29th September to 7th October

This week we have pressed on down the Nene to Peterborough, travelling over 60 miles and through 37 locks, gradually getting used to the differences between canal and river! Locks take a lot longer to operate;

Guillotine lock gate

most of them have "guillotine" type vertical bottom gates and even though most have been electrified the process still takes quite a while. A major difference to the canal system is the lack of moorings - even those marked in our guide book are often just a short stretch of grassy river bank, where we had expected a proper landing stage and mooring posts.

Weirs can be quite scary...

Moorings are pretty few and far between, so no stopping whenever you feel like a break - we have had to keep going today for six hours non-stop, eating at the tiller!
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 On Tuesday we started the day by picking 4 lbs of rose hips in readiness for some winter wine - hope it's worth the scratches.... We then encountered the first manually operated guillotine gates - instead of an electric motor to raise them, a 3ft wheel is provided which has to be turned many, many times!!

Help!!!

At another lock, access to the pick-up point for the crew (ie Jean) was through a gate marked "Bull in field" - fortunately he must have been dozing. Eventually we managed to find moorings at a pub so we could reward our efforts with a pint (and scrump some fallen apples for a blackberry and apple crumble)

The weather has been beautiful and the landscape gorgeous, the river sometimes tree-lined, and sometimes passing through open fields giving lovely vistas as  it twists and turns past many pretty sandstone villages, although frustratingly one often can't moor to visit them.

So near and yet so far

However we have enjoyed Wadenhoe, Elton, Fotheringhay and Oundle ( home of a famous public school, many buildings of which are scattered through the town)

Ferry Meadows

We spent Friday and Saturday nights moored at Ferry Meadows Country Park, and took a trip into Peterborough on the Nene Valley Railway, who were holding a "Diesel Gala Weekend", with lots of  train-spotting enthusiasts.

Peterborough Cathedral

Today we're moored on the embankment in Peterborough centre, a stone's throw from the magnificent cathedral, having trundled 9 miles to and back from the amusingly named "Dog in a Doublet" Lock which marks the beginning of the tidal stretch of the Nene.

End of journey - Dog in a Doublet lock

That was the most easterly point of our journey, as we now have to start heading back towards the Midlands to settle down before winter sets in!