Canal Boat — February 2018

WELLINGBOROUGH

5 MILES / 6 LOCKS 3 6 MILES / 7 LOCKS

COGENHOE

4

W

e often begin these guides

with a potted history of

the waterway – and this

tends to revolve around

the navigation’s freight-carrying origins

and commercial heyday, and perhaps its

restoration from dereliction by the

leisure-driven waterways revival.

However in the case of the River Nene,

the history of the waterway and its

legacy today have often been shaped not

so much by these movements as by the

efforts to control its occasional tendency

to flood the surrounding land.

Having said that, the opening of the

navigation from Peterborough to

Northampton in 1761 was to satisfy a

freight-carrying need. Coal from north

east England, shipped down the coast to

the Wash, could be brought up the river.

But income never lived up to the hopes,

and by the early 19th century the Nene

was already in poor condition.

In 1815 the Northampton Arm of the

(then) Grand Junction Canal brought in

a little more trade – but soon, damage by

the canal boats (unsuited to the river’s

locks) led to a ban on through traffic.

Small wonder that soon after a parallel

railway opened in 1845, the navigation

was “in a most wretched state”.

But already the seeds of its revival

had been sown: the lower tidal reaches

were bypassed by a straight channel as

part of the ongoing reclamation of the

fenlands, while an 1852 Act of Parliament

set up a new body to control the river for

drainage and navigation. By 1909 the

locks were only being maintained at all

so that a dredger could pass, because

the river needed to be dredged for its

land drainage function – but it was still

open for what little trade remained.

By 1930 it was “in unparalleled decay

and dilapidation” but a new Nene

Catchment Board set to work, rebuilt the

locks, and put it in good order. Again

this was for flood control reasons, but it

did result in some freight returning, and

it’s this work that we have to thank for

the Nene still being navigable today. And

it’s those 1930s works which give the

navigation structures their character.

But that’s really just the locks. Don’t

get the impression that the Nene is

about straight, wide, flood relief

channels. That couldn’t be further from

the truth, as mile after mile of glorious,

natural rural river winds its way through

the countryside from Northampton

down to the Fens. And don’t be put off

by fear of it flooding, either: it’s no more

likely than most other river navigations.

The Northampton Arm of the Grand

Union, the all-important link from the

national network to the Fenlands, ends

at a junction with the River Nene just

above Northampton town centre. Those

keen on exploration can turn sharp left

and try the short Westbridge Arm, but

the through route lies to the right,

passing under a striking modern

footbridge (painted in the colours of the

local rugby club) to reach the first lock.

The lock cut is to the left, there’s a new

development under way on the right

bank of the weir stream, and between

them is Northampton Marina: you can

buy an Environment Agency River Nene

key here, which you’ll need for the locks.

Northampton Lock lowers boats into

an attractive length running through

Beckets Park, with space to moor,

explore the town, and take advantage of

Northampton’s shops. And speaking of

moorings, these can be sparse on parts

of the river: there are a small number of

EA moorings, some ‘unofficial’ sites, and

recently the Friends of the River Nene

has begun to create members’ visitor

moorings – do consider joining.

Leaving the town past a series of

watermeadows and backwaters, the

river passes through a further two locks

(keep right for the lock cut) to where a

large sluice gate carries the navigation

through an earth bank and into the

Northampton Washlands.

Created under a 1970s flood relief

scheme, this large area surrounded by

embankments is designed to be flooded

as a way of temporarily holding up to 2.4

billion litres of water, which can then be

released downriver at a controlled rate.

It’s also become an internationally

important wildlife reserve (see inset).

A second sluice gate carries the

Guillotine gate at Weston Favell Lock navigation out of the Washlands to

canalboat.co.uk Canal Boat February 2018 49