The Great Ouse

CX54WEK

CX54WEK

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As Naughty-Cal is out of the water until the beginning of March we are starting to plan where we would like to cruise next year.

We know we will be going to Wells at the end of May and for our two week summer trip we plan to visit the Great Ouse and a few of it's tributaries.

So I guess the question is has anyone here been and and if so where do you suggest we visit?
 
Gt Ouse

Before moving to the Thames I was based on the East Anglian waterways. The Ouse is a lovely river and divides into various sections. Denver to Ely is fairly flat with typical Fen scenery. The Old West is fairly shallow, then Erith to Bedford very pretty. Plenty of pubs, I would advise joining GOBA who have various moorings and facilities.
Depth could be an issue between the Old West and Bedford.

The other rivers joining the Ouse such as The Lark, Wissey, Brandon Creek, Cam to name a few are again very pretty. The Cam no longer has a recriprical arrangement with the EA which is a shame.

I had the best steak of my life at the Pike and Eel, Nedelingworth in about 1997.

I am sure someone with more recent experience will come along, but my memories from the 90's are very happy ones.

Enjoy
 
It's a great system to visit. There is a very helpful interactive map on the "Jones Boatyard" site at:

http://www.jonesboatyard.co.uk/river-great-ouse-map

What is your daily airdraft and lowest possible airdraft? This may limit where you can go, but plenty of info available on bridge heights, lock heights/width etc. If you can get up to and beyond St Ives the river is beautiful.
 
Normal air draft a bit under 10ft. We can take the nav gear off and get down to a tad under 9ft or we can fold the whole lot down and get the air draft down to 6'5"
 
You will be fine around the Ely Ouse towards Cambridge but if you want to go up the tributaries (Wissey, Little Ouse, Lark) and lodes you will almost certainly need to fold the arch down. If you plan to go up the Great Ouse towards Bedford you will certainly need the arch down.

There is a circular route if you plan to use the 100ft/New Bedford river in one direction. It's quite straightforward but you need to get the tide times right (and have your arch down). Denver lock keeper will advise on times.

Navigation widths and heights are here:

https://www.gov.uk/river-great-ouse-bridge-heights-locks-and-facilities

Heights of course are given at so called "normal" river levels.
 
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Have trailled ours up from Kent 3 times in the last 18 months, Lovely river and Jones boatyard, which we have used on all occasions , good road links and very friendly staff. Have been upstream from here as far as St Neots, moored under the Priory and stopped off along the way at Hemmingford Cock inn good food and real ales , great Sunday lunch, but book ahead, Godmanchester also nice, moor inside lock island or see if space further down on green, good chippie here.

Going down from here stopping at Pike and Eel, evening meal good, as was mext mornings brekkie, then onto the Lazy Otter fo Lunch , although we only draw 2ft 6in with leg down we managed to touch bottom in a couple of places Through Brownhill Staunch and onto Hermitage, watch for seals, long uninspiring run to Ely asmits flat and on this particular cruise lots of weed, watch temp on engine.All that said a lovely river system with very friendly people. We have just bought a 28 footer but will be keeping the smaller one for another year for a bit more exploring here, and our other favourite, The Norfolk Broads.

Join GOBA for 20 quid or so its worth it, some of the moorings can be shallow though.
 
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I'm based on the Gt Ouse in St Neots..... I think we have exchanged posts before.... I'm surprised we haven't been in Wells at the same time before.

Join GOBA!
Buy the Imray guide book.... mainly for the maps and the headroom details.

The tightest squeeze that could be a problem is the bridge at Offord lock. It usually is about 2.5M headroom at summer levels.

Highlights are Ely.... nice small City, a few tourist spots and a good place to restock with food. Some good eateries too. Free pump out.

The tributaries/lodes are interesting and each one has it's own character, but they are reasonably uninhabited areas.
The Five Miles pub is worth a visit, good food and music on a Friday night. From there, Wicken Fen by dinghy is a fun ride out with a visitors centre with walks at the end.

Cambridge - Don't expect much from Cambridge if arriving by river. If you want to visit Cambridge, it is better to do it by bus from St Ives.
The Old West river is worth the effort, but can be shallow in places.... trim the leg up as far as you dare, or fit an old prop.
Pike and Eel... Ferryboat inn - both worth a visit.
St Ives - Jones Boatyard.... for anything and everything boaty....again lots of eateries and generally a cool town to spend a day or two.
Then it's uphill all the way to Bedford if you can get under the bridges..... the final stretch into Bedford will be too low, so in reality Priory Marina is as far as you will go. Many say the stretch above Barford bridge to Bedford is not worth the effort.....?? There isn't much to see or do, and Priory is not the most inspiring marina.

You will need a different windlass (lock winding handle) and an EA electric key. - If we can sort out the logistics, I could probably lend you our spares. You will need them first at Brownshill Lock and then at every lock going upstream. You can buy the windless in Ely, but the key may have to come from the EA at £10.00

I could probably sort you out a nice mooring with facilities in St Neots for a few days if you fancy it. PM me.
 
Thanks all for some great advise so far.

It will be a bit of a whistle stop tour for us as although we will have a couple of weeks off we will also in that time have to get from Lincoln to Boston, across the wash to Kings Lynn and then up the Ouse to Denver and beyond before turning round and coming back. The plan is to buy a seven day licence when we arrive at Denver, I assume we will be able to buy the EA key and windlass at the same time?

