Canal Boat — February 2018

It is said that its full name is Wansford-
in-England, and that the origin relates to a
fellow who fell asleep on a haycock, which
was carried away down river by a sudden
flood. That’s about all that the various
versions seem to have in common – but
they tend to end with either the chap
waking up among strangers and
wondering where he was, or the strangers
wondering where he was from. “Wansford”.
“Wansford where?” (The two things that
ring true about the story are that the
river’s flooding needed watching even
then, and that Defoe spelt its name ‘Nyne’,
in case we were short of alternatives.)
We mentioned the lack of mainline
railways, but at Wansford the river meets a
heritage line. The Nene Valley Railway (see
inset) has revived the length from Yarwell
to Peterborough – and if you time it right,
you can get a good ‘canal boat plus steam
loco’ photo as the train pulls out past the
signal box on the end of the bridge.
The Nene’s character has now changed:
the hills have receded, locks are less
frequent, its channel has widened, and it
flows between watermeadows. On the
south side it is bordered by Nene Park,
four square miles of meadows, woods,
lakes and footpaths, with visitor moorings
in a lake connected to the river.
At Orton is the final lock on the non-tidal

river. Increasingly wooded banks and a

narrow strip of meadow on each side hide

the fact that we are approaching the city of

Peterborough, whose centre is marked by

railway and road bridges. Note the

300-year-old former custom house

building by the north end of the road

bridge, at the start of the embankment,

which provides space to tie up and visit

the city.

Meanwhile on the south side, a couple of

things worth looking out for are the

floating pub converted from a barge, and a

little further downstream a side channel

disappearing under a railway bridge. For

many boaters this is the objective of their

journey – the entrance to the Middle Level

Navigations, a curious network of drainage

channels leading to the Great Ouse and on

to Ely, Cambridge and Bedford.

But the Nene carries on beyond

Peterborough: five miles of straight, wide

channel dating from the 19th century

improvements leads across the flat fenland

to Dog-in-a-Doublet Lock. It might not be

the most exciting journey, but I can think

of at least three possible reasons to cruise

here: for intrepid and experienced boaters

(in suitable craft) as the first step of a

journey down the tideway and across the

Wash; to take advantage of the pub which

gives the lock its curious name; or simply

to be able to say that you’ve cruised every

inch of the non-tidal reaches of this

9 5 MILES / 1 LOCK 10 DOG IN A DOUBLET

PETERBOROUGH

MIDDLE LEVEL NAVIGATIONS

THE NORTHAMPTON

WASHLANDS along with the

flooded gravel pits of the upper Nene Valley form

one of the most important reserves for wetland

birds in Europe. Many species breed here in

summer or overwinter here, including widgeon,

plover, tufted duck

and crested grebe.

Please keep to the

paths and keep dogs

on leads.

CB

SEE ALSO

Peterborough

Wellingborough

Irthingborough

Northampton

Higham

Ferrers

Denford

Denford

Woodford Thrapston

Thorpe

Waterville

Wadenhoe

Oundle

Fotheringhay

Nassington

Elton

Alwalton

Yarwell

Wansford

Cogenhoe

Earls

Barton

Grand Union Canal

Northampton Arm

Middle Level

Navigations

Tidal Nene

to the Wash

LOCATION: The River

Nene Navigation links the

Northampton Arm of the

Grand Union to the Middle

Level Navigations in

Peterborough, and via the

tidal river to the Wash

DISTANCES:

Northampton to

Wellingborough 11 miles 13

locks, to Oundle 35 miles 27

locks., to Dog in a Doublet

Lock 62 miles 38 locks

Peterborough, with the old custom house standing by the bridge

canalboat.co.uk Canal Boat February 2018 53