on our way to Northampton

Mon 23rd May
Stayed in Thrapston as the wind was horrendous and just getting out of this little cul-de-sac mooring would have been too much of a feat even for the ever so good captain Trev. 

 Doing a bit of herb planting much to the interest of the cows he!he!

 Time for a little quite contemplation :)


Tue 24th May
Wind has died down a bit so setting off towards Northampton .( we are traveling to the north to visit family and friends on Friday and have arranged to leave Merlot in a marina just outside Northampton a well as collecting a hire car for the journey)
Arrived at a mooring outside a small town called Irthlingborough.  The mooring was supposed to have full facilities - water, shower, toilets etc.  These are provided usually by the environment agency or the water ways at various points along the rivers and canals, however as it happens, far too often, these facilities are no longer available due to some problem - usually lack of money or a dispute over who should pay for them as they are often on ground owned privately or as in this case by the Rushton and Diamond Football club.
As can be seen by the pics not only were the facilities boarded up, the garbage had not been collected for what looked like weeks....phew what a stink and even worse sight.

We pay two licenses , one to the water ways and one to the enviroment agency and although we luckily  dont need the shower and toilet facilities , we do need the water and garbage ones.  This all  is not good but hey ho another small disadvantage of boat life.  We can complain or become more  resourceful , we choose the latter.
We had a quick walk into the town as Trev has read on Trip Advisor that there was a very good Chinese restaurant and we decided to have lunch then just a bite later on.   What do you know, the restaurant is closed every  Tuesday.  I kept thinking of the calories I saved!!!    Another grubby little town on its last legs.   Back to Merlot got rid of rubbish then set off for next town - Welling borough. 

We moored up next to a large green park type area, filled up with water then moseyed on into the town to see what we could find.   AS we had missed out on the Chinese yesterday,  Trev researched an Indian restaurant called Ali's which was also supposed to be very good, according to his trusted Trip Advisor, (that's Trevs logic anyway).    Well well well, we found the restaurant open and had a very nice meal.   The service was outstanding!!!  The owner Ali was attentive and helpful as the menu had a lot of dishes we had never heard of.   At the end of the meal he offered us a drink on the house - ANY drink we wanted,  wow.   We both opted for a liqueur coffee which was nice.  He then arranged for a family member to drive us back to Merlot as we had asked about a taxi.  Lovely experience.   Stayed at mooring for the night.

Wednesday 25th
Set off the the marina - Billing Aquadrome - about 5 miles from Northampton.  Half way there we had to stop as Merlot had caught something in the propeller.   Whilst Trev wrestled with the propeller freeing it from some old rope and weeds,  I got chatting to a couple who travel with two other boats, old friends of theirs.  She told me she and her husband opted to live on a boat twenty years ago with 4 children, youngest 6 months.  Wow that's brave.  Her kids are now adults and all live on their own boat bar her son.  She said she could not ever imagine living in a house again and I am beginning to understand how she feels.  
Watched a farmer herd his cows over a bridge we went under, what a lovely sight.

We arrived at the marina and was allocated a mooring.   The first thing I did was hook up the electricity.   No more checking battery status, well at least till we leave the marina.  Our car will be delivered on Fri at ten so just going to relax and catch up on recorded TV programmes, catch up with issues to do with guests in our cottage, e mails etc etc.

 Poor cow must have been too adventurous in the river - not a good pic (deliberately)

 on the brighter side, rustle bread wrapper and the swans arrive like moths to a flame.

leaving amberedge - River great Ouse - middle levels then the river Nean

Hello again,  well I have to admit that I have been lazy again and now have to catch up pushing the grey cells to their limit trying to recall everything....... will I never learn!
Thur 12th
After leaving Cambridge, we opted to take advantage of the electric hook up outside the 5 miles pub.  Trev went to inquire about the cost and was amazed to be told that it only cost #1.50 a card and the card would last days.  Very generous of the owners as its a lovely spot and really nice to not worry about how the batteries are doing whilst watching tv or using the microwave.   (some of the minor disadvantages of living on a boat)

Fri 13th
For a bad luck day, we had a good one.   We remain moored outside the pub enjoying the electric which allowed us to catch up on some programs we previously recorded.     Later we enjoyed watching the live music and a pint or two.   The music was provided by a guy called Jonathan singing on his own and was very very good.

