Presumably that was the one the map was on about, just not where it said. Anyway, we had
two very peaceful nights there, and a very educational visit to the sanctuary.
We really liked Lakenheath RSPB. The weather forecast was
for showers all day, but the only real downpour came while we were in a hide
watching a family of coots. During the day we managed to spot - and correctly identify
- 2 Marsh Harriers, a Kingfisher, a Whitethroat, no end of Reed Buntings and a
Cuckoo,
which neither of us had ever seen before. We also heard a Bittern,
which we were very excited about.
In the morning we had the side hatch open at 4:30 to hear
the dawn chorus. We lay in bed listening to the boom of a Bittern, then went back
to sleep till breakfast time.
At a more civilised time of day we woke up again,
breakfasted and continued our travels to the most easterly point on the UK
inland waterways network at Brandon Lock.
Actually, the navigable river continues for about a quarter
of a mile beyond the lock to Brandon Bridge, but as Legend is 57’ long and the
lock (or Staunch) is only 39’, our journey stopped there.
The forecast overnight had 45mph gusts, so we battened down
the hatches and went to bed early.
The next day was quite windy too so we stayed put. About a
month ago at Whittlesea, Dave had redesigned the big box so that the side
panels came off, making it easier to get the bikes out. While we were at
Brandon he put hinges on the end panels so that we can collapse it quickly and
neatly for low bridges.
That evening we phoned Lauren as it was her birthday the
next day. During the call, or perhaps shortly afterwards, we decided it would
be nice to go down to Surrey to say happy birthday to her in person. Of course
our car was still in Littleport, so the next morning, bright and early, we
turned round - not easy with the wind going one way and the river going the
other - and set off downstream with Dave on the tiller and Ann-Marie in the
kitchen baking birthday goodies. Back on the Ouse we had a quick lunch break at
Brandon Creek before mooring up at Littleport Station. After a quick shower we
were in the car and heading south, arriving at Karen’s in time to go out for
dinner with Lauren and all her immediate family.
Happy Birthday Lauren.
In the morning, after transferring the big tool box into the
car boot, we moved Legend up the river a bit to the moorings outside the Swan
Pub...
...walked back to the car and went off to Euro Car Parts in King’s Lynn for a
new silencer. From there we went to Glen and Steve’s near Wisbech. Just before
we left the boat we noticed that the warning light on our fridge was flashing,
indicating an overheating controller. There wasn’t much we could do at the time
so we kept our fingers crossed and drove away.
The reason for going to Glen and Steve’s was to pick up some
tickets for the Ageon Open Tennis Tournament in Nottingham, which Ann-Marie had
won in a prize draw, and we’d had sent to them because they were our closest
friends. (Of course they are our closest friends wherever we are, but just at
that moment they were geographically……oh, work it out for yourself.)
We’d also arranged - rather hastily the previous evening – to use
their driveway to fit the new silencer. While Dave did that Ann-Marie, Steve
and Holly watched some tennis on the telly in preparation for the tournament.
When she finished work, Glen came home with a Chinese, so that was lovely.
When we got back to Legend, the warning light on the fridge
was still flashing and things in the freezer were beginning to get soft. We
pulled it out, cleaned all round it, switched it off and left it for half an
hour then switched it back on again. Thankfully it started up with no problem,
but we need to do something to stop it doing that again whenever the weather
gets hot. After a search round the internet and some questions on a couple of
facebook groups, we think the answer is to drill one or two holes in the floor
behind it and fit a computer fan to draw cooler air from under the floor up
behind the fridge when it’s running. So that’s on the list.
We’d planned our next move to Prickwillow on the River Lark,
but after moving the car and walking back to Littleport we decided that it was
too windy for boating, so we watched all the stuff we’d downloaded on the
iplayer instead.
