River Life

Like these young swans, my brother Les and I spent our youth growing up near a river. Our recent walk along the River Stour to Flatford Mill reminded us both just how much we enjoyed a ramble through grassy meadows alongside gently flowing waters.

This time we started off at Godmanchester Nature Reserve in the valley of the Great Ouse. The nature that I was most interested in were the lovely ripe blackberries growing in the hedgerows; I left these over-ripe ones to the Red Admiral butterflies.

The Great Ouse rises from several springs in Northamptonshire and flows along in a perfectly respectable way, gathering the odd tributary stream here and there, till it reaches Brampton. Then it starts to get unruly, dividing and subdividing into several channels some of which later reunite, only to split off into more channels further downstream. The section pictured above is known as Cook's Stream, but it's all part of the Ouse. By the time they reach St Ives the various streams have settled their differences and flow onwards as one.

We rejoined the main river and could soon look across to Hartford Marina. The lower brick-built gable end is Hartford Mill, which isn't a mill at all, but a pub which serves good value meals. We'd be going there after we'd finished our walk.

But I must put thoughts of steak and ale pies out of my mind and concentrate on the maze of river channels and footpaths leading through this late summer landscape.

The photo above was taken where we rather randomly sat down to enjoy a banana and take a drink from our water-bottles. If you've got very sharp eyes you might be able to make out a Grey Heron on the opposite bank, just left of the centre of the picture.

We'd started off with clear blue skies which clouded over during the morning. This is pretty much the "sweet spot" photographically with a nice distribution of blue and white.

This wide valley was, for a time during the nineteenth century, a favourite haunt of landscape artists as they attempted to capture the fleeting light and seasons. They were particularly attracted to the old tumbledown watermills of which there were many at that time. John Constable's earlier paintings along the Stour must obviously have had an influence on them.

Tastes change however and you seldom see anyone painting along here now. Even photographers mostly prefer the mountains, coasts and woodlands of present-day Britain. But it's still mighty popular with those who like messing about in boats, large and small.

"Pastoral" would still describe much of this landscape.

These rowing boats, which are available for hire, are the first sign that we are very close to Houghton Mill, which these days is a National Trust property open to the public. You have to book in advance, but we can still follow the public right of way which passes straight through the building, by means of an archway.

Some years ago I wrote a blogpost about the oddly named Potto Brown, a former owner of the mill. It gives an insight into the life of a rural entrepreneur and a fascinating character. It was under Potto's management that the mill enjoyed its height of importance, as it was far more efficient than the other more ramshackle mills dotted throughout the valley.

In time Houghton Mill was largely replaced by large steam-powered mills in St Ives and Godmanchester. For a while after that it staggered along making animal feed for local farms, later it was used as a youth hostel. The mill's decline didn't bother our man Potto in the least - he owned the new steam-powered mills as well!

We then turned away from the main river, but still had to cross another loop of the Great Ouse via Black Bridge at Hemingford Abbots.

The riverside villages are very desirable (and expensive) and the road through the village led past many large houses and mansions before taking us out on to Eastside Common.

The old railway that linked Cambridge and Huntingdon once passed through here and you can still follow the course of the old line in places, though to be honest you'd do a lot better to follow the tarmac path!

Take care.