Ditchford Visitor Moorings (River Nene) - Wednesday 30th July
We set sail for Wellingborough as we needed the services and there was a Tesco close by! We both needed elsan emptying and rubbish and OtM needed water. When we got to Wellingborough there was only water, everything else was locked up. I rang the Environment Agency and asked where the next services was as I couldn’t see any on the map, only to be told that there isn’t any! We would have to use marinas and pay for the pleasure. The EA also looks after the Thames and at almost every other lock there is one or two services while some even have showers. Why does the Nene have to be so badly serviced? On a better note, Tesco wasn’t far away and we stocked up while we could.
Wellingborough was originally named "Wendelingburgh" (the stronghold of Wændel's people), the Anglo-Saxon settlement is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Wendelburie". Wellingborough was given a Market Charter dated 3 April 1201 when King John granted it to the "Abbot of Croyland and the monks serving God there" continuing, "they shall have a market at Wendligburg (Wellingborough) for one day each week that is Wednesday".
Tracey took this photo as we cruised along.
We shared one lock with a very frightened swan. It was swimming from side to side at the front of the boats then made a bid for freedom (or so it thought) by trying to get between the boats. I pushed the boats apart as best I could and the swan came through only to find the gates were shut and it still couldn’t get out. The silly thing then tried to get between the wall and OtM where there really was a chance of it getting squashed. As soon as the guillotine was lifted it was away at a rate of knots.
We found one lock where both paddles were operated from the same side which was very strange.
As we passed a couple of swans one up-tailed but I wasn’t quick enough to get a photo, however, when I asked it to do it again for the camera - it did!!!!
Our destination was the Friends of the River Nene’s mooring at Ditchford. There was one narrowboat already on there so we breasted up which we like doing so that we can sit on the rear deck of our own boats and chat away to our hearts content!!
5 miles
4 locks
Islip Dave Visitor Moorings (River Nene) - Thursday 31st July
We came across some strange lock mechanisms today. At the first one the guillotine sort of
rolled up instead of lifting straight up. The next one was a traditional one with two sets of
wooden gates and at the third one the guillotine had to be wound up by hand using a large
wheel - there were three wheel ones in total today.
This is the Old Station Road Bridge at Irthlingborough which is a historic bridge dating back to
the 14th century and was built to carry Station Road over the River Nene. It was widened in
1754 and repaired in 1922.
This is another of the weird locks that the water pours over.
We passed a village called Woodford. I have been a little disappointed at the lack of housing
with river frontage, but this restored my faith a bit! You can see the church from quite a
distance away and as we got close to it, it certainly is big. From my research I found that it is
the St Mary the Virgin and has the nickname "the Cathedral of the Nene". Inside the church there are a number of curiosities. Within a niche cut into a pillar, there is a
mummified human heart wrapped in coarse cloth. This was discovered during restoration work
in 1867 and a framed newspaper cutting depicts a photograph of an alleged ghost taken in
the church in 1964.
This is Nine Arches Bridge at Thrapston. We had hoped to moor here but the mooring was
taken.
We went under the bridge to a Friends of the River Nene mooring. It had actually turned into
quite a hot afternoon and the mooring was under the trees so it was nice and cool. There
were two groups of boys messing about on the river. One group was just swimming, the other
had paddle boards and canoes. How lucky are they to live in such a lovely place with such a
lovely river. I was a bit worried though, as in Wellingborough I had seen a poster of a 17 year
old boy (young Man?) who had got into difficulty in the river and had drowned. Apparently
no-one really knows what happened.
While we were sitting enjoying our evening I had a message from a friend saying that one of
the locks below us was closed. It was only a few locks down from where we were. There was
no suggestion of when it will be repaired as a new part is needed. We decided to wait until
morning and then make a decision as to what we were going to do.
12 miles
7 locks
Oundle Cruising Club (River Nene) - Friday 1st August
This morning we had to make the decision as to what we were going to do after yesterday’s
news that Lower Barnwell Lock is closed. I rang Oundle Cruising Club to see if we could moor
there for a couple of nights, then we will see if there is any news on the lock, if not then we will
have to turn round and head back up stream.
At Titchmarsh Lock, the home of the Middle Nene Cruising Club there is a lovely old mill,
which is Grade II listed. A watermill for the Parish of Titchmarsh is mentioned in the
Domesday Book, but its location is not clear. What is known is that the present mill and
attached house for the miller was built in the mid 1700s, and was in use for milling right up
until 1962 when production ceased.
At Lilford Lock there is a beautiful cottage, what you don’t realise is that it stretches backwards
to the other side of the lock and becomes a 5 bedroomed, 3 bathroomed house with an
annexe with 2 bedrooms. It is also for sale (through Savills) for a cool £1.5m!
Just beyond the lock you can see Lilford Hall. A magnificent building with the most amazing
stack of chimneys.
Sitting in its own 350 acres of parkland, the Tudor part of the house was built in 1495, whilst
the Jacobean part of the house was built in 1635. The Hall is over 500 years old and has 100
rooms. Lilford Hall fell into neglect for around 50 years after the senior line of the Baron
Lilford's died out in 1949, with both house and grounds slowly deteriorating over that time.
Intent on saving this magnificent property the Micklewright family, Lilford Hall's current owners
and custodians, have developed extensive restoration plans to repair and restore the hall to
secure its future for the next 200 years. The Hall has been the home for only two families
over 500 years, namely the Browne (Elmes) family from 1473 to 1711, and then the Powys
family from 1711 to 1949. Lilford Hall remained empty for around 50 years shortly after World
War II when the last of the senior line of the Powys family died out. I have “borrowed” these
two photos from Lilford Hall’s website as my photos just didn’t do it justice.
Today was definitely a day for history as at our last lock, Oundle, there is another beautiful
mill. Originally called Barnwell Mill it is a historic water-powered corn mill with roots dating
back to the 12th century. Originally known as Gibbeclive Mill, it was rebuilt in 1822 and
remained a working mill until 1938. The mill has undergone several transformations, including
renovations in the late 20th century that saw it converted into a restaurant and bar. Then as
far as I can see it became a boutique hotel, but that is closed now too. It is Grade II listed.
Oundle Cruising Club is a stone’s throw from the Mill where we tied up. We still hadn’t
decided what we were going to do, we just kept talking about it! The club has a bar so we
went to partake of some liquid refreshment! More discussion followed. Back at the boats I
cooked Fajitas for everyone and we finally made the decision. We would go into the marina,
fill up with diesel and water, empty the elsans and get rid of the rubbish. We would then make
our way back upstream to Northampton, hopefully getting there by Tuesday evening so that
we can get up the flight on Wednesday (the flight is only open on Monday, Tuesday and
Wednesday). What we will do after that is anyone’s guess!
8.5 miles
5 locks
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