Sat 14th
Stayed moored up at pub.   Trev biked into Burwell for some supplies and when he arrived back he was white and could hardly walk, apparently  he had had to ride into the wind which was fierce all the way back - it was quite funny as he went for a quick lie down (old man he! he!).  There are a lot of ducks going about their business at this mooring and they are very curious about us and the boat, or is it because we keep feeding them bread.  They keep peeping into the window and pecking on the window to get my attention.

At one point I looked out of the window and saw a male having his wicked way with a female who appeared to be upset out the whole incident making a hell of a noise  - never seen anything like it before and hope never to again Yuck!!!

Sun 15th
Set of early for Eley, filled up with water and got rid of garbage.   Trev watched bike racing on tv then we set off again for the Denver Sluice lock, arrived and moored up ready to go through in the morning at 8am (its a tidal lock so we have to book our passage through and is operated by a lock keeper.

Mon 16th
Went through lock then had to negotiate our way under some very low bridges, at one point we scraped through slightly bending the chimney.

                                                                                                                       We eventually stopped in March (where we kept Merlot in the marina for the winter months).  Its a bit of a dump so we just did a bit of food shopping and as usual Trev trawled the charity shops.  Now Trev has been known to buy some odd stuff in these shops but this takes the cake.  He found a beach fishing rod and enthusiastically informed me he will be catching fish off Wells beach next winter!!!   Well, I promised to show my bum in our local pub in wells if he actually caught fish on the beach (you may think this is not a very encouraging attitude to have,  however last winter I could not get Trev to come for a walk on the beach because "its toooo cold"  he told me so I find it hard to imagine him standing on the beach for however long enough to catch a fish in the cold )  - we shall see.    We set off from March with Trev very proudly holding his rod,

                                                             and moored up outside the town in the middle of nowhere only to find we could not get a signal of any sort so moved on a little further up the river where we successfully got signaled up!   Stayed the night.

Tues 17th
We arrived at Wittlesea,  now in the middle levels and once we leave the villages the river changes to a sort of dyke - not a canal nor a river and very very straight with no much on either side, quite boring really.

Anyway we stopped in Wittlesea which is a grubby small town but ok for a quick food shop, and much to Trev's delight he found a Weatherspoons and stayed to enjoy his fav pint - Oakham.  I went back to Merlot to make our supper.   At one point some kids were mucking about with a old boat moored up in front of us (no one on board).   Now you know I mentions Trev's penchant of buying funny stuff, well a while ago he bought a megaphone which sits quietly in the lounge (saloon as it should be refered to)  well I say an opportunity for using it.  I switched it on,  ignored the very loud feedback and shouted  "GET AWAY FROM THAT BOAT"
The kids freaked out and scattered not quite knowing where the booming instruction came from, very funny and satisfying, LOL     I was also treated to the local fire brigade doing a BA (breathing exercise) training, brought back some fond memories.

                                                                                                      Stayed the night.

Wed 18th

Now on the middle lever proper and as be seen by pic just a narrow straight stretch of water with not much on either side.

It is extremely windy which is not pleasant for Trev so he wraps up suitably and I keep him topped up with hot coffee and food.

We arrived at Peterbrough, filled up with diesel, all #200.00 worth - wow!
Moored up right near the town center and went for a walk about.  We had lunch at a recommended indian restaurant as they had a lunch time offer on, #6.69 p.p for a starter, main, side and rice or nan, pretty good value and the food was the best we have had since Aroma in Northallerton Yea!!!!  We visited a unique pub which was a brewery and you can still see into the old brewery workings from the pub.  A very nice place and again Trev was delighted to enjoy his fav beer - oakham.  They also have a Thai  restaurant attached which looked quite good.  We spent some time on the lovely comfy sofas.
                                                                             We stayed moored up in Peterbrough that day but left at 5pm for Ferry meadows lake

This is a picture of the tidal locks we have to book a passage through on Sunday 15th -Denver sluice lock.

 Pic of the lake we moored up at Ferry Meadows after leaving Peterbrough and I nearly had a swim but bottled out!!

 Saw a very funny sight - a cow sitting down!! never seen that before and he looked so comfy....

 "what are you looking at, never seen a cow sitting down???" so he seemed to say.

 A family of moorhens, a mother and her chicks pic not so good but she was very shy, you can just make out the mother feeding a baby some bread we threw her way.

 Enjoying the sun and having a braai with our cob.

 Fri 20th
 We left the lake at 6.45 (how early Trev) and arrived at a small town called Thrapston.  We moored in this spot before, very private and sheltered as the wind is picking up.

Moreen and Clive bought this skull for the boat and he now sits at the front above the horn, hopefully he will put any potential idiots off keeping them away from Merlot.  We named him Sid.

