Great Barford

Here I am Rune

Distance 8.1 miles

Total 4097 Locks  264 Tunnels

Running total mileage 6,145.2 miles

Another gentle cruise down as far as Great Barford, which I must admit came as a bit of a surprise. Looking at a map of the place it seemed to be in the middle of nowhere so I thought that it would be a quiet mooring for the night. What I didn’t realise is that it is a major swimming place for all of the surrounding villages. Upon arrival there were dozens of kids swimming around the weir and lock and once through the lock, nowhere to moor up since the lock moorings and EA moorings were all taken up with picnics, barbecues, inflatable paddle boards and kayaks. There were dozens of people in the water, swimming and generally enjoying themselves and trying to find what to do with the boat was a bit of a headache. I drifted towards the bridge but it became apparent that trying to go through it would have been a dangerous exercise with so many people in the water, so I drifted to the side onto the GOBA mooring which was a bit of a nightmare to get ashore on from a narrowboat. It was a steep, weed covered embankment that involved a jump to get ashore with a rope. I eventually knocked a single mooring pin in and went to have a late lunch.

As expected once the sun started go behind the shading trees here, the numbers depleted and about 5.30pm I was able to move across onto the EA moorings without too much risk to anyone. We’ll need to go in the morning before the picnickers, swimmers and kayakers come back as the weather forecast for tomorrow is similar to today.