Yesterday, we turned off the Cam and headed into Reach Lode lock with its double guillotine gates and its negligible change of water levels. These lock structures are not the most attractive things in the countryside and I'm sure most people would agree the simple and traditional 'V' gated locks fit much better into a landscape. However, these guillotine gates do serve an important flood aleviation purpose and look more complicated than they actually are. They are also much simpler to use than traditional locks - just the press of a button. What could be easier?
After a short length of moorings at Upware Marina we turned left under the foot bridge into narrow Wicken Lode.
Compared to the Ouse and Cam, this Lode is very narrow - sometimes only a few feet wider than the boat. It is also quite shallow (2-3 feet deep) so Skylark had to heave herself through the clear waters.
At the head of the Lode is a small GOBA mooring site with turning for boats probably a little longer than Skylark. Tranquility...
We moored up and walked to the nearby Wicken Fen Visitor Centre.
The Fen is a fantastic resource for people and wildlife (including school groups). Once the fen water levels were managed using many hundreds of wooden wind pumps. Near the Visitor Centre is the last survivor.
Wicken Fen is well worth a visit either by boat, road or bike.
To a boater used to the canals, the Lodes will not come as a surprise because they are as near to canal-width as you can get in East Anglia. You have to travel slowly, mainly because they are narrow and shallow but it would be wrong to blast through this special landscape at anything more than a dawdle.
To a boater used to the main rivers of the fens, Wicken Lode is an adventure into a whole new wateryworld.
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