Cycling Cambridge to Lincoln, UK: Cathedrals and Fenlands in East Anglia
16-20 May 2019
We headed out of Cambridge by riding northeast along the River Cam. We were glad to leave the apartment from hell behind.
This nifty bicycle arch commemorated the Cambridge Jubilee Cycleway, which we followed along the River Cam. It’s pretty cool that bicycle paths were part of the celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee. Very royal. Fen Ditton, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Over the next four days and 240 km (150 mi), our path to Lincoln would take us north on national route 11, across the ancient kingdom of East Anglia. Here the cycling trails typically follow canals that, through a major effort of engineering, drain the freshwater of this marshy landscape into the North Sea at a place appropriately called The Wash. But instead of cycling all the way to the coast, we rejoined EuroVelo 12 (national route 1) in St. Germans, swinging towards the northwest across the low-lying farmland.
On this section of our trip we hit the 4,000 km milestone. Yaaaay! That’s almost 2,500 miles. Not too shabby. Newton, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
England’s Everglades
The whole region from Cambridge to the North Sea was once a huge marshland. Some people say it was as enormous and swampy as the Everglades, with very few trees and lots of bogs full of sedges. Large-scale, permanent settlements could only be built on a few, scattered, chalk hills, because they provided dry, stable ground. As a result, the region still has only a handful of large cities. Instead there are vast tracts of agricultural land with a relatively low population density.
Almost all of the marshland was drained and diked in the 17th century, causing a fair amount of controversy and strife. Prior to that, the main source of wealth here was the eel fishery. From the earliest post-Roman settlements until the 1600s, eels were often used as currency in business transactions. Farmers paid their rents to the monasteries in eels, taxes were quantified in terms of thousands of eels, and the monasteries would purchase stone and wood for their church buildings from other regions using payment in eels. In the end, the draining of the marsh destroyed the eel fishery. The water control structures installed on the canals were managed almost exclusively for flood control and drainage, sometimes leaving fishing boats stranded for days or even weeks. Protests were staged, lawsuits were filed, and Parliamentary debates raged, but the agricultural interests that controlled the land had their way.
Cambridge to Ely (16 May 2019, 45 km, 28 mi)
As you would expect in a drained marsh, we cycled through flatlands covered with fields of wheat, barley, and a variety of vegetables that were still too young to identify.
We spotted a new type of game bird today. A pair of Gray Partridges crossed the road in front of us. They were pretty wary, and didn’t let us get too close. Stow cum Quy, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Like other parts of England, the bike trails in East Angelia mostly followed dedicated, off-road paths or one of these single-track roads (with passing places, of course). In the countryside, the English learn to be patient drivers, always having to slow down to a crawl to let other vehicles pass. Swaffham Prior, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Around 15 km into the ride, the levees took us into a series of natural marshlands managed by the National Trust: Burwell Fen, Adventurer’s Fen and Wicken Fen. Adventurer’s Fen is the best known of the three, because it was the setting for a book written about the fen’s wildlife in the early 20th century. The Adventurers in that story were the men and women who drained and farmed the land in the 1600s. But by the 1900s the farms had been abandoned and the marsh was being repopulated by wildlife. Wicken Fen is also well known among ecologists, because it is one of the few places that was never drained. Instead it was used by local communities over the centuries to gather peat and harvest sedges. In the 1820s Charles Darwin collected beetles here, and other Cambridge ecologists have used the area for long term studies.
These days the National Trust manages the fens for wildlife, including the use of highland cattle and wild Konik ponies (from Eastern Europe) to control the grasses growing in the wet prairies. We really enjoyed this stretch of the trail, spotting some of the cattle and ponies, as well as lots of birds.
We’re off to seek adventure in the Fenlands. Burwell, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
In addition to savoring the wildlife viewing, we had our own adventure in the fen when we came to a bridge across one of the drainage canals. The bridge was built high over the water, with very steep stairs on either side. Not sure whether the path really went over that bridge, we waited until another cyclist came along. We watched as he hoisted his bike over his shoulder and trudged over the bridge (note: he wasn’t lugging any panniers). Accepting the fact that our only option was to go up and over, we worked together to carry each bike, one at a time. In the end it wasn’t as hard as we expected. We didn’t even have to remove the panniers.
Grand Cathedrals on the Hills
Approaching Ely, you can’t miss the cathedral. It’s really big, and sits on top of a prominent hill. England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
We arrived in Ely (pronounced “ee-lee”) not long after noon, and checked into a guesthouse. The room was small, but clean and reasonably quiet. The best feature was its location in town, just a couple of blocks from the Ely Cathedral.
