st ives bridge cambridgeshire – credit: fox narrowboat
Nav Data | March to St Ives Bridge: 52 miles, 6 locks, 15hrs cruising
As the days shorten and Autumn approaches, you may want to consider a 7 – 10 day cruise for the perfect escape.
You could choose to visit the Lodes and travel up to visit the stunning nature Reserve at Wicken Fen.
wicken fen visitors centre – credit: fox narrowboats
However, why not branch off from the main route, West onto the Great Ouse for a leisurely journey of 19 miles and with only two locks to negotiate, from Pope’s Corner to St. Ives.
Popes Corner
See our waterways map for full route information
From Pope’s Corner, bearing right towards Earith, you will find yourself joining a section of the Ouse known as the Old West River, a curious name for a river which flows eastwards.
On route, look out for Stretham Old Engine, a restored land drainage pumping station open to the public on certain days.
A great stop for refreshments is The Crown Pub in Earith.
Although mooring is currently not available here, you can take advantage of a 48 hour free public mooring on the frontage at nearby West View Marina.
St Ives
St Ives, (not to be confused with its Cornish counterpart), is famed for its 15th century chapel bridge, one of only four in England. St Ives has also historically been the home of some of the biggest markets in the country, with its Monday market still a central feature of the town centre.
St Ives Lock introduces two features, it is interesting to explore if you aren’t familiar with them.
Firstly, it is fitted with a guillotine bottom gate if you haven’t been on the Nene this could be your first self operated guillotine – now electric and operated by EA key which reduces the possibility of hand injuries. At the top there are conventional mitre gates. Secondly the lock chamber is an irregular shape, having been widened on one side for part of its length to increase the number of boats that can fit.
At busy times it’s common for a selection of cruisers, narrowboats other small craft and the odd widebeam to find themselves sharing the space.
St Ives’ most unusual historic building is a delight to see – the chapel that stands on the middle of the partly Mediaeval town bridge. There are just four bridges in the country that share this feature (the others being at Bradford-on-Avon, Rotherham and Wakefield), with st Ives being the only one you can cruise through. The building has also at other times been a doctor’s surgery, a toll-house, an inn and even a brothel.
St Ives Chapel Jo Edkins (inside) Rob Noble CC-BY-SA-2.0
But there’s much more to St Ives, with its attractive riverfront, intriguing museum, historic parish church (which had the misfortune to lose its spire to a direct impact from a WW1 aeroplane in 1918) and useful shops, pubs and restaurants. The Norris Museum is a small but fascinating free museum unveils the story of Huntingdonshire from ancient times onwards, covering social history, personalities, wartime experiences, archaeology, science and technology, art, costume and transport. See the Norris Museum facebook page for upcoming events in September.
copyright – norris museum cambridgeshire
A great place to linger although if you’ve made good time, you can always consider cruising on a further 11 miles to Huntingdon.
Fox Narrowboat Holiday
To visit St Ives you can take a Fox Narrowboat holiday from March. We suggest 10 nights or more to take in a good number of sights and comfortable cruising time.
