Thursday 20 July St Ives to Earith and the Crown moorings

Thursday 20 July St Ives to Earith and the Crown moorings

Clouds and rain drenched us both as we popped for Rachel's Birthday card in St Ives. John watched a Game of Thrones episode while Liana read.

Late morning, the sun peeped out and we set off past L.H. Jones Boat Haven and the car, through St Ives Lock and under the guided bus bridge.

Holywell moorings

Old Ferryboat Inn, Holywell

Holywell village has short but good moorings (full, sadly) and looks beautiful with chocolate box thatched cottages.

There are GOBA moorings close by and two more in the next two miles to the busy Riverside Marina and the Pike & Eel Inn.

Riverside Marine and Leisure

Pike & Eel Inn

After a pleasant if cloudy and windy six miles through the fens to the tidal Brownshill Staunch (actually a pound lock with two guillotine gates and sluices beside), the couple of miles to Earith saw the sun come out. Unusually, we saw a Cormorant drying its wings by the riverside, not high on a branch.

Brownshill Staunch Lock and gravel conveyor

cormorant, swans, heron

Passing the full EA moorings, we visited the lock and organised our trip down the tidal New Bedford River / One Hundred Foot Drain for tomorrow. The River View Inn is now a B&B, with excellent moorings that we think they charge for. Returning to the solid steel mooring pontoon at the Crown pub, we had a walk to the Marina and checked out the water and pump out at the EA pontoon there, before eating a cracking steak pie and superb thick gravy at the pub: Shame they only did chips and frozen peas with it, it deserved new potatoes and the trimmings. Back to watch TV and read. Somehow, the blood and gore of Game of Thrones doesn't turn my stomach: I must be made of strong stuff!