Tuesday, 3 July 2018

What a difference a day makes - 2 July 2018

Monday 2nd July 2018
Godmanchester to Great Paxton
6.5 miles, 2 locks

Before we set off I went for the paper whilst Monty and Chris played ball

The first lock of the day, Brampton, was ready for us, but gone were the crowds from yesterday

We were 'Billy No Mates'

I gather hay yields are down this year, but this farmer has his cut and ready to go already

Into Offord Lock. This is a very neat lock with rubbish and recycling - the latter is a rare commodity on this river, so much so that we have all but given up separating out our rubbish unless we know such facilities are near.

From Offord it was then new water for us this year since we left Ely for the first time on 4th June.  All the way to our destination we only saw one boat moving - so very different from yesterday.

So we neared our destination of Great Paxton where we knew there was a GOBA mooring hiding behind a tree and just big enough for one narrow boat.  Would we be in luck?
 
Yes someone was smiling down on us

 The stern was in tight

but the bow stuck out a bit, but no problem as we tend to get on and off at the stern

There were trees providing shade - I spent most of the afternoon moving from shade to sun from time to time enjoying my book - bliss.

Late afternoon, as it got a bit cooler, we all headed off round Paxton Pits Nature Reserve to walk the Heron Route

It is a lovely area


but we had forgotten that there is still a working sand and gravel extraction business, so a lot of the walk was tracks that lorries and cars use. It meant a lot of lead time for Monty, so not the best walk for him,

 but the views did make up for a lot

We all know how dry it has been, but it turned out that we transitted from St Ives to Godmanchester just in time as the next day (Monday) both locks were closed with warnings not to transit the pound between them unless great care was taken, going very slowly and keeping to the channel.  Today (Tuesday) they have both been opened, but I guess it could happen again unless we get some rain.

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