East Anglia’s marshy isolation meant that early in its history, the region was attractive to people seeking solitude, especially monks and hermits. A number of the country’s oldest and most powerful monasteries were founded in East Anglia, and they flourished throughout medieval times and the renaissance.
We visited the Ely Cathedral, and took a guided tour of the octagonal East Tower. The tower is unique - there are no others like it in the world. One of its distinctive features is its unusual construction using ancient oak beams. East Anglia didn’t have many trees, so the giant oak beams were imported from Bedfordshire, more than 50 miles (80 km) away. Paid for in eels, of course. You can tell by the great size of the beams that the oak trees must have been very, very old.
We were the only ones on the tour, and it was fun to have the undivided attention of our guide. Up in the tower, we got to peer out from behind one of the wooden door panels with angels painted on them, and to walk around on the roof, at the level of the stained glass “lantern” windows. They’re called lantern windows because they are specifically designed to let in light, to illuminate the altar below.
PedalingGuy, our cathedral tour guide, and me - ready to scale the the octagonal tower. Ely Cathedral, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Out on the roof of the cathedral, we looked eastward across the Fenlands. Ely, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
We always get a kick out of gargoyles. This bunch, decorating the spires on the roof of the Ely Cathedral, looked almost friendly. Ely, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
How many angels can fit in the “lantern” of a cathedral tower? In this case, the answer is 32. Ely, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
In addition to its other treasures, the Ely Cathedral also has a gorgeous, wood-paneled ceiling that was painted in the 19th century. I liked this ceiling, both because it’s somewhat unusual, and it brightens up the entire nave.
After our tour of the tower, we decided that we would go back to the cathedral later for the celebration of Evensong. When we arrived, there was a relatively small audience of perhaps 20 people. We were all able to sit in the choir chairs, along with the choir as they sang their hymns. It was a lovely ceremony.
Ely to Marshland St. James (17 May 2019, 60 km, 37.3 mi)
Today our route roughly followed the New Bedford River. It is an entirely man-made channel, also known as the Hundred Foot Drain because of the great height of its flood-control berms. Off-and-on throughout the day, we rode near the river or out on the fields that it drains.
You never know what you’ll see while cycling on back roads. This ghostly apparition was one of several all-white peacocks strutting around on a farm, near the New Bedford River. Little Downham, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
A little over an hour into our ride, it started to drizzle. Just in time, we happened upon the WWT Welney Wetland Centre (WWT stands for Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust). Awesome. It gave us a chance to stay dry, and spend a little bit of time learning more about the wetlands. The staff were wonderful, and let us park our loaded bikes in their equipment shed, out of the rain. We hung out in the visitors’ center, and checked out the birds that could be seen through their big picture windows.
We didn’t hurry to get back on the trail. A pastry snack and some hot chocolate in the centre’s cafe helped pass the time. When the rain finally died down, we saddled up and hit the road again.
For the rest of the day we biked into a brisk headwind, kicked up by the storms. Our destination was a campground out on the fen, where there wouldn’t be any access to grocery stores. So we stopped for a late lunch at the Crown and Anchor Pub on the banks of the River Great Ouse, in St. Germans. We hadn’t spent much time in small town pubs yet, so it was fun to soak up the ambiance in the dining area, and chat with some of the regulars about what they recommended on the menu. The service was friendly, the portions were large, and the food was delicious. I had the Friday fish and chips special, while PedalingGuy had a chicken and mushroom pie.
The place where we spent the night was not your typical campground. The proprietors keep a couple of Shetland ponies and a flock of Graylag Geese. Nearby were also sheep, chickens, a dog kennel, and a collection of captive raptors including a Peregrine Falcon, a Barn Owl, and an Eurasian Eagle Owl. And on top of all that, the tree that we pitched our tent under turned out to be the favorite calling roost for several very loud Wood Pigeons, who serenaded us late into the evening, and starting again at the crack of dawn. Needless to say, there were lots of interesting noises throughout the night.
This was easily our quirkiest campground so far. Beyond the fence in the background, some neighbors were raising a variety of farm animals as well as keeping several raptors in hutches. Marshland St. James, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
As the sun set, a wild Barn Owl circled over the campground for several minutes, making its screeching, eerie call.
Marshland St. James to Fleet Hargate (18 May 2019, 40.4 km, 25 mi)
Early in the day we passed through the town of West Walton, and came upon a genuine architectural surprise. Right by the side of the road there appeared to be a well-kept cathedral bell tower, with no cathedral attached. This was the first time we’d seen anything like it. But it turns out to be relatively common in this part of England. Over the next few days, we would see a couple more of these stand-alone bell towers.
