Steam trains, boats, planes and parachutes

Not such an exciting day as yesterday: the anchor stayed unused (but ready if needed). We had another early-ish start and kept going until (almost) sunset.

We left March at 0820 and continued along the old course of the River Nene. At Floods Ferry the old course of the Nene bears left; we took Whittlesey Dyke to the right.

nb Salar was leaving Ashline Lock as we approached; they opened a paddle for us while we were securing the boat to the lock landing. nb Annie and Walt were behind us; they also helped and we were soon under way to our 1430 appointment at Stanground Lock. We were ahead of schedule, actually arriving almost an hour early. I had been expecting to have to wait on the lock landing but the lock keeper waved us in. Everyone had been early, she said, and she was looking forward to being able to run some more water into Whittlesey Dyke to keep the level up. She must have been doing that before we got there as our speed had been dropping with the flow against us.

We stopped at Peterborough to fill and empty, and decided to carry on another three hours or so as we had time in hand.

Today was not without interest. As we left Peterborough we heard a steam train whistle; at Orton Lock we glimpsed the source of the evocative sound travelling along the Nene Valley Railway.

That's the Union of South Africa loco behind the wooden buildings.

At Water Newton Lock Jan pointed out some objects in the sky. They probably look like dirt on my camera lens - or on your computer screen - but those specks on my photo are what I'm talking about.

Parachutists, at least eight of them, were spiralling slowly to the ground behind the trees.

Some were tandem jumps.

When I turned back to look at the lock the low sun was making the scene very picturesque.

At the end of today's journey we tied up alongside another boat at Wansford Station, where steam trains were running until after dark. This was an excellent spot for watching the train passing over the bridge above us.

My camera and I were struggling to take decent pictures in the gloom. I'll leave you with this shot of the train at night running towards Peterborough.

Tomorrow looks like being another long day: we're aiming for Oundle.

How to check a bridge clearance before getting there

We did lots of exciting new stuff today, including Stanground Lock, an unusual windlass, a little-used waterway and a low bridge. I have included rather a lot of photos, but bear with me.

Opposite our mooring on Peterborough Embankment was this splendid old warehouse, complete with integral loading bay.

We were booked into Stanground Lock at 0900, so at 0840 we set off down our last bit of the Nene and looked for the right turn leading to the lock.

This must be it … but why the no entry sign?

As we got nearer it became clear that the no entry sign merely warned off using the wrong arch, and there was a sign - quite small - indicating Stanground Lock.

After passing some waterside houses and a boatyard we soon came to Stanground Lock and were checked in by Ashley.

The bottom gates are hydraulically operated and we stayed on board while Ashley worked us through.

Now we were on Well Creek … and into fenland.

The tight bend at Whittlesey wasn't a problem, and we came to the visitor mooring just before Ashline Lock.

We tied up and walked across the recreation ground to St. Mary's Church for the 1100 service. We were only a few minutes late. Afterwards we looked round the small market town and had a roast lunch at the Sunshine Café. We probably won't eat there again.

There are some interesting buildings in Whittlesey, including the Butter Cross and this former town hall and fire station.

Back on the boat we waited while a boat on the lock landing entered the lock, then we went to the lock landing. After days of seeing few boats at the locks on the Nene this lock, Ashline, was busy. We witnessed two boats come up and three go down, including us.

This was where I could try out the special Middle Levels windlass which I had acquired from somewhere.

The paddles - here called penstocks - take a lot of winding. I counted at least 60 turns. And the lock is very slow to fill - no danger of buffeting a boat coming up.

Having talked to various boaters I decided we would try the Twenty Foot River route, but we needed to see if we could get under a low bridge. Tying up at the lock landing below Ashline Lock I used a long batten and a tape measure to calculate that our air draft was 1.86m. Oh dear. According to the Middle Level Navigation Notes which the Stanground lockie had given us (and which our friend Tony had printed off for us in Northampton) the maximum air draft at Infield's Bridge was 1.60m.

Then I had a brainwave. The air draft at Angle Corner Bridge is supposed to be 1.95m, so Infield's must be 35cm lower. All I had to do was measure how much headroom we had at Angle Corner. If it was at least 35cm then we would fit under Infield's. We had 42cm to spare under Angle Corner Bridge ...

so we continued along the wide, deep Twenty Foot.

Eventually the low bridge got close enough to photograph. Would my calculations be right?

Yes! I reckon we had a good 10cm in hand.

So why were both bridges higher than advertised? It must be because the 'book' measurements were taken at a much higher water level than we are experiencing. According to the Navigation Notes there are only two bridges lower then Infield's: Bradford Bridge on Yaxley Lode (1.56m) and Exhibition (Stokes) Bridge on the Old River Nene (1.53m). If the water levels stay as they are we should be able to pass under both of them.

We weren't going to make it to March before the F1 Grand Prix highlights so we tied up to the reedy bank in the middle of nowhere.

Tomorrow we intend to turn right onto the Old River Nene to go through March and on towards Ramsey.