Hemingford Grey to St Ives
1.5 miles, 1 lock
Just over the wall behind our boat was a little gate just crying out to be explored. It was too early for me to gain entry, but we will be back
Just a taster of what might be in store
and then I noticed this - will we be here on that day? All being well we might be. A picnic with some entertainment would be an appropriate way to celebrate our anniversary.
Then we spotted Cleddau preparing to leave - they are heading back to Bedford
Round they went and a cheery wave farewell from Sue
and they sailed off into the distance. We will see you again in July. We have the best part of a month to explore this river and the Cam before we need to be in Bedford.
We left soon after, following this cruiser into the one lock we had to do today.
In no time at all we were in St Ives and had decided to try The Waits where there is a water point. Do we enter bow first or wind and reverse? As it was empty we decided to go bow first.
Within ten minutes there were two boats in front of us and
one behind!
Just behind the moorings is The Norris Museum
and a row of flower beds with these decorated silhouettes - we presume this is in memory of the end of WWI, but there is no information to confirm this.
We wandered into town and found a Whisky and Wine Store. There is only one word I could find - WOW! This is the whisky section - there are four shelves and each stretches about 59 foot - the length of our boat!!
Then there are racks and racks of wine
and things I did not know existed!
Did we buy anything - yes some Orange gin which is really lovely. I have a friend in Spain who found orange gin over there and then started to make their own using standard gin as a base - I need the know how, Lynn!
The town moorings were fairly busy. Where we are is certainly quieter and is free from swan and duck poo - a real bonus.
We had lunch at the Riverside Cafe by Chapel bridge with a great view over the river. We had the fresh Cromer crab and avocado open sandwich - it got a 5 star rating from us.
By the time we got back to the boat we were alone again, so we reversed out, winded and reversed back. We now had our bow near enough to the water tap to allow us access without moving to (or obstructing) the water point.
For the most part it was a very quiet mooring and one we would use again. In fact we were surprised how few boats came and went. There was just one bit of excitement. A small cruiser was bobbing around in a rather odd manor. We inquired whether they were okay? 'This is our maiden cruise' came the reply 'and we have dropped the wine into the river and are trying to get it back, but cannot reach it' they added! Apparently it was balanced on the side and she got back in - the rest, as they say, is history!
So for the first time ever our red fishing net was put to use and success - they retrieved it. I rather suspect that it won't be long before they need to spend a bit of money having the engine looked at!
Saturday 10th June 2018
St Ives
A day off for us and the main job was a large Waitrose shop. To get there you have to walk through the town and the longer I am in St Ives, the more I like it. Although it is not a long way to the store we did find the carrying back to the boat a bit of a strain. Is it time to buy a trolley?
From the moorings there is a great walk along The Great Ouse Way. First through the church yard of All Saints Church
and a really great sign on the front door
Across this bridge is
A bit further a long is a Sea Scouts building. It is a large fairly new building and they have a lot of land. On Saturday morning the pirates were in residence
a weekend camp was taking place. There were a lot of excited voices doing all sorts of activities including
archery - I was pleased no one hit a balloon as we went past.
You can take a detour off the path across some river bank, but not for long before you are back on the path until I spotted this sign and decided to explore
It is a diversion well worth taking
On Friday we had seen at a distance a group of people sitting enjoying the sunshine. Today, on my way back to the boat I collected up the detritus they had left behind them. It is a good job I always have dog bags in my pocket.
I have to say that was the only litter we spotted in St Ives and for what must be a first, we did not see any abandoned dog bags or dog poo.
We will be back later in the month - the church, the Norris Museum, the nature reserve and the whisky and wine store (we need more orange gin!) are on the list of things to do.
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