Sat 21st

Stayed at the Thrapston mooring, had a barbeque and a nice chillled out day.   Visited a pub which was good but now awful, see us sitting outside in the lousy garden!!    Its very windy so we have decided to stay tonight and poss monday as handling Merlot in the wind is a nightmare.

Sunday 22nd
Staying put, catching up on blog and chilling!!!   Gave Trev a facial which he looks like he is enjoying

catching up

Well you know what they say (who ever they are?) " dont put off till tomorrow what  you can do today" !!! or is it " put off what you can do today till tomorrow"? - no wonder I am so behind with the blog so here is the catch up...



Wed 27th April
Arrived Aerith - small village nothing much there excet two rather poor pubs. The mooring is handy as its on a floating pontoon outside a small marina with easy access to water and toilet pump out  if needed.  We decided to walk to a village which should have taken about 45 min.  Due to the poor signs on footpaths, we ended up on a wild goose chase across fields with very aggressive looking cows.  We continued on and walked about four miles negotiating the scary cows and their calf.    We passed through two small but lovely villages and eventually came to a lovely looking pub which was open to our surprise.  We stopped (it would have been rude not to) we inquired if food was still being served as it was 1.30pm, the landlord was Australian and more than happy to take our order.   We had a lovely and reasonably priced lunch in the garden enjoying the sun shine.  On the way back to Merlot, we passed a farm shop selling veg, fruit, eggs etc.  After stocking up we eventually made our way back.  The old legs were ready for a good sit down......

Thurs 28th
Left Aerith, arrived at Hemingford Grey, a small pretty village with a gastro pub called the Cook Inn. There had been plans to have a mini beer festival to celebrate the royal wedding, so we went to investigate but was told it had been cancelled  - never mind Trev,  he!he!  We did partake of a pint and a glass of wine which was very nice.

Fri 29th
Royal wedding - we left H Green early and arrived at Hemmingford where we moored up to watch the wedding on TV.   Wedding duly watched, we set of at 12.30 to a nice mooring we used before outside the town of Huntington.  We walked into the town via a footpath over fields, carefully dodging the nettles,  it took us about 35 min.  Did some shopping, bringing back a lovely steak pie for our lunch.  We stayed put waiting for the arrival of Alan and Ron on Sunday..  (we had arranged to meet up and visit a water festival in Northhampton.  Al kindly offered to pick us up as if we had made our own way there it would have taken 2 hours by buss and train.)  We watched a mother duck with 8 cute little ducklings swimming about then she must have decided it was bed time and ushered them onto the bank under a tree for the night.  So sweet.

Sun 8th
Al and Ron arrived to pick us up for North Hampton about an hours drive away.  Feels strange being in a car and moving so fast..
We had visited this water festival two years ago with Al and Ron however this one turned out to be something different and very poor with hardly anything worth staying for.  We had already booked and paid for a hotel in Northampton so had to try and find something to keep us amused for the rest of the day, bearing in mind it was Northampton on a Sunday, not holding out too much hope!!  The first couple of pubs listed in the good beer guide were somewhat run down and grubby to say the least so we trudged on ever hopeful.       Just as I began to think it was all in vain and Al even suggested we drive for an hour to a nice place he knew off,   we stumbled across a nice'ish looking pub and oh joy of all joys, not only was it a real ale pub, they had a beer festival on with a live band - sorted!!!!!
We spent a very nice afternoon sampling the beers (even Ron had a go at ale tasting,  beer is not her preferred tipple).   Al nearly died and went to heaven when he learned that the band were Beatles fans and played quite a selection of their music.  Anyone who knows Al, will know that he enjoys (not sure if anyone else does - only joking Al) singing along to his fav songs, he did not disappoint AND the singer almost lost the mike to Al's enthusiasm on a few occasions.  We finished off the day with a lovely  meal in a very good Chinese restaurant patronized by more Chinese people than English which is always a good sign.   The visit to Northampton had been rescued from disaster after all.   YEA!

Monday 2nd.

Alan and Ron dropped us back at Brampton where Merlot was safe and sound.  Thanks again for making a detour and collecting us you guys, it was great to see you both again especially Ron who looked so well.

We left Brampton mooring turning around and set off  back tracking towards  St. Ives.                                      We filled the water tank and did a quick shop at Waitrose then left St Ives center and moored up on a island called Offord Cluny near the lock.  There were lots of cows and geese with lots of lovely little chicks, a lovely mooring.  

