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Wadenhoe - the South-East Passage

Wadenhoe - the South-East Passage

1,553465
Member
1,553465

    Feb 17, 2018#1

    It may not be of Roald Amundsen proportions and I don't think that Chinese supertankers will be fighting the Canadians over its use but to me it was a minor victory in the quest to paddle every inch of the Nene and its many backwaters.

    According to the OS there should be quite a major channel to the south & south east of Wadenhoe - Point A - thus making a true circular trip from the car park at the top of the mill stream - Point B - possible and thus saving a walk through the village doing your drowned rat impression from Point C back to Point B. Point D is simply me getting carried away but it's the upstream end of the official canoe route.



    In half a dozen, admittedly half-hearted, attempts to find it I had never managed to work out how to get there and given that the riverside pub is so close it was always easier to have a pint......no doubt just like Amundsen would have.

    Even Google Earth wasn't very encouraging.....a mass of trees and not a glimpse of water



    Anyway, an afternoon out on the Nene can't be all swash-buckling, derring-doing, rufty-tufty explorer type stuff so I saved that for the end..........Point B or Wadenhoe Mill as it's better known.....a great place to launch



    Looking down from the same point - about as high as it can go and still get under the bridge



    Until two weeks ago you would have been faced with a wall of strainers as you went through the bridge - but after some attention from a couple of blokes whose identities are known to me, there is now a safe route down the mill stream for paddlers



    In summer this is a narrow reed lined oasis for birds and insects - the church at Achurch in the background





    I have an idea for a book, indeed a whole series, about the adventures of Danger Weir - featuring Hippos that live in trees and all sorts of fantastical characters along with an old sea dog called Neil who lives in a narrowboat from where he runs an international spy organisation or a gentlemen's drinking club, I haven't decided yet



    But for today it means nothing more than time to drop into the Lilford backwater - so peaceful you can imagine lighting your pipe in one of those Condor moments, or was it Hamlet?....anyway, it was very nice



    Lilford backwater is served by five small weirs - in my book(s) Danger Weir would liberate them from their orange shackles and allow paddlers to do dangerous things on them



    There's the small matter of remembering to duck at the gauging station



    But a delightful backwater which I had entirely to my unsociable self





    Time to turn upstream as it meets the navigation near to the pile that is Lilford Hall



    Woods with a fresh carpet of snowdrops



    Probably one of the Nene's prettier bridges - there are some right horrors that would have Prince Charles going on about bunions & carbuncles



    It was then nose to the grindstone against the wind and tide although I did manage to upset a lady by suggesting her mongrel had corgi in it - I was told in no uncertain terms that it was a Lancashire Heeler - that'll teach me to be sociable

    This is heading upstream to Point D - aka the official canoe route - notable mainly for the beautiful church on the hill behind



    I did my best to turn the weir into something beautiful but I reckon this sort of thing needs a burbling brook with water falling over moss covered rocks



    T'other way - not too shabby



    Wadenhoe lock - still under repair - I quite fancy doing a Duke of Edinburgh and pulling a tasselled rope to unveil the new guillotine gate - which would have an otter with a paddle painted on it



    Pub



    Private Keep Out sign on a chain behind the tree - I've often paddled down here and wondered where the water came from to feed the backwater that the OS think lies beyond...... the answer is through a sluice beyond the private sign and hidden by the wooden fence on the right - this has a sign saying 'don't climb over' so I didn't



    After a little bit of rufty-tufty explorer type swearing at briars and stuff, the promised land hove into view



    And just to make my day it was a proper little ditch









    You may recall the second photo in this diatribe and recognise the low bridge below the mill - dozens of times, probably more have I launched here and never known or noticed this little backwater hidden up behind fallen trees



    When you think about it there is little interest in the landowner clearing these trees as they would almost be inviting the hoi polloi
    to wander up and have a nose at their garden & house.

    Anyway, hope you enjoyed this little tale and to save you googling it, here's what a Lancashire Heeler looks like.....



    I'll stick to Patterdale Terriers for now but I could be tempted

    Regards to you all,

    Dick
    A ship should not ride on a single anchor, nor life on a single hope - Epictetus

    16K95
    Member
    16K95

      Feb 18, 2018#2

      Nice one. All looks very pastoral and peaceful.

      Here comes the future and you can't run from it
      If you've got a blacklist I want to be on it


      Crow Trip Log

      27K3,045
      Contributing Member
      27K3,045

        Feb 18, 2018#3

        Excellent, just as much fun as an Amazon adventure would be, I'm sure.

        That dog looks like its got a bit of Corgi in it to me :D

        I'm trying to work out just why I've never been to that pub yet. I must fix this.
        SMopencanoePaddler,blogger,camper,pyromaniac:

        Blog: Wilderness is a State of Mind

        Paddle Points - where to paddle

        6,0511,094
        Contributing Member
        6,0511,094

          Feb 18, 2018#4

          Great day on the water. You got a nice day for it.

          By the way...... its not a Corgi........its a Doberman with all the B*llsh*t sucked out of it.
          Big Al.

          Only when the last tree has died
          and the last river been poisoned
          and the last fish been caught
          will we realise we cannot eat money.
          ~Cree Indian Proverb

          22957
          Member
          22957

            Feb 20, 2018#5

            I really enjoy reading your blogs of the Nene as I’ve seen it in various YouTube videos and it’s not too far from me in Cambridge.


            Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

            778202
            Member
            778202

              Feb 20, 2018#6

              Another good day out.
              Definitely some scope for some of your signature tree clearing.

              Nick

              1,553465
              Member
              1,553465

                Mar 03, 2018#7

                Well this has no doubt upset somebody 'with connections' - for an organisation who have no money to clear backwaters that canoes have used for decades, the EA have for some reason issued a Navigation Notice for this backwater that includes the words 'not a through route for any craft' within two weeks of this blog - ho hum!

                A ship should not ride on a single anchor, nor life on a single hope - Epictetus

                6,0511,094
                Contributing Member
                6,0511,094

                  Mar 03, 2018#8

                  Patterdale Paddler wrote:Well this has no doubt upset somebody 'with connections' - for an organisation who have no money to clear backwaters that canoes have used for decades, the EA have for some reason issued a Navigation Notice for this backwater that includes the words 'not a through route for any craft' within two weeks of this blog - ho hum!

                  Looks like you have rattled their cage. Well done.
                  Big Al.

                  Only when the last tree has died
                  and the last river been poisoned
                  and the last fish been caught
                  will we realise we cannot eat money.
                  ~Cree Indian Proverb

                  3,853598
                  Member
                  3,853598

                    Mar 03, 2018#9

                    Brilliant! SMhail (And that's not too bad a review from a man of few words....that's trying hard to spell correctly eveeryday! :D )
                    Keep yer paddles wet, and powder dry....

                    MB
                    ;)