Left the
Leisure Centre moorings at about 8.30am and negotiated the sharp left-hander I
read about in the guide. No problem until I arrived at the real sharp
left-hander. It took a couple of go’s at it. The remaining short section was
both narrow and sunken – more like a concrete drain.
Out into the
countryside. Don’t look too hard in the direction of the brick quarries, the
kiln chimneys, the sewerage treatment works, the heavy industry and a vast
McCains Oven Chip factory. The Stanground Lock on the eastern approaches to Peterborough arrived much sooner than estimated (about 2 hours sooner!) so I lined up behind a 70 footer and went to ask the nice Tina if I could go through in advance of my mid day slot. She was happy to agree with this so I offered to turn one of her paddles. This made her even happier.
We arrived
at the waterfront in Peterborough and moored next to the Key Theatre. The
guide states Peterborough is ‘architectural poor’. Apart from the Cathedral and
its precincts, there is no doubting this statement. Most of it is even poorer
than the Whittlesey Leisure Centre (and that’s saying something).
Anyway, after
a brief jaunt into the city centre, we went back to the boat, took on some
water and then headed further west, aiming for the Ferry Meadows Country Park.
A very sharp shower hit us just after Orton Lock but we battled on to reach the
country park by 3.30pm. We moored at the 24hr moorings in the centre of the
park and were hit by another massive rain storm. The weather bods appeared to
have got some of their predictions right.
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