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The Middle Levels

So, to take advantage of the possible return of Blogger's Insert Image functionality, I'm about to down load (or is it up lift?) some photos of our trip to Peterborough through the Middle Levels.

I've done all the writing I want to about the trip so I will only put a few titles on each photo.

So, here goes...good luck everyone!

Nordelph, a typical Fenland village from the water. Who said the East Anglian waterways are all wide and boring?

Marmont Priory Lock, operated by the part-time Mrs Norton. Remember to have a couple of quid handy to put in the 'tips box'.

Edit: Insert Image has stopped working again and won't let me post another photo so I'll save this and try later. Such fun!

Insert image thingy now working!

Tomorrow I'll have a go at loading some shots of our recent trip to Peterborough. For now, you'll have to make do with some ducks and geese at the Ferry Meadows Country Park

The new TV

I may have mentioned this before but the Cello 12v TV had been playing up. For a few months it was switching itself off with a loud electrical buzzing sound and hailstorm on the screen. Each time, I would unplug it, wait a few minutes, turn it back on and it would work fine. I wasn’t too bothered about this and decided I could live with it until a couple of weeks ago it didn’t come back on. So, I rang Cello and the kind lady told me that as it was now 12 and half months old, it was no longer covered by the warranty and she wouldn’t listen to my protests. She said I could send it back at my expense and one the engineers could look at it. The initial cost would be £79 plus any repair costs. What?!? As I explained my concerns, the phone when dead. It might have been my mobile signal going haywire but I suspect she pulled the plug on me.

Anyway, not wanting to be without a TV for our trip to Peterborough, I found another one on Ebay for not much more than £100. It was a new one with a brand name of Venturer. They had been sold by Argos for a couple of years and the hundred or so reviews were very good. So I bought one and set it up easily before we left.

So far, it has worked very well. The picture is good, the sound is fine, the remote control easy to use and scrolling through programmes is fast. I have fixed it to the swivelling wall bracket which means we can get the viewing angle right so, all in all, I’m very pleased especially as it was much cheaper than all the alternatives. It remains to be seen if it will last long. I have obviously kept the receipt and will have no hesitation in sending it back if it goes wrong within a year.

By the way, I saw at Crick that Midland Chandlers are selling the Cello TVs now. I guess they have researched them well and are happy with them. Perhaps I was just unlucky with mine. I certainly wasn’t very happy with the way their customer services lady dealt with me. Lesson learnt!

Upwell to Ely Monday 17 June 2013

While Kay tried to catch up on her poor night’s sleep, I busied myself around the boat including tidying up, and sweeping the wooden jetty. It was the least I could do for the Trust which kindly providing it for us.

We left at 9.00am and reached Salter’s Lode at 11.00am. I had earlier rang Paul again to tell him we would be arriving. He told us to moor and await his calling. I walked up to the lock and was surprised how small it was. Deeply cut into the flood bank, with a bridge over the top and a sharp narrow entrance near the river, it looked dark and daunting. I could see why some people find it a bit intimidating. At least going from Salter’s Lode onto the river is less of a challenge than the other way round.

It took a while waiting for the other boat to clear Denver before we were allowed to leave Slater’s Lode. At least this meant there was time for the incoming tide to cover the couple shallow mud banks Paul was concerned about. As we edged our way on to the Ouse, it was obvious the incoming tide and the northerly wind were both in our favour – had they been in the opposite direction, it would have been a different story.

We had lunch at the EA moorings at Denver and then decided to move back to Ely. This took us just over 3 hours and we found the waterfront quite busy. This was unexpected, especially for a normal working week day. After a quick shopping trip into Sainsbugs we settled down for a quiet night in.

The plan is to spend a couple days here and head home.

March Riverside Sunday 16 June 2013

A perfect morning. Sun, a light warm breeze, ducks, early morning dog walkers, young lads fishing, Steve Wright’s Sunday Love Songs, coffee, a good book. Perfect!!

Considering when we might go through Denver, I rang Paul at the lock and he said the earliest time would be 12.30 pm the next day and it might extend to about 2.30 pm. I said I would try to get there towards the end of the session. Thinking more about it, I realised that would meant leaving March quite early and then not being sure if I could get there in good time so we decided to leave March and head for Upwell. That would take a couple of hours off the journey.

As planned, we arrived at Upwell just after 6.00 pm and moored at the Church Bridge Staithe. Unfortunately the Five Bells pub near the church, where we planned to have a pint and maybe a meal, had loud music blasting out (odd for 7.00 pm on a Sunday) so we retired to the boat for a very tasty lasagne and roast veg.

Upwell looks better on foot than it does from either a car or on board Skylark. I was particularly impressed by the Well Creek Trust that provided the mooring and looked after this stretch of river.

Ferry Meadows to March Saturday 15 June 2013

We left Ferry Meadows at about 10.00am having  left a message with Tina at Stanground.  When she rang back she kindly agreed to let us through at 12.00pm. Perfect.

As we entered Orton Lock and prepared to close the upstream doors, a cruiser came up and we let him in. We shared the work and left in good time. I followed him down to Peterborough where we found the annual dragon boat festival going on. We edged past (waving to the appreciative crowds) and left the bustling waterfront.

We arrived at Stanground at 11.30am and Tina waved us in straight away. What nice lady!

This meant we could make good progress through the first section of the Middle Levels. We had lunch at the Leisure Centre moorings in Whittlesey and, despite the foul weather forecast, we headed on to March. Throughout the journey I could see some pretty heavy clouds heading our way but I managed to avoid them – not that I had much say in the matter.

We arrived at March by about 4..00pm and moored next to the well kept park, well away from overhanging trees and with no rat traps! Whenever we hitch up somewhere, we wonder if some the locals will cause us problems but we have never experienced any negatives apart from the odd late night conversation nearby  – you know the sort of thing, ‘You don’t love me anymore.’ ‘Of course I do.’ ‘You only want me for one thing.’ ‘But you’re my best girlfriend. Gizza kiss’