Wednesday Morning 9am (as Simon and Garfunkel would have sung if they’d had a bit of a lie-in or any sense), and a drizzly Peterborough didn’t bode well, but we’d had a look round the exceeding large Cathedral the day before, and noticed they had a free lunchtime recital from a professional singers ensemble/choir. That and a late snack lunch somewhere sounded like a plan.

The 12 singers were excellent (including a splendid counter-tenor), the acoustics wonderful, and the music splendidly uplifting. Whatever your flavour of deity (or not), they certainly do seem to have some of the best tunes.

And after a late lunch (or even later breakfast) of a short stack of buttermilk pancakes with bacon and maple syrup we were so uplifted that the sun came out.

The central bit of Peterborough has a peculiarly continental feel to it, with the Guildhall and large Parish Church at one end of a large square , and the huge Cathedral at the other end. With programmed water jets to give kids something to run around, and a wide mix of architectural styles surrounding it, it’s not a bad place to watch the world go by in the sunshine.

An early night beckoned: we’d booked a 9:30am passage through Stanground Lock taking us off the Nene, down onto the mysterious Middle Levels, a mix of ancient and new rivers, drains, ditches and God Wot else that cover darkest Fenland, and (hopefully) provide a navigable passage across to the River Ouse and Ely. We may be some time…