Sorry about the delays in posting.
After leaving Bedford, I got fuel, then returned along the River Great Ouse to St. Neots, where I rang for the service, and then was co-opted to travel to the nearby village of Eaton Secon to ring there. Good times. Moorings in St. Neots are good, beside a wonderful playing field, and lots of gentle activity there. I stayed for an extra day as the wind and rain would have made things difficult. Next, on to St. Ives, where I decided to again take cover from the wind and rain in very protected moorings. The protection allowed me to again explore this historic town, and have a chance to ring there as well. They have several young people, some very skilled, and some learning. Great to see.
Next, back through the tidal section and on towards Ely along the drain. This is really not the most inspiring section of the system, but makes for good ‘thinking time’. I stretched the day to arrive back in Ely, hoping to get a mooring in the marina so I could visit in Liverpool. This worked, but the marina moorings are at hotel prices, so I won’t do that again!
I travelled by train (4.5h) to Liverpool where I met friends Chris and Nick, and stayed on their boat ‘Pendragon’. They are in Salthouse Dock, part of the revitalized and renovated waterfront of Liverpool. These docks saw some 200 ships per week calling to unload raw materials and take away manufactured goods to all parts of the world, and also to facilitate the migration of so many people out of and through the UK to every corner of the world. Although the docks became derelict by the mid-20th century, they have been restored, and now are the focus of convention/tourist/museum/night-life for the city, and this makes the docks a ‘happening place’. We enjoyed the Mersey River Festival as last year (see photos, etc from posts in June 2014). I travelled by train back to Ely today, to fetch the boat from the marina and prep for the next part of the wandering adventures in the East Anglian waterways.