Tue 3rd
Arrived back at Earith.  Stayed the night, topped up with water and not much else.

Wed 4th
Stayed at Earith and walked to farm shop, stocking up on fruit veg and two huge goose eggs.  The shop has no assistants and operates a honesty system - amazing.

Thurs 5th

Left Earith cruised for 5 hours towards  Upwear.   Saw a beautiful Coot sitting contentedly on a her nest next to the lock.   I was amazed at her pure white beak                                                                                           Merlot was followed,  for ages, by two Common Tern birds diving for fish, they swooped above the boat diving into the river catching small fish, it was lovely to watch them, I tried to get a photo but they were far too quick.

Fri 6th
We moored up at Upwear - in the middle of nowhere, hence the name of the pub - 5 miles  (from nowhere) pub.

We noticed that the mooring right outside the pub had electric hook up and decided to try for a mooring there on our way back from Cambridge (which is our ultimate destination in this area).  The pub has a band on so after Trev looked at the starter motor which has been a bit temperamental lately (not looking too good, he says) we ambled over to the pub and watched the band - not bad.  At 10pm the staff came around asking if anyone was interested in a plate of chicken curry at a small cost of 4 pounds.  We had not eaten much for supper so shared a plate - jolly nice and we thought it was a very good idea.  They also advertised fish and chips night on Thursdays for 5.50, we might just make that on our way back.  All in all a very nice pub with a lovely large landscaped lawn going down to the river.    

Sat 7th
Left Upwear, steady cruise to a small town called Burwell.   Found a nice mooring in a cul-de-sac 2 min walk from the town.   Yea! - lots of shops, well 3 small supermarkets, fish van, vegie stall, Chinese and Indian takeaway as well as a fish and chip shop and a few other small shops.  There are two nice looking pubs but for once we passed on by.    We stocked up on groceries and bought a few books from a friendly lady in lovely little charity shop, she offered us a cup of tea or coffee.  We then picked up fish and chips for our lunch which we had back on Merlot enjoying the lovely sun and warm weather.  Stayed overnight.

Sun 8th
We spent most of the day at Burwell enjoying the lovely weather and nice setting, then set off back onto the main river back to Upwhear to moor up for the night (it made the journey to Cambridge a little shorter for the next day.)

Mon 9th
Set off early heading for Cambridge.  Arrived without incident but as we cruised into the main visitor mooring area, Jesus green,  we found a distinct lack of space to moor and suspect that some of the boats had been there for a lot more than the 48hrs allowed.  Very naughty in such a busy city.  We found a spot near the lock also named after Jesus and walked into the city.  As I was looking for a Chines supermarket, we ventured further out of the city center and eventually found Mill Rd, very long with a good selection of Asian and Chinese food stores.   As I enjoyed buying" my funny stuff" as Trev calls the weird and wonderful ingredients I like to buy (am into Thai and Japanese cooking at the moment), he happily stumbled upon a small real ale pub and even more happily enjoyed a very nice pint or two.   We got taking to a couple of guys, one being South African and called Garrick just like my nephew, how cool is that!!!  One of them recommended an Indian restaurant offering good food at good prices and gave us directions.  Now, as usual I thought Trev was listening and Trev thought I was listening so when we set off, it was vaguely in the right direction which was taking us further away from the city and Merlot moored inconveniently too near Jesus lock due to the lack of proper moorings.  Like troopers we stayed positive (I was positive we were lost) and kept walking and walking and walking.   After about an hour not including  a small detour down the wrong road, we found the restaurant.   We were both starving and knackered.     The food was very nice (not as amazing as we were led to believe) and the staff very friendly.   Needless to say we had no idea where we were or how long it would take to walk back so we took the option of treating ourselves to a taxi ride back   We arrived back and spotted a free space on the other side of the river where the visitor moorings were, so moved the boat over and retired exhausted after our long and eventful day.

Tue 10th
We decided to split up and do a bit of individual shopping, I should have known better as Trev came back with a camera convinced that I needed one at the front of the boat whilst he had ours at the back.  I am not convinced of anything other than Trev cannot resist gadgets and loves having" more than one" of almost everything..  We met up in the city, had sushi for lunch then walked for another AGE to a pub Trev had goggled which overlooked the river.(all this walking must be good for us, though I have to say my legs think otherwise)
The Granta was very nice and we sat in the sun watching the punts sharing a bottle of very good value wine - lovely. 

