Cambridge

After leving Cambridge we went back to Ely and were delighted to be joined by 7 Newbalders but the weather was unfortunately unkind to us. Nevertheless I think everyone enjoyed themselves and we are now up to £5000.00 towards our goal for repairing the St Nicholas Church North Newbald stonework. We have enjoyed our pilgrimage by boat and meeting such a a lot of fascinating people.

Cambridge

We finally arrived in Cambrige which was the end of our pilgrimage by boat. We met the Reverend Richard Lloyd Morgan who is the dean of St John's College in Cambridge, who showed us around the famous chapel, where the special Christmas concert is broadcast from every year. We met relatives and friends from London and Cambridge who all came on the boat and contributed to our cause. We toured Cambridge on an open top bus and saw all the magnificent colleges and other sites of interest. We became involved in a unique end of year activity on the water whereby rowing crews from all the colleges competed on the river and each boat crew had to touch the one in front in order for the one in front to be eliminated. The river was chaos but great fun was had by participants and spectators alike. We were delighted to once again have a visit from our vicar Mike Bushby and his neighbour Lynne.

River Great Ouse

Ely Bridge with a chapel on it. Jones Boatyard in St Ives.
We bought the boat from here originally.

Lunch with Simon and Jules near Ely

We had a great day out on the River Ouse with Simon and Jules. Simon is the son of my cousin and Jules is his wife. We hadn't met Jules before so we had a great day catching up on the news. The weather could not have been better.

Ely Cathedral

Our first view of Ely Cathedral.

Ely Cathedral

Our first view of Ely Cathedral.

Ely

We have been in Ely now since Thursday evening. It is now Monday. We have been twice to the launderette on our bikes which was like moving Paddy's market ! - We have also been to the Cathedral 3 times and it is a really beautiful Cathedral. We climbed the Octagon Tower and had views over the Fens for circa 20 to 25 miles in all directions. You can see Cambridge from up there. We have learnt a great deal about this magnificent Cathedral and would definitely recommend a visit. Because of the delay caused by our engine malfunction we have left it that we will be back in June to take out the clergy and their parishioners on river trips.
We had a very pleasant surprise visit from Dr David Thomson the Bishop of Huntingdon who came down to see us on the boat on Friday night. He was very pleasant and very generous to the cause and also kindly bought us a bottle of wine.
On Sunday 23.5.2010 we had Simon and his wife Jules for the day. Simon is my cousin's son and manages a big estate close by. We had a wonderful time with superb weather and had a picnic on the river bank. Later today (24.5) we will set off for Bedford.

Salters Lode Lock Middle Levels

Middle levels and Ely

We returned to Peterborough by train on Tuesday 18th May 2010 to find our two mobile mechanics hard at work changing the engine. They had a new block but needed to strip all the other parts off the old engine and put them on the new one. They did this in about 6 hrs and we were ready to go with the new engine installed. The next day we set off through what is called the middle levels which are the drainage channels built by a Dutch engineer in the 17th Century. They connect the river Nene to the River Ouse which saves us the journey back out into the Wash. There is a bit of tidal water as we joined the River Ouse from the Middle level channels. The Middle levels were quiet with two major conurbations on them 'March' and the villages of Outwell and Upwell. The journey is quick about 8.5 hrs and we took two days over it. The middle levels are controlled by the Middle Level commissioners and there is no charge for boats except they have different lock keys from the rest of the system. It really would be a good idea for there to be one body in charge of British Waters......life would be a great deal easier.

Peterbough boat trip

We returned to Peterborough on Monday 10th May 2010 by car. The boat had been at the 'Dog in The Doublet' lock over the weekend where the mechanics came to assess the problem with the engine. We thought it was fairly simple but sadly not. We have managed to break a piston ring and require the engine to be taken out and repaired. However it still went albeit not very well and we took the view that the damage was done so we would use it to fulfill our obligation to the Peterborough Cathedral congregation. On Tuesday 11th October we were therefore on station and met Mr and Mrs Ian Wilson, Sonia Hitch and Mary Jones who are all pictured above. They were delightful companions and we went for a two hour trip up the River Nene to Ferry Meadows and Back to the Embankment by the theatre in the centre of Peterborough. Ferry Meadows is a park which has been made from a series of lakes and is very popular with the local people for walks, sailing and many other activities. It is a wonderful amenity on the outskirts of the city. Our trip involved going through a lock, which has the classic River Nene guillotine gate at one end and the conventional opening wooden gates at the other. The engine behaved itself reasonably well and we managed the trip without any problems. The weather although a little cold was fine and we enjoyed it and hope our guests did as well. They very generously gave to the appeal following the trip, for which we are most grateful.

