have to wind this contraption down - many, many turns - and then secure it in place.  On leaving the lock you have to wind it up again!  Thank goodness there aren't that many out of the full 37!
When you see one of these, it is hard not to feel downhearted. However, I am assured by the Skipper who is comfortably aboard the boat that it is really good for both arm and stomach muscles.  I can think of a VERY good reason for having strong arm muscles!!


On our travels all the way to to Bedford and back we had been told by other boaters that the landowner of the moorings at Fotheringhay would be after your mooring fee even before you had been able to bang in your mooring pegs!
It was quite a topic of jovial conversation!  Well .....................
Here he is!!
His name is John and he is a really nice guy!  In all honesty, why shouldn't he make money from his assets?
We moored up on the other side of the bridge and managed to bang in three pegs, do a bit of 'gardening' and the ironing before he came along!!
Boaters, however, beware!  There is no escape!!


The Wanderer Returns ................

Megan is home from Malta after her six month stay.  She will be backwards and forwards visiting us on the boat over the next month.  Fresh air, country views and exercise - time to think about what she wants for the future and her options?

Me?  I am truly smitten by the River Nene - I think it's really, really lovely.
We just need the rain to behave itself for the next few weeks because we want to go back up the river much more slowly than we went down it!
The other Nene 'hazard' is flooding - apparently this happens both quickly and severely when there is prolonged wet weather.

Enjoying half a pint of Strawberry Cider at the Crown in Elton.