After the tranquility of Wicken Fen I made my way up the river Cam into the city of Cambridge. I managed to pick the end of "Bumps" week when the college rowing teams race against each other. They don't actually close the river for this which makes navigation interesting as one meets a 50ft long boat travelling towards you at speed. It is ironic that the narrowest vessels on the river are transformed into the widest due to the very long oars (or blades to those in the know). By hugging the bank I managed to leave them the vast majority of the river to shoot by. The situation was complicated by the fact that there is a short stretch of river where the normal keep right rule is reversed requiring boats to swap sides on the approach to a bend and to swap back a few hundred yards later. This is because the rowing eights cannot navigate the bend on the right and need to take the wider line on the left. Of course this required me to make a dash across the river knowing that I may meet a fast eight head on midstream. Thankfully I managed to reach Cambridge without incident although there were a few close calls. This is just a single scull I met on the way back.
Cambridge is a beautiful city with much stunning architecture, mainly the many colleges, which I know well having lived nearby for over 20 years. However, after meandering for several miles through open countryside and large meadows
the rivers final approach to the city is rather spoilt by a number of poorly maintained boats on the long term moorings along one bank, some of which were in such a poor state I was surprised they remained afloat. The other bank is home to the various college boathouses which are in stark contrast to some of the boats moored opposite.
As an aside, when in Ely, I noticed some very muscular chaps rowing in Cambridge shirts. I've since learned that the actual University rowing team of Thames boat race fame actually practice at Ely as the river is straighter and not cluttered up with amateur college rowers.
The visitors moorings in Cambridge are limited to about 8 boats which made mooring tricky. I managed to squeeze onto the end of the mooring below the weir at Jesus lock.
After a couple of days I headed back to Ely where Carol McEwan, an old colleague from Wyton, popped over one evening and joined me for dinner in the Cutter Inn.
I've spent the last few days making my way back across the fens to the Nene. The trip over the middle levels is largely through man made drainage channels which are wide and straight with high banks which limit the view of the surrounding fens. There are times when the boat seems to be making no progress along the apparently endless channel.
And if it looks a long way to the next bend, looking back shows it's just as far from the last one.
However, there are a few pretty villages along the way which offer a welcome diversion and the opportunity to check the tiller still works after a couple of hours without a bend.
This morning I crossed through Stanground lock onto the Nene at Peterborough. The embankment moorings at Peterborough can be a bit noisy it the weekend due to Al fresco drinkers so I continued a few miles to Ferry Meadows park which offers a lovely tranquil mooring which I currently have all to myself.
I'll return to Peterborough next week for a few days before heading up the river onto the canals.
