Back from Boston to Lincoln again

Having made our way through the drains to Boston by the back route, we retraced our steps on Saturday and moored at the very secure and comfortable moorings on the River Witham at Boston.  This is a few hundred yards above the 'Grand Sluice' that lets boats out on to the tidal River Witham and, ultimately, onto the Wash.  On Sunday we cycled to the 'sea' or what passes for seaside here which is a salt marsh looking out onto the Wash.  We saw a couple of ships waiting for the tide to come in to Boston, but did not see any narrowboats heading out for the sea crossing to the Rivers Nene or Ouse.

A couple of the bridges on the Maud Foster Drain are a bit on the low side, depending of course on the water level which can fluctuate.  Here Helen is showing that we only had about 8 inches of clearance on the concrete footbridge.

And here we are on the 'proper' moorings for Boston on the River Witham.  The moorings are secured with a BW key and there are plenty of spaces.  Of the two posts between the trees, the left is the tower of 'Boston Stump' the huge parish church and the right hand one supports the mooring pontoon.

This is the lock through the Grand Sluice.  It is only 41 feet long, but you can still go through with a longer boat when the tide 'makes a level' i.e. it rises to a point where the water is the same level both sides of the lock.

On Saturday afternoon we visited some of the sights in Boston we had not explored.  The Guildhall (free!) is well worth a visit.  It was built in the 1390s and has been continuously in use in the town since.  This picture is of the banqueting hall on the first floor.

The roof beams in the picture above are held up on corbels each individually carved as a mythical creature or person.  I liked this fellow.

On our ride out to the Wash we visited the RSPB bird reserve at Frieston Shore.  Here you can see Avocets and Black Headed Gulls together with one Oyster Catcher.

The Pilgrim Fathers came from Boston and this is the memorial that explains how they were caught in September 1607 fleeing the country to Holland to practice their religion more freely.

We cycled back into Boston from the memorial along the tidal River Witham and this view is taken looking towards Boston up river.











On Monday we climbed up the Stump to see the view.  You are only allowed about half way up the 272 foot Church Tower but in this flat landscape that is plenty to give you extensive views.  We saw Lincoln Cathedral 30 miles away and across the Wash to Hunstanton.  The picture below is a panorama of three photos looking East to the Market Square.  The church in the trees to the left is the Methodist Church.

This view of the Grand Sluice is taken from the Stump.  The lock is to the right under the right hand rail girder bridge.  Leo is moored in the distance on the right, though mainly obscured by a red narrowboat called 'Bowland'.








On Monday afternoon we set off back up the river towards Lincoln.  On the way we planned to turn off at Chapel Hill to explore the 7 navigable miles of the Slea Navigation, also known as Kyme Eau.  You would think that 'Eau' would be pronounced like the French for water, but in fact the locals call this waterway Kyme 'You'.  Anyway we tried this waterway but only got 100 yards:

Having turned off the River you approach a pair of flood gates and squeeze through onto the waterway.  You can see the gates under the bridge.  As with the drains this waterway is primarily for drainage not for navigation and, at this time of year the  weed growth is prolific.

Through the gates this is what you meet!  Not surprisingly this green mess coils around the prop and very soon Ian could not steer the boat at all and it was heading, albeit agonisingly slowly, towards the left bank.

Good stuff this weed.  Poor Leo's engine was complaining though she did not actually stall.  When we turned the engine off and delved into the weed hatch it was quite a mess.  There is supposed to be a gap between propellor and rudder.  Well there wasn't!  It was full of neatly coiled, immensely strong, threads of green rope.  A kitchen knife was necessary to remove this.

There was no point turning the engine back on while in the weed as it would only happen again.  So, after some attempts and a cup of tea (see the cup), we poled Leo back like reverse punting for 100 yards to go backwards through the flood gates again.  While this picture looks like we are going forward, we are not.  The depth of water and mud is such that our pole (about 10-12 feet long) was buried to leave just a couple of feet sticking out of the water, so pushing the boat with the pole required quite a lot of bending.


After a couple of hours travelling 200 yards we decided we would not try the Kyme Eau after all and moored at Dog Dyke where the Packet Inn fed and relaxed us.  This waterway is probably OK earlier in the year before the weed grows so much.  We have spoken to people that have gone this way.  The weed here grows fast at this time of year.  We have noticed coming back that the weed at the sides of the wide river are twice as wide as they were a week ago and we have been cruising around floating islands of weed today.

On Tuesday we visited the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight at RAF Coningsby.  There 6 Spitfires, 2 Hurricanes, a Lancaster and a Dakota are kept in flying condition and flown frequently during the summer.

Forget about 'Langrick' for a minute and also which country you are in.  Obviously Boston in the US is named after the Lincolnshire town, but New York is a tiny village we cycled through.

Very recently the Lancaster seen here had a serious engine fire but fortunately landed safely.  The engineers are working on her and hope to have her flying again by September.  She is one of only two flying Lancasters left.

As you can see RAF Flight engineers can turn their hands to anything!

This is a Mark 2 Spitfire which is the only one left still flying that also flew in the Battle of Britain in 1940.  Our guide in the hanger was a mine of information and a tremendous enthusiast for the planes.

Some of our AWACS early warning planes are based at Coningsby and we saw one of them flying.  Prepare to bring your earplugs though if you visit as Typhoons and Tornadoes taking off make quite a noise.









We moored last night at Southrey which has a delightful little wooden church.  This too looks like something  you might meet in the backwoods of the US.

The church was built in 1898 by the village carpenter and still stands.  It is beautifully kept and cherished by the local community.

This stained glass window was added in 2011 and records the war dead from the village.












Today we visited Bardney Abbey on our way to our present mooring just to the East of Lincoln.  There was a greater concentration of Abbeys and Priories here than anywhere else in the country.

Though Bardney Abbey has little stonework above ground it has some fine information boards and audio points (the post just to the right of Helen is one) which enable you to understand the layout.  This wooden monk (the one on the left) welcomes you to the site, a mile from the village.

Though the site was excavated as recently as 2011 (as well as a century earlier) the stones were covered over again to protect them.  However the mounds show what you are looking at.  Here we are looking up the Nave with mounds representing the columns.

We even met a lock this afternoon, a rare occurrence on these waters.  Here Leo is waiting for  Bardney Lock lifting us about five feet above sea level.

The top gates of Bardney Lock leak a great deal.  This makes the water in the lock quite choppy.



















So we are heading back now up the River Witham and the Foss Dyke and will have our third session on the tidal River Trent at the weekend.  Once up to Cromwell Lock near Newark we will be off the tide until later in the summer and our next towns to visit will be Newark and Nottingham.