                                                                                                                                                  Some time later we began our trek back to Merlot via another Indian restaurant -  diligent Trev had discovered it using trip adviser and of course, we had to sample this highly recommended eatery.  We enjoyed the food back on Merlot and agreed the resturant lived up to its reputation.

Wed 11th
We stayed in Cambridge and walked around enjoying the beautiful city with all the different colleges housed in amazing buildings.   A very nice city if you can avoid being wiped out by one of the many cyclists who all seem to cycle at speeds suggesting they have something rather unpleasant hot on their heels.
We bought a lovely whistling kettle, visited the Granta, again then made our way back via a wine bar which was right on the river in the city center.  We were treated to some of Cambridge's hoy-paloy (not sure how that's really spelt)' larking about' as they do.   A group of students and I suspect lecturers were putting one of the students through some sort of initiation due to being the newest (he was quick to inform us he was the newest not the youngest) what ever he was the newest too is still a mystery.  He was wearing a very very small skirt over a pair of small pants and nothing else, I have to add he was able to carry it off as can be seen in the pics.  Needless to say he ended up in the river much to the delight of at least 10 young girls all sitting on the bridge wall looking over the pub outdoor seating area where we where.  It was all very entertaining and the afternoon passed well.

Early to bed, early to rise to set off  leaving the lovely city of Cambridge behind.

Well that's enough catching up for now its taken me ages to try and remember everything and even longer to get it all down.   A while ago Trev spent 2 hours catching up with the blog and although he saved it to add photos at a later stage, it was lost, the whole lot.   We are in a dodgy mooring  - signal wise -at the moment, its just outside March where we kept the boat in the marina for the winter.  I am afraid if I dont post this now, I might lose the whole lot as the pics are taking tooo long to download onto blog.  Tomorrow when I catch up with the rest of our travels - updated till now - and hopefully I will have a better signal, I can put some photos in.   Not quite the same but better than loosing the whole lot hey.

End of the hot weather

We havent blogged for quite a while now mainly because we havent done much! We spent a week in the Great Barford area enjoying the warm weather and visiting Bedford on a couple of occasions, We also got the bus to adjoining villages such as Sandy and Biggleswade. Got lucky at Sandy with a pub called the Sir William Peel which just happened to be having a mini beer fest!

We spent the easter weekend by the side of the river in a lovely spot near to the village of Brampton. From here it was a short walk to the town of Huntingdon and again the weather was fantastic for April. Plenty of BBQ's and the odd cold wine and beer!

Susie visited us on Saturday 23rd brought down by our South African friend Wynne. Had a nice afternoon with some ribs on the bbq and again the cold drinks were flowing. It was good to catch up with them and thanks to them both for popping in.

Easter Monday we left our mooring to head to St Ives where we had been told the market was something special. We overslept by an hour which made our journey twice as long! Instead of being early we hit the mass of weekend boaters hire boaters and anybody else we that could find something to float on the water! We had three locks to get through and had delays at all three with the plastic cruiser brigade making sure that their precious boats were not 'bumped'! Ok I admit that we did see some nice ones but there is a balance between being over cautious and getting out of the way!!!

We had a bit of a drama arriving at St Ives when a water point clearly indicated on the map was found to no longer exist!! We moored alongside the main quay with about a hundred people watching and went to look for it but alas no luck. We managed to find one at the other end of St Ives in a little cul-de-sac where there was no room for us to turn around but at least we got water! We had to reverse about two hundred yards to get back on the river and the wind had picked up. Narrowboats dont like going backwards and like the wind even less! They act like a brick in the water and go where they like but we managed to get back out onto the river.   I have to say trev has got handling Merlot down to a fine art, am very impressed.


While we were filling with water we saw three or four people looking a bit worried and seemed to be chasing a goose. They said it had got onto the road and they were trying to usher it back into the water. They seemed very concerned and considered it a great success when they mangaed to get it back in the water. What they didnt realise that as it is mating season the goose had probably been keeping out of the way because as soon as it hit the water not one but two ducks clambered onto her back and ......................after a lot of quacking and feathers flying they left but it meantime a queue had formed and it was easy to see why the goose had chosen the road and not the water!! Still I suppose the 'do gooders' went home having done their good deed for the day. The goose would definately disagree!!!

The market at St Ives was very average. Just a 'normal' market just bigger and not very good. As the weather is changing this week we decided to use our Cob and cook outside for prob the last time for a while. We bought a large chicken and with the use of 12 charcoal briquettes we cooked it. Took just over 2 hours and worked really well. Leaving here tomorrow to head to Earith so will post more later.