Bartimaeus

In the early days aboard Bartimaeus, we spent some time in the park at Droitwich Spa.  There was a sign in the park with fingers pointing in four directions to Llangollen, Tewitfield, Godalming and Boston.  Bartimaeus was built for the original owner to go to Llangollen.  We’ve been to Llangollen by narrowboat several times, but not on Bartimaeus – yet.  We’ve now taken Bartimaeus to the other three.

The four are presumably the extremes of the connected network, though Boston doesn’t really belong.  We’ve already been further east when we were in Bishop’s Stortford, and there are numerous waterways further east  in Cambridgeshire.  However, the name was on the sign, so we couldn’t just pass nearby and not collect the set.

I’d been warned that this was not a very exciting waterway.  The River Witham has been engineered to run in long straight lines between high banks.  As we proceeded the weather gradually got warmer and brighter.  Our last day in to Boston was done at a gentle pace in the sunshine, I was eventually starting to enjoy this river.

Below the lock in Boston the river is tidal, it is only a few miles to The Wash and the North Sea.  In carefully chosen conditions and with knowledgable guides narrowboats do sometimes cross to Kings Lynn – that is not on our agenda.

Beyond the lock it was obvious that the tide was out.  There might still have been enough water for us, but we certainly weren’t going to try to find out.

Just above the lock we’d spotted a water point at an odd location.  It looked like there had been some mooring jettys, but they had been removed leaving only some posts.  I nosed up to one and Clare threw the rope over it.  That gave us the option of clambering up the grassy bank with the hose.  While we were doing that, a family of ducks swam up between the boat and the bank.

I walked along the bank towards the pontoon moorings a little further along the bank.  Some boaters told me that these included the visitor moorings.  I was also able to get close enough to a sign on the bank to read the information on it, which confirmed what I’d been told.  Once we had enough water we moved on to a mooring and went to explore Boston.

We found pleasant places to eat and drink and I took the opportunity to track down the Maud Foster Windmill as it featured in another part of our plans.

In the morning we visited the major feature of Boston, St Botolph’s Church – visible for many miles around.  After lunch we set off to explore another feature of this area – navigable drains.  In this area, draining the fenland and protecting the town from the sea have been important concerns for centuries.  A network of drains to the north of Boston with the primary function of drainage were made navigable over two hundred years ago.

A lock at Anton’s Gowt is the only way in and out of this system.  It is a couple of miles upstream from the town.  We moored up on the pontoons at the lock entrance and went to look.  The lock is a fairly standard Canal and River Trust style.  It was slightly awkward because the spindles for the paddles are too big for our usual windlass, and also have to be unlocked (with the usual facilities key) before you can start.  A friendly chap from the lock house offered advice and assistance.

The far side of the lock is not standard.  The only way back to the boat is down a ladder fixed to the wall.  Clare complained that I hadn’t photographed her climbing down with a windlass tucked in to her belt. In my defence, I was holding the ladder to make sure that when she reached the bottom there was a boat to step on to.

We set off along Frith Bank Drain which was a narrow channel but easily deep enough for easy travel.  I heard a characteristic peeping and then saw two kingfishers darting ahead of the boat.  Clare was back on deck by the time we reached their new perch, so we both saw them zoom off again one behind the other.

I knew in advance that Cowbridge Lock was going to be different.  Luckily for us the gates were open as we approached, so Clare could drive straight in.  I tied the bow rope to a cleat and clambered out.  The gates were held open by a chain, and had to be closed by using your own pole (or boat hook).  With that sorted I went to operate the guillotine at the other end.  This was the first time I’d met a hand cranked one of these.  The counterweight made it easier to lift than lower – a safety feature of sorts.

I wound the gate back down again and got back on the boat.  It was only a few boat lengths to the next bridge, but before we got there we could see something across the water.  That was when I saw the notice on the wall warning that there were weed booms under all the bridges.  There was a phone number, but it was nearly 5pm and I was starting to feel a little anxious.

Our target had been another silver propellor location under the windmill.  Although it was disappointing not to get there by boat, we’d had most of the adventure already, and that is what I see as the point of it.  We opted to turn back, but then realised that turning might be difficult too.

Reversing back under the guillotine seemed the best option.  I still had to climb up on to the concrete wall and go all the way round the lock.  When I started to open the guillotine, the boat was pulled in strange directions, and the bow thrusters seemed to be clogged with weed.  Clare did very well at getting back in to the lock, and keeping her cool despite getting confusing and anxious input from me.

After that it was an easy return to Anton’s Gowt and through the lock to a pleasant mooring.  The friendly chap at the lock house spoke to us again this morning.  He reckons we could have driven over the weed boom as long as we were careful to use a pole or similar to keep it out of the propellor.  I think the skeg would protect the propellor, we might need to be careful about the rudder though.  We’ve decided not to take him up on the suggestion to go and try it again today.