Canal Boat — February 2018

THE CRUISE GUIDE

River Nene

10

WATERSIDE

PUBS

Canal Boat’s pick of watering holes on the

River Nene

Pomfret Arms Cotton End Northampton

01604 555119. Just south of town bridge.

Lively town pub, brews its own real ale on site,

live music, traditional pub games and garden

Old White Hart Cotton End,

Northampton. 01604 709990. 5 mins

south of town bridge. Family-friendly Victorian red

brick town pub with local real ale, food, garden

Billing Mill The Causeway, Billing. 01604

415059. Below Billing Lock. Large family
        friendly pub in old mill by Billing Aquadrome. Real
        ale, affordable food, garden, play area

Saxon Tavern The Square, Earls Barton.

07956 462352. 20 mins north of White

Mills Lock, turn right to stay on Station Road.

Micropub opened recently in former Magic Circle

HQ, local real ale and bar games

Old House Sheep Street, Wellingborough.

10 mins north of town moorings. Newly

reopened mediaeval thatched inn serving local

real ales and lunchtime sandwiches

Woolpack Islip. 01832 732578. Riverside

near the bridge. 16th century traditional inn

with real ale, food and garden

King’s Head Wadenhoe. 01832 720024.

Riverside above Wadenhoe Lock. 17th

century inn with real ale, food with frequently

changing menu, garden, mooring for patrons

Falcon Main Street, Fotheringhay. 01832

226254. 5 mins west of bridge. Community
        local, real ale, garden, restaurant and bar food

Charters Peterborough. 01733 315700.

Upstream of town bridge. Floating pub in

1907 Dutch barge. Real ale, oriental restaurant

plus bar meals, live music weekends, moorings

Dog in a Doublet, Whittlesey. 01733

202256. By Dog in a Doublet Lock. Remote
        (reputedly haunted) 200-year-old pub restaurant
        with real ale and garden. Open early for breakfast

Pub details are likely to change at short notice:

you are advised to phone ahead to be sure

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10

WELLINGBOROUGH

5 13 MILES / 8 LOCKS

reach Weston Favell Lock which, like most

of the locks from here on, bears the

hallmarks of the 1930s rebuilding in the

form of the lower guillotine gate.

Installed to enable the locks to be used

as extra sluices to get rid of floodwater,

these used to be talked of in hushed tones

by boaters, on account of the 100-plus

turns to wind them up and down by hand.

Today, all bar a handful are converted to

electric power. Do remember to follow the

instructions and leave guillotine locks

empty with the gate raised.

The surroundings are becoming more

rural but we’re not yet free of the environs

of Northampton. As the river descends a

couple more locks, a large caravan and

chalet park on the left is followed by

Billing Aquadrome, based in former gravel

quarries and combining a marina, shops

and some useful boater facilities.

Beyond Billing, the Nene heads out into

the first real countryside, and a stretch

typical of much of the river – a pleasant,

rather narrow, meandering channel amid

quiet countryside interspersed with lakes

left over from earlier gravel extraction

(plus the odd active quarry). Villages are

set back from the floodplain, but it isn’t a

long walk to Cogenhoe, Earls Barton or

Great Doddington.

For those on foot, the Nene Way follows

the banks for much of the route, with

diversions away from the river at times.

It isn’t always very clearly signposted, so

the downloadable maps can be helpful.

A marina has been developed by White

Mills Lock (overnight moorings for a small

fee). Earls Barton Lock is accompanied by

a former mill, whose predecessor dated

back to mediaeval times and is said to

have been used as a hiding place by

Leaving White Mills Lock

Whitworth’a flour mill at Wellingborough

Attractive moorings at Ringstead

50 February 2018 Canal Boat canalboat.co.uk