Day 82 we moved on from St Ives passing through Brampton which seemed very nice so might stop here on the way back

On the way we overtook another narrowboat which was going very slowly, it would have been slow for a canal. We went through a couple of locks with a fibreglass (known as plastic) boat very “brave” of them; at a previous lock J had had a lecture from a plastic owners about how terrible narrow boats are for the river (apparently we wreck all the river edges by winding – I’ve yet to see any narrow boat on the river touch the banks but have seen huge wash from a number of plastic boats). We had a long wait, hanging in the water, for some road works where a new bridge is being built across the river; nowhere to moor so a good job there is next to no flow and little wind. We had an abortive attempt to moor just below the next lock but couldn’t get in so went through with a really tiny boat J was frightened of squashing them. The guys on board told us about Bedford festival happening at the weekend which made us change our plans. A quietish mooring complete with Buddleia bush covered in Peacock butterflies

Day 83 So, having decided going to Bedford is no longer on the cards we decided to go to St Neots and do some tourist things. A short run into town, passing a working watermill on the way

and a convenient pontoon mooring then a trip to Cambridge. J wanted to see Gormley exhibition and needs to replace her ancient Nexus 10 which has finally died ;-( Cambridge very busy as you might expect on a weekend. thought about going on a punt trip but decided we didn’t want to wait a couple of hours.

Boat really quite hot on return, wedding reception going on in building next to mooring, “acquired” a number of faux diamonds by way of the side hatches, activity stopped when it elicited no reaction.

Day 84 and we decided to catch the bus to Bedford to see the river festival – really hot and also a carnival parade in town meaning the bus was on a diverted route so we had a longer than expected walk. Watched the boat parades and had a bit of a wander to see the layout for when we eventually get to Bedford in the boat, encouraged by the number of 60ft boats there. Boat roasting (38C) on return and little breeze to cool it down.