The next stage was taking the boat to the Peterborough Boat Centre where Stuart Holmes the owner has kindly given us permission to allow our mobile mechanic to work on the engine next Tuesday 18th May 2010. Gary the mechanic hopes to complete the work in a day. We shall see. In the meantime Diana and I have returned home to North Newbald and will return to the boat on 18.5.2010 hopefully to proceed with our journey.

Money has continued to come in from various sources for the Church stonework appeal and we are looking forward to receiving a further update from our vicar Michael Bushby over the next few days.

Wisbech to Oundle

The river Nene is simply beautiful. The bit from Wisbech to Peterborough was not so beautiful but it made up for it by having a wide variety of birds for us to see. Wisbech to Peterborough is tidal so we set off at 06.00 hrs in the morning to catch the flood tide, which stayed with us all the way to the tidal lock outside Peterborough. This lock has the charming name of 'Dog in a Doublet' !- We will find out why tomorrow when we return there ! The relief operator who we met on the way up didn't know. We went to Oundle from Peterborough for the weekend and passed through some superb scenery. Fotheringay where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned is a beautiful area and all the villages have thatched cottages and excellent old pubs, which on occasion we felt obliged to visit !- We are back now in Peterborough and home for the weekend so I can cycle with the Centenary Cycle Club of which I am the current president so I need to be there. On Tuesday next week we are entertaining people from Peterborough Cathedral for trips on the river, which we are looking forward to doing. In the meantime the boat engine has been somewhat misbehaving and we are having an engineer to look at it over the weekend when we are at home. It is not too serious but it is annoyingly hard work to start it. After Peterborough the next stop is Ely and to get there we have to traverse the Middle Levels which is the drainage system of the fens. We then enter the river Great Ouse which is apparently as pretty as the River Nene. We shall see.

The really good news is that we have raised so far over £ 3000.00 to go towards the £ 30,000.- repair bill for the Church stonework. We are delighted and would like to thank everyone for their generosity and help to keep our circa 1000 year old Church ( St Nicholas Newbald) in good order.

Wisbech

Wisbech is a very interesting and beautiful market town. We have been blessed with great weather which always helps, but the Georgian buildings and superb scenery make this town very special. We arrived from the Wash and tomorrow after spending two days here we will leave for Peterborough. We have been to Octavia Hill's house/museum. She was one of the founders of the national trust. We have been to the St Peter and St Paul Church which was founded in the 12th century. We have been to two local museums and had a trip round Elgoods brewery which has much to recommend it !
The yacht club where we are berthed has superb facilities incl. Water, electricity, fuel, showers and a laundry. It is all state of the art and was built just 18 months ago.
We look forward to our return in August.

Boston and the Wash

We arrived in Boston on another beautiful day and managed to moor free of charge more or less in the centre of this wonderful old market town. We were here last year on our recce trip and it really is a splendid place. Unfortunately Canon Whitehead who is the vicar of St Botolph's church (The Boston Stump) had only just returned from holiday as he was caught up in the volcanic ash air problem. To add to his woes he had developed a bad cold. Consequently he had not had time to arrange trips for his parishioners on our boat. He did however come and meet us and we had a picture taken of us all inside the church. We are now trying to do a trip with him and his parishioners on our way home in later August. It did mean we were able to leave a bit earlier and the tides were right on Tuesday 27th April 2010 for an attempt at crossing the Wash. We sailed at 08.30 hrs on a fairly complicated course to avoid a lot of sandbanks out into the Wash and returning towards the Wisbech channel which is the entrance to the River Nene. We went out on the ebb tide and waited at anchor for the tide to turn so we could go up the River Nene on the flood tide. There was a fair bit of shipping about but we were able to go up before they could so we avoided them. The weather on the Wash was flat calm, good visibility and no wind. Ideal for us.