The next morning it was still quite breezy but nothing we
couldn’t handle, so after filling the water tank we pushed off through the
bridge and continued up the Ouse to the Lark. That makes it sound like a
relatively smooth operation doesn’t it? Alas Dear Reader, the truth is not
quite so rose coloured. Because the wind was keeping us on the mooring, we
decided to swap roles; Ann-Marie took the tiller and Dave was on the front with
the big boat pole to push us off. Dave however, forgot that along with
relinquishing the tiller, he’d also relinquished command of the vessel, and
made the unforgivable mistake of pushing off without the Skipper’s say-so.
Didn’t even wait for a nod. In fact the Skipper hadn’t even started the engine
or untied the back rope before he had the front right out in the river. There
were some sharp words and a severe amount of grovelling.
It was a lovely day boating up the Lark and through Isleham
Lock.
At the end of the navigation we found about 30’ of space on
the end of the jetty outside the Jude’s Ferry pub.
It was a bit old and doddery,
with one very small mooring ring, to which we gingerly tied our centre rope. We
half expected to wake up in the morning on the other side of the river with big
chunk of jetty still attached to the boat, but all was well, and despite being
in a pub garden we had a very peaceful night.
After dinner we had a stroll further
up the river bank towards Mildenhall.
The original head of navigation was at
King’s Staunch.
In the morning we impressed quite a few other boaters by
turning our 57’ boat in a river that was barely 40’ wide. We managed it by
sticking the nose up the slipway so it wasn’t quite the magic trick it sounds,
but it looked good all the same.
On the way back down Ann-Marie took the boat through Isleham lock...
...then we carried on down the Lark to Prickwillow, where we'd left the car..
It
was a Monday so the Fenland Drainage Engine Museum was open. That was a
fascinating place to visit with lots of history and some very big shiny
diesels.
Also, as it is positioned between the land drains and the river, with
windows at either side, it highlights how far the land is below the river level
and how important the water whole pumping exercise is to the survival of
everything in this part of the world.
The next day we went to Nottingham for our day at the Aegon
Open Tennis Tournament. We’d expected to be wearing hats in order to keep the
sun off while eating strawberries and ice-cream. However, we found ourselves
wearing everything we’d brought including the emergency blanket, in order to
not freeze. A task at which we failed. The tennis was really good though; our
free tickets were for seats in centre court, right behind the umpire...
Dave waiting for the rest of the crowd.
...and we
loved every minute of the four games we saw. We must confess that as we were so
cold we bailed out a bit early and went in search of a chippy, but it was a
really good day.
Back on the Ouse we moored at the Queen Adelaide EA moorings
for a couple of nights before doing a car move and then boating into Ely
itself. We arrived in the city with perfect timing; mooring is always a bit
tricky in somewhere as popular as Ely and we’d come in hoping to use the
sanitary station before mooring up, but there was already a queue for it. While
we hovered in the river for a couple of minutes deciding what to do, the boat
that had been on the water point pulled off and two plastic cruisers took its
place. Never ones to miss an open goal, we decided that as we still had half a
tank of water we could forgo the sanitary station visit and neatly snuck in
where the cruisers had been...
...three boats away from the tap and less than 100
yards from the car. Bob-on!
The next day Anne was competing, along with other members of
her firm, in the annual Dragon Boat Festival at the Peterborough rowing lake,
so we went along to support her. Despite the intermittent drizzle it was a
brilliant day. There were about 20 teams competing and each team had three
races. Anne’s firm was fielding two
teams and her team were in the first race, so they didn’t get to see anyone
else go beforehand; as a result it was a bit chaotic, not helped by Anne having the paddle in the wrong hands.
By their second race
they’d sorted themselves out, they were beautifully co-ordinated and they did a
lot better.
Unfortunately just after the finish line their boat capsized, but
happily everyone got rescued.
Their final race was against the other PSF team,
so it was very competitive and neck and neck at the finish. Terribly exciting
stuff! We did lots of cheering! There was also free food all day, which made it
ever better!
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