I have had a quick look at the GOBA website and yes we will definately be joining for what little it costs and the additional mooring sites it will allow us to use.

Ely is high on the list of places we want to visit.

We had not really considered bringing the dinghy on this trip but might do now you come to mention it. Would also give us chance to have another BBQ on Roger Sand (if the weather is playing nice) on the way back home :)
 
Sadly you will not be able to purchase a windlass at Denver. I'm not sure about a key, but I doubt it. The facilities at Denver are a little bit like a disused bus stop........ on a Sunday!!!

Windlass from the Chandlers in Ely - A short walk up towards town.... closed on Monday (and Sunday too I think)
I think Hermitage Lock sell keys...You will get there before you need a key...... but check first......Closed at lunchtime. Hermitage and Denver are the only manned locks on the system. Denver has a water point, pumpout (if working) and small slipway. Hermitage has free showers..... Whhooooo!!!!
 
Thanks.

I am right in assuming we can get a licence at Denver though?

I know we will need to ring them in advance to arrange passage through the lock.

We won't really need much in the way of facilties. The holding tank will be empty when we arrive and should last us seven days and we will sue the shower and toilet onboard. The only thing we will need is a water point at some point.
 
I would expect you can get a licence at Denver, I have an Ouse licence so have never needed to try!!!
If you don't get one at Denver, you should be able to at Hermatage.

Denver is almost always manned at high tide during the day. Phoning the day before is a good plan just to check there is nothing that could cause you problems and to let them know to expect you. Also phoning as you pass the last bridge is a good plan as they will often have the lock set for you and you can sail straight in.

What is you strategy for coming up the tidal Ouse?
I have done it two different ways. They both have their merits.

Either:-
If you are coming from Wells, set off from Wells 2 hours after HT Wells. Pick up the pilot buoy at the Bulldog tide gauge in the approach to Kings Lynn. At low-ish tide. Wait until 4 meters shows on the gauge and head into KL gently. Use the port side of the river, generally slightly more water at that side. Then just make you way slowly up to Denver. 5-6 knots will see you ride the tide up to Denver. If you find you are running out of water, just turn round and stem the tide for 15 minutes. It will soon catch you up.
This method may see you bump the bottom mud but will clear all the bridges.

Departing from the pontoons at KL. Leave at high tide. Approach the first bridge carefully. As soon as you can squeeze under that bridge head up river at about 12-16 knots. You will have the benefit of lots of water under you, but will need to be watchful at the first few bridges. If you have to wait a few minutes for the levels to drop, so be it. You will arrive at Denver with plenty of water, but against the flow. The danger of this method is obviously that you are on a falling tide on a fast flowing river with loads of mud banks. You do not want to have to stop in this stretch of river... in fact there is absolutely nowhere to stop or moor until the waiting pontoon at Denver, so crack on!!!

The trick with the bends is to look carefully at Google maps - satellite photos. You can see most of the banks and how they lay around the corners. You can't go too far wrong by sticking to the very outside line on the corners. There are some red buoys about half way up that mark some shallows, don't be afraid to pass them quite close, just don't go inside them! Pay close attention to the depth sounder and you can almost 'see' the channel by veering slightly to one side or the other and heading towards the deeper part.

If you are heading from Wells and prefer the second method. Leave 2 hours before HW, head round the inshore route, Brancaster Bay, at about 17-20 knots and you will arrive at the KL pontoons just before HW. Hang off the pontoon until the tide changes and go for it. You will only be there 10-15 minutes.

Obviously at springs and neaps you may have to allow a little leeway with those timings.
 
We were going to leave Kings Lynn about a couple of hours before high tide and have a steady cruise up at 5 knots but I quite like the sound of leaving at high water and motoring on up river on the plane with plenty of water to play with :)

We plan to have a night at Kings Lynn anyway as we really enjoyed it last time we went.

Although, as we arrive at Kings Lynn from Boston at high water, we could just carry on up river all the way to Denver on the same tide.
 
CX54WEK said:
We were going to leave Kings Lynn about a couple of hours before high tide and have a steady cruise up at 5 knots
Click to expand...

Watch the headroom if you try that. The last 3 bridges are very low at high tide.

CX54WEK said:
but I quite like the sound of leaving at high water and motoring on up river on the plane with plenty of water to play with :)

We plan to have a night at Kings Lynn anyway as we really enjoyed it last time we went.

Although, as we arrive at Kings Lynn from Boston at high water, we could just carry on up river all the way to Denver on the same tide.
Click to expand...

Either way....
 
Thanks for that.

Having had a chat about it over the weekend with the OH it looks likely that we will set off from Kings Lynn at high water.

We cruise at a fair bit quicker then your suggested 12-16 knots mind. The slowest we generally cruise at is about 20 knots before the boat starts wanting to drop off the plane. Presumably this will just mean we might have to wait at a few of the bridges until the tide drops a bit for us?
 
Sounds OK.... just watch those bridges...!!!! As you get higher up, there probably isn't enough room to stay on the plane round the corners..... but I'm not familiar with that kind of thing, so I guess you will have to play that by ear.
 
Alpha22 said:
Sounds OK.... just watch those bridges...!!!! As you get higher up, there probably isn't enough room to stay on the plane round the corners..... but I'm not familiar with that kind of thing, so I guess you will have to play that by ear.
Click to expand...

Looking at Google Earth it looks wide enough. We will just have to see when we get there.

Thanks for the great advise so far :)
 
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