Lincoln Cathedral

Humber and Trent crossing

We stayed two nights in Hull Marina. As you see by the flags it was too windy for us on the Humber on Tuesday. By Wednesday (21st) the "white horses" had gone and we had a safe passage across the Humber (2 hours) and up the Trent to the tidal lock at Torksey (5 hours). We motored on to Saxilby (a Roman settlement on the Fossdyke) and moored by the blossom tree in this pleasant village with its friendly people.

By lunchtime on Thursday we were in Lincoln. We took advantage of British Waterways Board (BWB) showers and did the laundry. We cycled to M&S and to the computer repair shop. As you see, we are now back on air! Little sleep was possible for Thursday and Friday nights as we had to moor beside the Uni. halls of residence and the firstyears were in party mode!!

Saturday 24th we welcomed a party of six from Newbald. Mike Bushby, our vicar, had driven down in his minibus bringing Lynne, Stuart, Mary, Sylvia and Elsie. The glorious sunny weather continued and we took "Farcet Fen" through Brayford Pool, under the bridges of Lincoln - including the Glory Hole (c. 1160), up to the lock and back. We had a picnic on the waterside garden right in the heart of this wonderful ancient city.

Canon Kirk kindly posed for a photo with us in front of the Angel Screen of the Cathedral

Humber and Trent

Voyage start from Beverley Beck

We visited the second Church on our boat pilgrimage Holy Trinity Church in Hull. They are currently awaiting their new vicar and the day we hoped we might be able to entertain them on our boat in Hull Marina was last Monday and that is a day that the Church is closed. Instead we went to Holy Trinity Church on Saturday 17.04.2010 and had a wonderful reception from all the staff. The picture above shows Veronica McKenzie, Jean Fenwick, Gordon Barley(The verger) Gordon Kirkby, Margaret Nicholson, Una Beswick and Diana and me. We have been on many occasions to Holy Trinity Church but always to services and never to have a good look around. This time we took the opportunity to really see how magnificent it is inside and out. We learnt that it is in the guinness book of reciords as the largest Parish Church in England and has been in existence for over 700 years. In fact the current church founded in 1285 and completed in 1425 was the third church on this site.

William Wilberforce the abolitionist MP for Hull was baptised in the font which dates from 1380. The Church has a long and interesting history. We were invited into the back room for coffee and cake and given a truly warm welcome. Our next post will be setting off from Beverley Bec k on Monday 19.04.2010 at 07.00 Hrs.

Friday 16th April 2010 we were delighted to welcome the vicar of Beverley Minster (above) The reverend Jeremy Fletcher and Mervyn who is in charge of the Minster newsletter on the boat in Beverley Beck. They were great company and delighted to give us a send off on our boat pilgrimage. Mervyn took a lot of pictures and we will apparently be featured in the Beverley Minster Newsletter coming out shortly. We put the bunting out on the boat to welcome our visitors.

We were also joined by our vicar from North Newbald The Reverend Michael Bushby who joined us for a quick sail up the Beck into the town. This was the route used to bring the stone to Beverley Minster when they built it, so it was all very appropriate.
We leave on the tide from Beverley Beck tomorrow (monday 19.04.2010). We will lock out at 07.00 Hrs. We are being joined by Judi Murden from Radio Humberside who will then drive into Hull to catch up with us as we sail along the river. We are then on live at 08.45 Hrs, so it should be interesting !

Best wishes

Hamish and Diana

Publicity to date for the Boat pilgrimage

Hamish and Diana are delighted that their idea of visiting 7 major Cathedrals, Minsters and Churches by boat to help pay for the repair to the stonework of their Norman village Church of St Nicholas in North Newbald has caught the imagination of the media. The above press cutting appeared in the local paper 'The Hull Daily Mail' and has created a huge interest in the project. Further publicity was had on BBC Radio Humberside on the Sunday morning show and a further programme is scheduled for Monday 19th April when the Radio Humberside car and reporter Judi Murden will be down at Beverley Beck at 07.00 Hrs to see us off on our journey. She will then follow us and report our progress live on the programme at 08.45 Hrs. On thursday 22nd April we will have the support of 'The Pocklington Post' which is a weekly newspaper and they too are doing an article on our interesting boat pilgrimage. This publicity hasd lead to an excellent fund raising response of circa £ 800 towards the overrall cost of repairs of £ 30,000.

Preparation

Testing the blog