Burwell Village and chats to locals and then to Ely aboard The Lady on a sunny day for Wimbledon’s start which is the warmest yet
Another glorious day – as warm as we have yet experienced this voyage. After breakfast of tomato juice, tea and toast, we walk around the Burwell village loop. The village is turning its face away from the Lode these days. Two shops (we later established as Butcher and Baker) have closed and been turned back into houses. We come by the newsagents for a paper and then two supermarkets and, fully provisioned, we call at the recreation ground on the way back to The Lady. There to talk to the Parish chairman drawn by concern over a swarming honey-bees’ nest in the children’s playground. He told us about the place, having lived by the bridge until recently when it was sold to be developed as new houses.
He kept shop in the village for 35 years – I think as a butcher but is now retired and now sits on the parish council as chairman of the recreation committee. The recreation ground used to accommodate cricket but now has 2/3 football pitches in the winter. The tennis courts are not so heavily used now that the Village College has its own courts and they have to be booked. The elm trees surrounding the park, planted when the grounds were laid out after the war, having survived so long the Dutch Elm disease, have now died. Back to the swing bridge left down by the AWA contractors. Having set off in search of a bridge keeper, we find the nearest house not able to help but fall to talking about the magnificent geese they keep. Bred originally from two Ebden given by a local trust, they number up to twenty. The fellow and his German wife are quite sentimental and will not eat them and their son, Hans, was quite put out when six chicks were sent to a local farm. Back to the boat and we hail a passing AWA tipper truck driver to raise the bridge. Lock back through Upware and cruise to Ely. On the way the boat engine overheats more than ever and we stall while I study the manuals, disconnecting hoses and trying to fathom how the cooling system works. Eventually, I chance on the revelation that for four years we did not know we had an inlet water filter and it was choked solid! On to Ely and we moor without difficulty as the river is extremely quiet. I spend a content evening first turning out the boat lockers (where I am most interested by what I find) and then to The Cutter riverside pub. We are joined by our plot neighbours who cruise in. They are trying to sell their plot to Roger and Muriel. To bed a little late with more forecasts of the weather fine and dry. This day Wimbledon started and ACAS intervened to ensure TV coverage continued whilst they talked. The PM crowing over a European budget settlement as a victory but we are still a net contributor. NOP poll reports a majority of the electorate for a referendum on proportional representation.