When we had had our tea we decided to go and have a wander round Hemingford Grey to compare the two Hemingfords.
After a cursory look I haven't found out who these plaques belong to. They were on houses down Church Lane I think. I thought they were unusual as this was dated 1937 and another 1903 I think it was. I like to see that they are not really old. I like things to be marked for posterity.
This house looked like it was under renovation. There are not the number of very large houses that there are in Hemingsford Abbot. By the way it seems that the Hemingford parish was split up in around the 14th century and half belonged to the Ramsey Abbey near by and the other half to a family called Grey!
This picture was taken as much for the thatch finial of a cockeral as the old building. Not nearly as many finials in Grey as Abbot.
As we were having our tea there were many boats dash past with a variety of folk in them. When we walked into the village there were loads of folk by the public wharf using the boats and organising them. It seemed pretty random. This morning we passed the boats tied up. It seems that next weekend is the Hemingford Regatta. The two villages come together to race in rowing boats and canoes. The regatta was started by the local Vicar and his friend in 1901 and has been going ever since, other than during the war years and once when EA were doing bank repairs in the area. There are races for children men and women and mixed and must be a great sight. The boats are owned by the regatta and for five week prior to the races there is practise every day.
St. Ives was too nice to pass without another photo. The book says there is water on the quay where these boas are moored, but as we passed it looked just like
. It went on to Huntingdon.
These old pillars on both sides of the river, just down from St.Ives bridge reveals where a railway crossed. It seems that it was lost around the Beeching cuts in the 1960's
The railway crossed just to the left of this picture. The building almost looks modern but was built as a steam mill by Potto Brown but was sold in 1901 to Enderby's Paper Mill. By 1972 it was the headquarters of Sir Clive Sinclair's brave new world of technology and was where the first pocket calculator was made!
We passed under the guided bus bridge and was able to take a hurried snap as a boat passed under and a bus over. The Cambridge system opened in 2011 and works by the buses being able to operate independently with a driver but on the long distance it can act like a tram. The bus is kept between two kerbs by rollers near the front wheels that when the touch the close kerbs they alter the steering. When the track finishes the driver takes over for normal use. I assume when in the guides the driver is in control of the speed still.
I had phoned several marinas up to get a feeling of the price of diesel and Westview at Earith seemed to be one of the cheapest. Still expensive by northern canal terms though. We filled up with water and our stern was near by the fuel barge. The very friendly staff soon had us sorted and we were full up once again. Having had our close encounter with a seal on the way down, and knowing there were some locals heareabouts, Helen had been keeping an eye out for them. And there on the pontoon was one watching us!! It seems that there are three adults and one has just had a pup! This one didn't want to get in the water as a lady from one of the boats at the other side of the seal couldn't budge it, so we ferried her to the other end of the pontoon when we left.
We arrived at Hermitage Lock at 1250 expecting to have to wait until 1400. However the lockie opened the gates and we were soon through before he left for his meal. On the other side the Old West River is narrow and shallow, and a bit weedy. It reminds me of the Trent and Mersey the other side of Alrewas as it runs alongside the A38. Luckily here it is not so busy and for not so far a distance.
There seems to be large numbers of these horses on the banks of the waterways down this end of the system. What are they for? They don't seem as if they would be the type to be ridden. There were an awful lot of very leggy foals about too.
The Old West River seems to have many more grey lag geese and almost no Canada geese. It seems that they are tribes as groups seem to be completely separate but very close. We had spent the best part of an hour watch the common terns hunting in our wake. They hover like kestrels and then plummet to just below the surface. I reckon they are only have about a 30% success rate.
We continued along the river, slow going in places and at 1600 called it a day and moored up on soem long GOBA moorings just to the east of the Lazy Otter.
4 comments:
Tony, the horses don't have a human purpose, they just are. Not their job to be useful for people, mate!!
You are clearly having a lovely time out there in the wilds - it's lovely to read about it.
Please tell Helen that if she needs a break from you, we are more than happy to host her ...
Big hugs to you both, M&Dxx
Hi Both,
I see the David is almost back in harness now. I suppose he will be glad to get on his bike and escape to the next lock, even if it is just for a few minutes! There are horses that just are (more or less) such as the New Forest ponies that run wild, Most of the time. The ones down here were in fields, placed there by humans. Unless it is a rescue centre or something it is highly unlikely that they will kept just to eat grass and need showing and run up vet's bill. They don't look like they will be ridden. Are they to be sold for meat? I know travellers keep them like pets, but there really do seem too many for that I think. I tend to think that if they weren't used for something, useful to their owners, they would have gone by now. Like cows wouldn't exist these days if they didn't give milk etc, as they would have been eaten by other predators. Helen is getting a break from me soon as we are off home for a week in a few days. It is great over here and not very busy, at least at the moment. Your boat would fit too. Stay safe.
I use to get my diesel down the Little Ouse about 3/4 from The Ship, It may be worth getting a price if you need any on the way back http://www.littleousemoorings.co.uk/index.html
Hi There, we are back on the Great Oused again now, and heading down the Little Ouse later. I will check on the price at the Little Ouse Moorings and maybe top up if we need to.
The diesel is expensive down here, but in Ely the beer is a hell of a price too! We have decided that March is still the North, but Ely is definitely the south!!
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