The bell tower of St. Mary’s Parish Church in West Walton was a bit of a surprise. Built around 1240 AD, the tower architecturally overpowers its church, which is not attached to it. This tower is considered to be a particularly fine example, and it’s design is said to be on par with the Ely Cathedral. West Walton, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Out on the road, north of Wisbech (pronounced wis-beach), we met two other cycling tourists: Gabriel from Italy and Lara from Germany. They had spent the night in Wisbech, and were just getting started on their day. They had originally planned to bike to Scotland, but were not able to figure out a cheap way to get their bikes up north (they said the regional buses won’t take bikes, and the trains are expensive). So they will cycle as far north as they can in the time they have. They needed to get back to Germany at the end of May, so Scotland may be a bit too far up the road for them.
When we reached the campground where we planned to stay, it was barely noon. A steady rain was falling so rather than check-in, we decided to go to a nearby tea room, The Chestnut, for lunch - with hopes that the rain would pass. We both had the asparagus quiche and sides, which was very good. Then, since it was still raining we had hot chocolate. After the hot chocolate it was still raining, so... we had dessert (a banana split and cherry cheesecake). The cheesecake was some of the best we’ve ever had. Thank goodness it stopped raining, because we were totally stuffed and really needed to stop eating.
Back at the campground, the area around the reception building was covered by massive puddles where the gravel road hadn’t drained. But the grassy tent area had drained well, and we were able to get the tent set up without any new rain. The sun even peeked through the clouds for a bit. It looked like our stuff might actually dry out.
But after we cleaned up, we could see the rain clouds moving in again. We decided to do our laundry, and hang out in the laundry room of the campground while it rained some more.
After that we were thirsty, so we headed to the local pub. They don’t serve food, just drink - so drink is what we did. We each had a delicious glass of hard fruit cider, accompanied by potato chips. While we were there, they were getting ready for Saturday Trivia Night, and the tiny pub was filling up fast. We decided to surrender our table to some locals who gave the distinct impression that they show up at the pub on a very regular schedule, and that we were at their table. They were grateful.
A nice evening for a pint at the Rose and Crown pub. Fleet Hargate, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Back at the campground, our tent was still very, very wet when we went to bed. There seems to be little chance that it will dry by morning. Luckily, the tent has been wonderfully rain-proof. So far, it has kept us and our gear completely dry in the rain.
As evening settled in, we were once again beset by Wood Pigeons. This time, there was a row of tall, old trees just on the other side of the massive hedge bordering the tent pitches. Apparently, Wood Pigeons like tall, old trees and big hedges. There seemed to be three or four pigeon nests scattered across the line of trees. And those pigeons can really make a racket. They cooed and coughed loudly into the twilight, and started again well before the sun came up. Around here, that leaves you with only about 4 hrs of quiet during the night. Darn those pigeons.
Our lovely, well-drained campsite as seen during a break in the rain. Too bad about the noisy pigeons in the row of trees behind the hedge. Fleet Hargate, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Fleet Hargate to Lincoln (19 May 2019, 94.4 km, 58.7 mi)
We awoke to a chorus of Wood Pigeons and a few pheasants calling not far away. Perhaps it’s time to say a bit more about Wood Pigeons. They occur all year throughout much of Europe, and breed all over the continent. But they are much more common here, in northern Britain, than anywhere else we have traveled so far. You can’t miss them, they are really big pigeons, being 8 inches longer, and almost 30% bigger than typical pigeons. From a distance, you can easily mistake one sitting in a tree for a hawk, or one out in a field for a partridge. They’re that big. And they have a loud call to go with their big size, which they repeat over and over. And over. They are good looking birds, but incredibly loud. Unfortunately, campgrounds without wood pigeons are almost nonexistent, but would be prized.
And of course, our tent was totally drenched. Nothing dried overnight. PedalingGuy commented that the tent would weigh twice as much today due to all the water he would have to carry with it.
This cemetery and church had an air of mystery in the morning fog. Fleet, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
We passed through the town of Holbeach, and got a quick history lesson from this sign. England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
We covered the kilometers easily today. For 54 km (33 mi), from Boston to Lincoln, we were on the Water Rail Way. This cycle route is almost all flat and traffic-free. It follows the River Witham, on an old railway bed. The name is a play on the words water (for the river) and rail (for the railroad), but also a bird native to the fens called the Water Rail. Cute.
All along the trail are works of commissioned art. We enjoyed seeing statues of animals found in the area, including sheep, cows, pigs and fish. Other art evoked trees, leaves, and barley.
