And old post (late 1990's) from the days before blogging, which I was reminded of recently, largely due to similarities between my canoe building (then) and my pastry making (now).
Tired of Grade V? Cape Horn a bore? All surfed out? Then revive your spirits with a day on the Great Ouse among the lunatic fringe of flatwater potterers. Conditions have to be just right; tee-shirt weather but not too much sun, a nice breeze to keep the flies away, and reasonable water levels.
A study of the OS map revealed an interesting area around the Hemingfords, between St. Ives and Huntingdon. Here there was at least two main channels marked, and several smaller ones, giving a choice of routes and a nice circular journey rather than just paddling up and back. I found a good place to launch at Hemingford Abbots, near a bailey bridge marked 'Black Bridge' on the map. My canoe is a Canadian stitch and glue job, badly self made to a Dennis Davies design. For expedition work like this I attach a painter to the bow and take a spare paddle.
Push off into lanquid brown water with lots of tree reflections, floating leaves and small birds singing. Great! Turned left (upstream) and paddled past some nice houses on the left and meadows on the right. The stream soon swung right and a narrow choked channel appeared on the left. Canoeists of my calibre like to live fairly close to the edge, so left it was, the stream soon widening into a large shallow lagoon beneath a weir coming off the main river.
Potential danger in the form of a family of swans was avoided by going nowhere near them. Dragged the boat up to the main river and answered a call of nature (not exactly simultaneously). There were cruisers moored opposite and what looked like a marina further up, so I was clearly back in the civilized world. Had a bite to eat and then set off downstream with the breeze at my back. The last sentence just about sums up my whole canoeing philosophy. This stretch was obviously the 'main road' as opposed to the 'country lane' I had just left, with the banks cleaner and better kept.
I soon got down to Houghton Mill, where what in Cambridge would be a punt ramp made for a very easy portage down to the lower river. Had a look at the Mill, which would have been better with more water coming through, and chatted to a couple of anglers ('Did you make that boat yourself?' - thinks 'You couldn't buy one as badly made as that').
A nasty looking black cloud with accompanying gusts of wind made paddling far too dangerous and reckless for a while, so I pulled into the bank and had another snack. Opposite this bivouac point, a small side stream with a decided current ran off into a green wall of vegetation. The lure of the unknown proved too much, and as soon as the sun came out again I nosed into a narrow channel between tall cylindrical reeds.
This ran down to a small weir with some old trestle stuctures below it, the main river higher up to the right, and another feeder to my side stream coming off that.
I thought about shooting the weir but remembered in time that solo expeditions have a rigorous code of self discipline all of their own. Instead I got involved in a Portage from Hell, going up to main river (nettles) only to find that the other channel onto the side stream had its own weir (this should have been obvious). Portaged back again (more nettles) and managed to scramble in below the first weir. Across the weir pool, through the trestle structure (old bridge?), and onto the side stream again.
The next few minutes severly overloaded the senses as with a tail wind and the good current I followed the stream as it wound through pools of lilies and water crowfoot, alternating with faster narrower passages through the reeds. These latter channels were a neat boat width and this must be a regular canoe run for the locals. The necessary flavouring of danger was provided (again) by a family of swans which hissed at me as I drifted past trying to look like part of the boat.
All too soon this idyll came to an end and the sidestream entered the main river again. I now had to pay the price of my 'downhill' run, and turning right started upstream against the wind. A side channel opened up on the left, leading to the other branch of the river and hopefully some shelter from the wind as there were more trees there. This channel ended in a former (or flood times only) weir pool, with the banks of the main river some way away. Some scouting on the bank revealed a further pool, nearer to the upper river and hidden behind a bed of reeds. I returned to the canoe and bashed my way through the reeds into a scene from Louisiana; a shallow lagoon/swamp full of rotting branches and choked with reeds around the edges.
I finally managed to pull out beneath an old willow, and from there it was a short carry to the upper river. This was the 'main road' again, with Hemingford Grey church a short way upstream and a lock with cruisers below me. On upstream and another snack at a point where I could get the best view of the church, which was fully up to expectations.
From here there was more shelter from the wind and I plodded on, taking the right channel where the rivers split, and then left onto a cross channel to bring me back to the stretch of water I had launched onto. By now I had aching shoulders and that 'last long mile' feeling and the last few hundred yards to my starting point brought little pleasure.
But thats how all good expeditions end.
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