Travelling to Cambridge

I have obtained a place on a Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) course in Cambridge during the month of June. I decided that, since the course is billed as extremely intensive, I would take my boat to Cambridge and moor there for the duration of the course. So I have spent the month of May travelling from Milton Keynes to Cambridge. By car this is a 1 1/2 hour journey. By boat it is an eleven day trip. I started off on the 2nd May and arrived at my destination on the 21st May, having spent some time at various points en route.

The route by boat is up the Grand Union canal as far as the Northampton Arm junction; down the Northampton Arm (17 locks); onto the River Nene and down virtually its full length to Peterborough; then from there into the Middle Levels (Fens) to the junction of the Middle Levels with the tidal Great Ouse; across the tidal bit (only half an hour including the locks at either end); and then up the Great Ouse, through Ely onto the River Cam; down this river until I got to Reach Lode; down the Lode to Burwell Lode and then along it to the end of navigation. I am going to be based in Burwell for the duration of the course, as my brother lives there and he has been able to arrange for me to moor for the duration at a friend of his, who has property in Burwell. This does mean it will be a 20 mile journey into Cambridge each day, which I could do without, but it also relieves me of a number of domestic chores which is a benefit.

The journey down the Nene is very pleasant, but it does go on and on - it took me several days to traverse the river. It is difficult to get to food shops until one gets to Peterborough, and the locks are slow (particularly for a single handed boat like mine) but it was an enjoyable trip. When I got to Peterborough I moored for a few nights at Peterborough Yacht Club, as I was going off the boat for a few days, and I wanted to ensure that the boat was secure while I was away from it.

Moving on from Peterborough into the Middle Levels is a change of pace, though I did go through the Middle Levels effectively in one day, which was faster than I had anticipated.

I got to Ely, which from the river is a beautiful location, where I did some food shopping, and a pump out. Then up to Burwell, with a few hiccups where I moored on the public mooring for two nights before backing the boat onto my brother's friend's mooring. This is up a little creek, and the four hundred or so yards took me 50 minutes to back up. Narrowboats do not steer in reverse, and it is a tedious and painstaking process. Moored up, connected up to electricity; and started to prepare myself for the course next week.