All along the trail are works of art. We enjoyed seeing statues of animals found in the area, including these Lincoln Longwool Sheep. Stixwould and Woodhall, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
The River Witham, like the River Bedford, is now basically a giant drainage ditch. The original, meandering river was channelized in the 1700s, and served as the main artery for water being drained from the surrounding fenlands. Several signs along the route extoll the many economic and social benefits that came from converting the marshland to agriculture, and improving navigation on the river through the straightening of the channel. This was an interesting contrast to signs we had seen in the fens further south, that were more ambiguous about the balance of benefits from before and after the era when the marshes were drained. One sign had even disparaged the draining of the fenlands as “the greatest ecological catastrophe ever in England.” It’s pretty clear that there were both winners and losers as a result of these massive changes.
Just outside of Chapel Hill we met two other touring cyclists, Mark and Siubhan (pronounced “shivonne”). They were on light bikes, with small packs, doing a short tour around south-central England. But they told us they have Surly Long Haul Disk Trucker bikes at home, which they’ve used for long-distance trips (see @wondering_about on instagram). They spent several months last year biking from Vietnam to Singapore, and loved it. They’re planning another trip starting in South Korea, and biking down through Japan. As we talked, it became clear that we use a lot of the same equipment. We swapped tips about handlebars, bike pedals, steer stoppers, and other bike components. We really enjoyed visiting with them. (A couple of weeks later, we learned that Mark had a bike accident and hurt his hip and pelvis. Ouch! We wish him a speedy recovery.)
We had planned to bike only 56 km to a campground near Chapel Hill. But we got there really early in the day. When we checked out the campground, it was uninspiring. Just a patch of lawn next to one of the drainage berms, surrounded by a tall hedge. It didn’t look like the kind of place we would like to spend a long afternoon, especially since there were no other services in the area. So we decided to ride the remaining 35 km to the city of Lincoln. At least then we would be able to dry out in a hotel room. It was a lovely afternoon for riding, but more rain was in the forecast for tomorrow, and we would surely get wet again if we camped. We were lucky, and the last 35 km to Lincoln were all fast and flat.
The River Witham, between Boston and Lincoln, isn’t as busy as the canals in southern England. This was one of just a few boats we saw cruising up the channel. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Just as in Ely, the city of Lincoln rises up from the wet lowlands on a chalk hill. And perched right on the top of the highest part of the hill is its famous cathedral. As a statement of wealth and power, it must have been incredibly impressive for hundreds of years. The cathedral can be seen for miles around. We first spotted it about 15 km (9 miles) away from the city. That’s a lot.
Visible for many miles around, the Lincoln Cathedral, dominates the skyline from its perch on top of a hill in the marshes. Lincoln, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Lincoln’s cathedral is about 400 years younger than Ely’s, having been built in the mid-11th century. But like other cathedrals in this area, it quickly became a major center of power, both religious and secular. When the central tower was built in 1311, its spire made the Lincoln Cathedral the tallest building in the world - a position it held for 238 years. It was the first building to hold that title after the Great Pyramid at Giza. Pretty impressive.
After we checked into our hotel, the rain started again. We’re going to take a rest day tomorrow, and let some more of the rain pass by. We spread out the tent fly in the bathroom to dry.
Drying out in Lincoln, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Layover Day in Lincoln (20 May 2019)
Today we walked up to the old Roman part of the city, learning about its history through the many signs posted around town. Lincoln was a medium-sized, Roman town where legionnaires retired after serving in campaigns throughout England. Parts of the ancient Roman wall are still incorporated into some of the town’s buildings. Although the area was largely abandoned in the Dark Ages, it flourished again in the Middle Ages. That’s when its famous cathedral was built.
On the way back to our hotel, we went inside the Lincoln Cathedral. It is really huge - quite a bit bigger than other cathedrals or major churches we have visited recently. In fact, it’s the fourth largest cathedral in the UK. The stained glass windows were particularly impressive. There are two Rose Windows, which were extremely unusual features for churches in medieval England. The Dean’s Eye (pictured below) was constructed in 1220, and is the older of the two.
The Lincoln Cathedral is the fourth largest in the UK. You can feel how enormous it is the moment you walk into the nave. Lincoln, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
After leaving the cathedral, we returned to our hotel by exploring a few of the back streets in Lincoln. Away from the hustle and bustle of the main roads, we enjoyed the peace and quiet of the medieval alleys.
The view down Greestone Stairs, a well-known back street in Lincoln. The arch over the stairs is believed to be haunted, with people reporting seeing floating lights and orbs within the passage. We didn’t see anything like that. For us, it was a picturesque part of a relaxing walk back to our hotel. Lincoln, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
