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Monday 8 August 2011

Plodding on the Middle Level 8/8/11

We arrived at the boat yesterday early evening and after unloading the car headed into March for something to eat at Wetherspoons. The one in March use to be the old Hippodrome cinema and like most old buildings that Wetherspoons have taken over has been very tastefully converted.

DSCF6293This morning we woke to a glorious,sunny day and after filling with water and walking the dog we backed out of our slot across the cut. By now it was quarter to ten and the wind had started to freshen, Diana said “which way are we going” as I crossed the cut the westerly wind caught the bow and we were heading for March. Through the first of many flat bridges, nothing like the nice brick ones on the canals, just a concrete deck on steel beams straight between the top of the banks. On out left we passed Botany Bay, It didn’t look much of a bay, just like the rest of the farm land around these parts.

DSCF6296We didn’t see any potatoes being grown, just corn and sugar beet, but them must grow an awful lot by the size of the stacks of potato boxes that we have passed.

As we approached the town of March we passed DSCF6300the “Middle Level Commissioners” new headquarters with about 300 feet of nice mooring outside, the only thing to spoil it was the “No Mooring” signs. This is not a bad project for an organisation that claims its strapped for cash.

DSCF6302Just after you go under the road bridge with a sign welcoming you to March you pass the “Middle Level DSCF6306Watermen's Club” They are members of AWCC so should offer reciprocal hospitality.

 

There have been some new moorings installed in March since we last passed this way. They are to the west of the town at a place called “Little London” just before the foot bridge. They are long enough for two Narrowboats and crossing the foot bridge soon brings you to Boots the Chemist, a nice Fish and Chip shop (we bought lunch there) and Lidl, its also handy for Wetherspoons, probably closer than the “Town Moorings” .

After lunch we continued on our way. There were only 3 boats on the Town Mooring and we did wonder about returning for the nigh, but if we did we would had to gone back a long way to wind.
DSCF6309There are lots of private moorings on the left as you make your way out of town, lots without any boats on them, but some may well be out cruising.

As we left the shelter of the town we found the wind had

freshened and had probably almost reached gale force, well there is a very good reason for all the wind turbines they have
erected in this part of the world. On the left hand bank someone DSCF6310DSCF6311  has a collection of military equipment including a field gun. Once we passed the Twenty Foot river we started to look for somewhere to moor as not only was it blowing a DSCF6315gale, the sky’s were dark and it was threatening with rain. We passed one likely looking spot but it was right opposite the wind turbines and I don’t know how noisy they would be in the quiet of night. We pushed on and turned right into Popham Eau heading for Three Holes, by now the wind was full on our stern and the threatened rain started, luckily it didn’t last long, as we approached the first bridge I spotted a landing stage on the left hand side, I think this is probably the DSCF6317property of MLC  and we are probably not suppose to use it, anyway I winded Harnser before we reached it and ran down onto it backwards so that we were bow to wind and we have moored with our bows against it, with the stern just clear of the bridge.

Since we have been moored up we have had several aircraft fly over us, some high, some low, sum fast and some slow, but all noisy.DSCF6316

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