The 1996 Tour Page 7

Tuesday 16^th July we left Fotheringhay at 9.45. We passed Lower Barnwell at 12.05 and stopped at Upper Barnwell Lock between 12.20 and 14.00 to go to “The Mill” restaurant, which was OK. Colin did wack his head on a low beam though! Waddenhoe Lock was passed at 15.25 and we stopped for the night at the new Irthlingborough visitor moorings just above the lock at 17.30. These are slightly remote and are a fair distance from the bridge. That night we ate in.

View of Fotheringhay Church from upstream of the bridge. The posts are for yet more moorings at £2 / night! River Nene.	Approaching Perio Lock, the mill is on the weir stream. River Nene.	Approaching Perio Lock. River Nene.

Passing Tansor. River Nene.	Cotterstock Church, below the bridge. River Nene.	Cotterstock Lock. River Nene.

Cotterstock Lock. Julian appears now that Dan has got the guillotine down! River Nene.	Cotterstock Lock. River Nene.	Leaving Cotterstock Lock. The main channel and weir is straight on. River Nene.

North Bridge at Oundle. River Nene.	The new A605 Oundle by-pass bridge. This follows the track bed of the Nene Valley Railway. River Nene.	Oundle keeps it's distance from the river. River Nene.

Approach to Ashton Lock. The weir streams are to the left. River Nene.	Coming in to Ashton Lock. Colin gets ready to lasso the bollard. River Nene.	Coming in to Ashton Lock. Colin lassos the bollard. River Nene.

The weir stream with excellent moorings to the left and upstream of Ashton Lock. River Nene.	Another weir stream to the right above Ashton Lock. River Nene.	The A605 bridge below Oundle. This actually utilises part of the old railway bridge. River Nene.

Approach to Lower Barnwell Lock. River Nene.	Colin demonstrates the "Beatty" auto stop mechanism. 1) get the hooped centre rope round the bollard. (Whoops! naughty, naughty we use the ladder posts!). River Nene.	2) Take up the slack. River Nene.

3) And boing! you spring to a halt. We power into the rope on tick-over to keep boat in position. It is for this reason that the gang plank, pole, boat hook and the front equipment rack has been removed. River Nene.	Lower Barnwell Lock is another electric one. River Nene.	Every single control panel is different. Lower Barnwell Lock. River Nene.

Leaving Lower Barnwell Lock. Julian appears to have lost something! River Nene.	The entrance to Oundle Marina. River Nene.	The old A605 bridge below Upper Barnwell Lock. River Nene.

No! we have not got lost, we are going to the pub! Upper Barnwell Lock. River Nene.	The "Barnwell Mill" pub and restaurant at Upper Barnwell Lock. River Nene.	Leaving Upper Barnwell Lock. River Nene.

Pilton Church and Manor. River Nene.	The secluded approach and bridge before Lilford Lock. River Nene.	Lilford Lock. River Nene.

Lilford Lock. River Nene.	The whirring and a blurring of a Neil attack on the manual guillotine of Lilford Lock. Note that the Nene Abloy key was not needed on this lock, many were broken. River Nene.	Unposed shot of a happy Julian. He has just said "About time to!" to another can of 1664! River Nene.

Multitude of confusing channels above Lilford. River Nene.	daft positioning for bridge above Lilford. River Nene.	Wadenhoe Lock. River Nene.

Wadenhoe Lock. River Nene.	Wadenhoe Lock. River Nene.	Leaving Wadenhoe Lock. Just about to swing into main channel. River Nene.

Wadenhoe Lock. Just swung into main channel. Moorings for "Kings Head" pub to right hand side (Of boat). This appears a nice spot / pub, but as usual we did not have time to stop. River Nene.	Above Wadenhoe Lock. River Nene.	Cratch shot of bridge at Thorpe Waterville. Note Linda's annoying manual burglar alarm. ( it is still annoying us on "Earnest"! - 2000). River Nene.

Approach to Titchmarsh Lock, mill and cruising club. River Nene.	The lower mooring basin and mill at Titchmarsh Lock. River Nene.	The mill and Titchmarsh Lock. River Nene.

Titchmarsh Mill and Lock. River Nene.	Leaving Titchmarsh Lock. River Nene.	Islip lock. River Nene.

Leaving Islip Lock. Main channel and mill is straight back. River Nene.	Thrapston Bridge. River Nene.	Just passed under Thrapston Bridge. Moorings in backwater to right. River Nene.

Remains of first railway bridge (Old Nene Valley line), just above Thrapston. River Nene.	Thrapston Mill Marina and second abandoned railway bridge. River Nene.	The new A14 bridge. River Nene.

Neil in action yet again at Denford Lock. I thought all the other buggers were meant to be doing this on the way back? River Nene.	The lovely spot of Denford Lock. River Nene.	Leaving Denford Lock. The back water to the right appears navigable. River Nene.

Popping out of yet another abandoned Nene Valley line railway bridge at Woodford Lock. River Nene.	Woodford Lock. River Nene.	Looking back from Woodford Lock. River Nene.

Looking back from Woodford Lock. River Nene.	Moorings up backwater just above Woodford Lock. River Nene.	Yet another crossing by the abandoned Nene Valley railway line. River Nene.

Approach to Lower Ringstead Lock. Navigation channel to left. River Nene.	Leaving Lower Ringstead Lock. River Nene.	Approaches to Upper Ringstead Lock. Navigation channel swings round to the right. River Nene.

Upper Ringstead Lock. River Nene.	Upper Ringstead Lock. River Nene.	Leaving Upper Ringstead Lock. River Nene.

Approach to Irthlingborough Lock, by the water activity centre. River Nene.	Irthlingborough Lock. This appeared one of the deepest River Nene locks. River Nene.	Irthlingborough Lock. Remote town moorings just up on the right. River Nene.

Irthlingborough Lock. "Beatty" gets a bubble bath. River Nene.	Irthlingborough Lock. One gate paddle going full tilt! River Nene.